Seriously the best hazelnut ice cream you'll ever make. It's super creamy, and smooth, and with a delicious hazelnut flavor. Despite the fantastic looks, it's very easy to make. No steeping so we're not going to waste any nuts!
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Why This Recipe Works
Marco is an ice cream and popsicle fanatic. He goes crazy over my dairy-free mango coconut popsicles. Once in Barcelona, he found the best ice cream shop named Delacrem and we went there several times. It was the best! From there onwards, he's determined to re-create his own at home.
With this recipe, you'll get super creamy, smooth textured ice cream with an amazingly noticeable hazelnut flavor, with a touch of saltiness. Salt is very important in nut ice cream as it elevates the nutty flavor. This is as perfect as homemade hazelnut ice cream can be!
Marco tested this recipe several times to get the perfect flavor intensity and the right cream texture, just like he did with our strawberry ice cream recipe. Believe me when I say we had containers of ice cream in the freezer for this recipe!
His secret is to include hazelnut butter in the ice cream custard to intensify the flavor. It's better than just steeping the hazelnut chunks in the milk to retrieve the flavor and discard the paste. Why waste all that, right?
This is a straightforward recipe, you can't go wrong with it. There's no nut-steeping for hours or days before making the custard. With this recipe, you just make it directly. Also, you can make other varieties by using nuts like almonds, walnuts, or peanuts.
How To Make Hazelnut Butter
The secret to the best hazelnut ice cream is to use hazelnut butter instead of steeping them. This way the ice cream is more flavorful with a noticeable nut flavor like in my hazelnut cake.
Make your nut butter, it's so easy and way cheaper! Here's how.
- Toast the hazelnuts. They always have a more intense flavor. You can use a skillet or an oven. Toast until they're slightly brown.
- Remove the skin. This will avoid the bitter touch. Wrap the hot hazelnuts in a kitchen towel, press, and roll them around. The skin will come off easily. Or to make things even easier, buy toasted skinless hazelnuts at Costco like we do!
- Grind the hazelnuts. Place the hazelnuts in a small food processor and blend until you get a smooth nut butter. Use a spatula to scrape the sides now and then. Depending on the food processor's bowl's size, you might need to do this in batches. That's it! So easy!
Use an adequate food processor for this. Marco started with my spice grinder and he burnt it! It wasn't powerful enough. When he switched to our food processor, oh wow, now that's one great machine! It took him less than 5 minutes! The more power the machine is, the smoother the nut butter is going to be. Which is important to get that smooth textured ice cream.
Ingredients For The Best Hazelnut Ice Cream
Hazelnuts - Toasted, please, and with no skins. Toasted ones have a more intense nutty flavor and that's what we want.
Whole milk - It's important as we need a higher fat content to help get the right creamy texture. Find the best you can as it's going to influence the flavor of our hazelnut ice cream.
Heavy cream - Or whipping cream. The fat content of 30-36%. Marco has tested this recipe without it but it was lacking that creaminess that we all love in ice cream. So don't omit it.
Salt - Very important! Just a few pinches of salt really elevate the flavor of this ice cream. This is one of the reasons that this is the best hazelnut ice cream ever. Trust us, as weird as it may sound, do not omit the salt.
⭐ See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Step-By-Step Instructions
1. Make the hazelnut butter. Blend the toasted hazelnuts in a food processor, using the smallest bowl, until you get a smooth nut butter. Depending on the bowl's size, you might need to do this in batches. Set aside. Place the ice cream machine's inner bowl in the freezer.
2. Make the yolk-sugar mixture. Add the yolks and sugar into a big bowl. Whisk using an electric handheld whisk for a few minutes until you get a pale mixture. Set aside.
3. Make the milk mixture. Add milk, heavy cream, salt, vanilla extract, and hazelnut butter in a pot. Bring to a simmer on low-medium heat while mixing to make sure everything is well combined. Slowly pour the hot milk mixture (a total of 1 cup) into the yolk-sugar mixture while whisking. Tempering it will avoid the yolks from curdling.
4. Make the hazelnut flavor custard. Pour the tempered yolk-sugar mixture into the pot. Cook on low-medium heat for more or less 10 minutes, stirring constantly. It's ready when it covers the back of a wooden spoon and when you run your finger through it, it stays separated.
5. Sift the custard. Pour it into a sifter with a bowl underneath. Using a wooden spoon, press so that the paste goes through and what's left are unwanted yolk curdles or bigger pieces of nuts, if any.
6. Chill and churn the ice cream. Cover the bowl with a cling film, making sure it touches the surface of the ice cream base. Leave to cool before chilling it in the fridge overnight. Pour the chilled mixture into the ice cream machine's inner bowl and churn for 30 minutes. Serve immediately for a soft serve, or freeze for 1-2 hours for a firmer texture. Enjoy your hazelnut ice cream!
Recipe Expert Tips
- Plan ahead. This is a straightforward recipe but it needs a bit of planning. Freeze the ice cream machine's inner bowl in the freezer 1 day before. Make the ice cream custard also 1 day before.
- Use toasted hazelnuts. They have a more intense flavor and our ice cream will taste more delicious. You can toast them yourself in the oven, air-fryer, or in a skillet.
- Use a very smooth nut butter. The nut butter needs to be the smoothest to get smooth-textured ice cream.
- Use low-medium heat to cook the ice cream base. We don't want to have the yolks curdling on high heat. It'll take you around 10 minutes, don't rush it.
- If without an ice cream machine. Even though this is an ice cream recipe for an ice cream maker, you can also do this by putting the cream in the freezer and mixing it every 30 minutes for 5 hours. It'll take longer to freeze, more effort, and the texture will be different but it's still doable and delicious! If you want a refreshing ice cream recipe without an ice cream maker, try our healthy mango ice cream.
- If using store-bought hazelnut butter. Use natural nut butter where the ingredient should only list as toasted hazelnut, nothing else. The flavor won't be as fresh or intense but it's acceptable. Use a bit over ¾ cup.
How To Serve And Store
Serve - If you like the soft serve texture, serve it immediately after churning it. This is optional but you can sprinkle some crushed hazelnuts, drizzle of chocolate, or Nutella on top. Scoop into a hot espresso to get the best affogato, or pour over some hazelnut liquor. Yum!
Store - In an air-tight container, in the freezer for up to 2-3 weeks. After that, you'll notice a difference in the texture. It tends to be grainy and might have some ice crystals. Don't worry, this hazelnut ice cream won't last you that long!
Recipe FAQs
Yes, of course! You can use the same recipe with almonds, walnuts, peanuts, or even a mix of them. Go nuts!
Yes, at least 6 hours. It needs to be as cold as possible before you start churning so the result will be creamier and it will churn faster.
Technically you could leave the skin on, but since the skin does not contain oil, it will not break down until liquid state in the food processor, thus changing the texture of the ice cream. Also, even though the skin contains lots of antioxidants, it can have a bitter taste, changing the end result. I recommend you try to find the hazelnuts already peeled.
Yes, if you have a high-speed blender. Making nut butter demands a lot of power from a machine, so it needs to be a food processor or a heavy-duty blender.
Yes and in that case omit the salt in the recipe.
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📖 Recipe
The Best Hazelnut Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup (200 g) toasted skinless hazelnuts
- 6 large egg yolks
- ⅔ cup (130 g) granulated sugar
- 3 cup (750 ml) whole milk
- ½ cup (125 ml) heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2-3 pinches of salt
Instructions
Hazelnut butter
- Use the smallest bowl for the food processor. Blend the hazelnut until you get a smooth nut butter. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula now and then to help the process. Set aside.
Hazelnut ice cream custard
- In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks and sugar using a handheld whisk until you get a plate mixture. Set aside.
- Pour milk, heavy cream, vanilla extract, salt, and hazelnut butter into a saucepan. Heat on medium fire and mix so that everything is well mixed. Don't let it boil.
- While whisking, slowly pour around 1 cup of the hot milk mixture into the bowl containing the yolk mixture. Tempering the yolk will prevent it from curdling. Pour the yolk mixture into the saucepan.
- Cook the custard for 10 minutes on low heat, stirring constantly so that nothing sticks. It'll thicken and is ready when it covers the back of a wooden spoon, and when you run your finger through it, it stays separated.
- Pour the custard through a sifter into a bowl. Use a wooden spoon to stir and press against the sifter so that the nut butter passes through. What's left will be big pieces of curdles, if any.
Chill and churn
- Cover the bowl with a cling film, making sure it's touching the custard's surface. Cool to room temperature before chilling it in the fridge overnight. At this point, place the ice cream machine's inner bowl in the freezer (refer to your machine's manual).
- Pour the cold custard into the frozen inner bowl and inside the ice cream machine. Churn for 30 minutes. The time varies depending on your machine.
- Serve immediately for a soft serve. Put in an air-tight container and freezer for 1-2 hours for a firmer texture. Enjoy!
Notes
- Plan at least 1 day ahead. You need to chill the custard and freeze the ice cream machine's inner bowl overnight.
- Use a high-power food processor to make homemade hazelnut butter. You'll get smoother nut butter, and avoid burning your machine.
- If using store-bought natural hazelnut butter, use a bit more than ¾ cup. The taste won't be as pronounced but it's doable.
Nutrition Facts
The nutrition facts provided are an estimate per serving. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
Recipe adapted from Laura In The Kitchen's Hazelnut ice cream.
Al says
I made this yesterday for the first time for a German neighbor who loves hazelnuts. I peeled and toasted the hazelnuts, but my blender did not create hazelnut butter, just the stage before emulsification. I used slightly more hazelnuts than specified and chopped 1/4 of them. As I had 3 quarts of heavy cream on hand, I used 2 cups of whole milk and 2 cups of heavy cream. I did not strain the custard, and added the chopped hazelnuts to the chilled custard before mixing. Came out flawless! Great taste and mouthfeel. It’s hard to find hazelnut ice cream in the USA, so now this is the best option.
Bea & Marco says
Hi, sorry for the late response! We're excited to hear that you gave the recipe a try. Using a coffee grinder might help with the hazelnut butter, although you might to do it in several batches. Thank you so much for leaving your feedback, and your twist on it!
juliana says
yay
jen says
what about if we dont have ice cream machine ?
Bea & Marco says
Hi Jen! You can refer to my tips in the post above if you want to make this without an ice cream machine.
Dan says
I'm making this again but with peanuts next time.
It was delicious. A hit. Thank you for this easy recipe.
Bea & Marco says
Yes, it works great with peanuts also. Thanks for your feedback, Dan, I'm happy that you liked it!