Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream

My whole family loves pumpkin pie. When I made this for them, they flipped. Put a scoop or two on top of my Pecan Pie Bars and transport yourself to holiday dessert bliss.

Ingredients

1½ cups milk
1 whole vanilla bean
2 egg yolks
¾ cup sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
¾ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon salt
1½ cups heavy whipping cream

Directions

In a large saucepan, heat milk over medium heat until it’s just about to boil. Place the vanilla bean in the warm milk and turn off the heat. Leave it to steep for 20 minutes.

Remove the vanilla bean and any film that has formed over the milk. Slice the bean down the middle, and run your knife along the inside of the bean, removing all the seeds. Add the seeds to the milk and whisk to combine. Discard the vanilla bean.

In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar, pumpkin puree, cinnamon, ginger and salt. Slowly whisk in milk until combined. Pour the mixture back into the large saucepan. Cook over medium heat until it thickens enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, about 10 minutes, stirring almost constantly. Remove from heat and let it cool.

Once cooled, stir in cream and refrigerate until cold, about 30 minutes. Strain it through a metal sieve twice before pouring into an ice cream maker. Don’t skip this step; it makes really smooth ice cream. Process according to manufacturer’s instructions. Mine usually takes 20 minutes. Transfer to a plastic container and freeze until firm, about 2-3 hours. Allow to thaw out slightly before serving.

Make-ahead tip: Make this recipe up to a week in advance. Just make sure no one eats it all before you get a chance to serve it.

Nutrition Analysis (per cup serving): 550 cal, 36 g fat, 210 mg chol, 370 mg sodium, 51 g carbs, 2 g fiber, 45 g sugar, 7 g protein. GF

Lauren Marie, who writes the popular gluten-free food blog LaurenMarieGlutenFree.com, never lets her gluten allergy hold her back from enjoying the delicious things in life.

Nutritional analysis for recipes is created using Food Processor SQL nutrition and fitness software by ESHA. Recipes are analyzed per serving (unless otherwise indicated) for calories, fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrates, fiber and protein. Nutrient amounts are approximate due to variations in brands, manufacturer, preparation and ingredient substitutions. When ingredient choices are listed, we use the first one. Nonspecific amounts, for example "to taste," and garnishes are not included.