Grandma’s Old Fashioned Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe

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Grandma’s Homemade Ice Cream is a custard-style vanilla frozen treat the entire family will enjoy. This old fashioned ice cream recipe is sure to take you right back to your childhood.

With summer on its way, Grandma's Homemade Ice Cream is a custard-style vanilla frozen treat the entire family will enjoy.

Old Fashioned Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe

Written in her beautiful cursive script on a simple white lined note card, Barbara keeps a copy of this old fashioned ice cream recipe in our grandma’s wooden recipe box. Some families have jewelry, old portraits, vases, or crystal, but our family heirlooms include all of Grandma’s favorite recipes.

The flavor of this homemade vanilla ice cream is amazing and unique with a thick, rich custard texture that is unlike the ice cream you buy in the stores.

Old Fashioned Ice Cream Ingredients:

Large Eggs

All Purpose Flour

Granulated Sugar

Milk

Vanilla Extract

Half and Half

With summer on its way, Grandma's Homemade Ice Cream is a custard-style vanilla frozen treat the entire family will enjoy.

Grandma’s Homemade Ice Cream

This vanilla ice cream recipe is the only one you will ever need. Our grandma called it Cooked Ice Cream as it is an egg-based mixture that you need to cook on the stovetop.

On thing to note is to be sure to temper the egg mixture before adding it to the hot milk mixture to prevent cooking the beaten eggs.

When it comes to what ice cream maker should you use, oh, there are so, so many options! Barbara uses one of the small countertop models but growing up we had one of those great electric wooden bucket ice cream makers that dad packed full of ice and salt as it cranked away.

With summer on its way, Grandma's Homemade Ice Cream is a custard-style vanilla frozen treat the entire family will enjoy.

How to Make Old Fashioned Homemade Ice Cream with Raw Eggs

Step by Step Instructions

  1. Combine flour and sugar in a small bowl.
  2. Warm whole milk slowly in a saucepan on the stove.
  3. Once hot, add flour and sugar mixture, while stirring constantly until it begins to thicken.
  4. Beat the eggs; temper with a small amount of the warm milk mixture.
  5. Once tempered, add all the eggs to the warm milk mixture.
  6. Cook, stirring constantly until it thickens.
  7. Remove from heat until completely cooled.
  8. Once cooled, stir in vanilla.
  9. Pour the cooled mixture into a ice cream freezer; add half and half until approximately 1 inch from the top of the ice cream freezer.
  10. Freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
  11. Eat immediately or freeze if a firmer texture is desired.
  12. We recommend topping this old fashioned homemade vanilla ice cream with Grandma’s famous Old-Fashioned Hot Fudge Sauce or this Homemade Chocolate Sauce with walnuts.

For the full recipe for old fashioned ice cream, scroll to the bottom of this post. 

You may never purchase another jar of the store-brand after making Old Fashioned Hot Fudge Sauce.  You can have this thick, rich sauce drizzled over your ice cream in ten minutes or less. 

Grandma’s Vanilla Ice Cream

With summer on its way, Grandma's Homemade Ice Cream is a custard-style vanilla frozen treat the entire family will enjoy.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Cooling time30 minutes
Total Time1 hour 10 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: vanilla ice cream
Servings: 1 gallon

Ingredients

  • 4 Tablespoons flour
  • 3 ½ cups sugar
  • 1 quart whole milk
  • 8 to 10 eggs beaten
  • vanilla to taste up to one Tablespoon
  • 1 pint half and half or heavy whipping cream
  • 3 quarts whole milk may not need it all

Instructions

  • Mix flour and sugar.
  • Put 1 quart of whole milk in saucepan on stove to warm.
  • When hot, add sugar mixture, stirring constantly until it starts to thicken.
  • Add beaten eggs to hot milk mixture, tempering the egg mixture first to prevent cooking the beaten eggs.
  • Cook, stirring constantly until mixture thickens like a custard.
  • Remove from heat and cool completely.
  • Once cooled, add vanilla to taste – up to 1 Tablespoon.
  • Add to ice cream freezer insert.
  • Add pint of heavy cream or half and half to about an inch from the top. You may need to add additional whole milk to fill your container depending on its size.
  • Freeze per the instructions for your ice cream freezer.
  • Eat right away or freeze to get a firmer texture.

Notes

  • After adding the cooled ice cream mixture to your ice cream freezer, you need to add 1 pint of heavy whipping cream (that’s our recommendation) or half and half. If this doesn’t fill the container to about an inch from the top, add whole milk until it does.
With summer on its way, Grandma's Homemade Ice Cream is a custard-style vanilla frozen treat the entire family will enjoy.

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14 Comments

  1. WHAT DOES TEMPER MEAN? Do you just add a little hot mixture in with the eggs to warm them up or something else?

    1. Instead of pouring the eggs into the hot milk mixture, just add a very small amount of the hot liquid into the eggs while constantly whisking the eggs. Continue slowly adding the hot milk while whisking the eggs and after a few moments you can safely add the remaining hot liquid. Adding the hot liquid slowly will gradually bring up the temperature of the eggs without scrambling them.

    1. We don’t use vanilla in this recipe. If you choose to add it, we’d do it after you cream the butter and sugar.

      1. Thanks Megan 🙂 I saw vanilla in the list of ingredients both on your page and also in the handwritten recipe and assumed that it was used it in the mix somewhere.

      2. Lynn – I’m so sorry…I was answering a bunch of questions about the peach batter cake and didn’t look what recipe you were looking at! I’m checking!!

      3. So…add up to one Tablespoon (Grandma added 2-3 “capfuls”) to taste after it’s cooled and before you add the mixture to the ice cream insert. So sorry for the confusion!

  2. It is so funny as I read this it makes me think of the last time we made homemade ice cream …when the hubby ask how much vanilla …I said 2 cap fulls!!!! Love it!!

  3. Your recipe calls for 1 gallon of milk but you only heated a quart in the instructions I got confuse. Am I useing a gallon or a quart of milk.

    1. Sorry about that. We’ve updated the post. You cook one quart and then once cooled, you add the half and half or heavy whipping cream. If that doesn’t fill up the container, you’ll need to add more milk.

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