Honeycomb & Almond Butter No Churn Ice Cream

Happy National Ice Cream Day!

As a kid, I was always a fan of the classic ice cream flavors. Chocolate chip cookie dough, mint chocolate chip, and peanut butter ripple were some of my favorites.

As I've gotten older, I've become more curious to try unique or sophisticated flavors. Pistachio, lavender, goat cheese, olive oil, and bourbon brown sugar are all flavors worth tasting!

Side note: I still wasn't brave enough to try the dill pickle ice cream at Pittsburgh's Picklesburgh pickle festival yesterday, but that's on a whole other level!

When it comes to dreaming up ice cream flavors, the sky's the limit! I tend to love ice cream with a nice classic base and a couple of delicious toppings mixed throughout to add some texture. Intrigued by the gentle crunch of honeycomb, I decided to give it a whirl in a batch of ice cream. And since no-churn ice cream is naturally sweeter than traditional ice cream, I paired the honeycomb with almond butter (rather than sweeter peanut butter) to help balance of the sweetness. This no-churn ice cream comes together dangerously fast, and it disappears even more quickly!

[recipe title="Honeycomb & Almond Butter No Churn Ice Cream" servings="6"]
INGREDIENTS:
1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups heavy cream
¼ cup almond butter
3 T honey plus bits of broken honeycomb*

DIRECTIONS:
Pour the condensed milk into a large bowl.

In another large bowl, whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. I recommend a hand mixer for this step.

Add a scoop of the whipped cream to the condensed milk and gently mix to lighten the condensed milk and make it easier to fold in the rest of the whipped cream. Then pour the rest of the whipped cream into the bowl with the condensed milk and fold, being careful not to deflate the mixture, until the condensed milk and whipped cream are combined.

Put the almond butter in a small bowl and microwave for 10 second intervals, stirring between each, until the almond butter is melted and can be drizzled with a spoon.

Pour ⅓ of the ice cream mixture into a loaf pan and gently smooth it out without deflating the mixture. Drizzle ⅓ of almond butter and 1 T of honey onto the ice cream mixture. Sprinkle with honeycomb bits. Repeat these steps two more times until all ice cream mixture, almond butter, honey, and honeycomb is layered in the pan.

Cover the pan with aluminum foil and freeze for at least 6 hours before serving. Ice cream will keep in the freezer for up to two weeks.

*I was able to find a jar of honeycomb in the specialty cheese section of my local supermarket. You can absolutely leave the honeycomb out of this recipe and just use regular honey if you prefer!

Ice cream base via The Kitchn.
[/recipe]