Salted honey ice cream is exceptionally creamy, with a delicious honey flavor balanced by a pinch of salt. Slowly churned until thick, it’s the perfect cold treat!
Looking for more honey recipes? Be sure to check out my Honey Lemon Cupcakes and Lavender Lemonade Honey Popsicles.
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Why You’ll Love This Ice Cream
Simple Ingredients. This recipe needs just 6 simple ingredients that you’re sure to have on hand!
Incredibly Smooth and Creamy. Since honey is a liquid sugar, it keeps ice cream so creamy and smooth, so that it’s scoopable straight from the freezer without waiting for it to soften.
Sweet and Salty. I love a good balance of sweetness and salt in a dessert, and this honey ice cream delivers.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
- Milk + Cream. A combination of whole milk and heavy whipping cream adds fat and gives the ice cream a rich, creamy texture.
- Honey. Sweetens the ice cream, as well as keeps it smooth and soft.
- Egg Yolks. Gives the ice cream body and richness.
- Vanilla. Flavor.
- Salt. Coarse kosher salt balances the sweetness of the honey.
Instructions
- In a saucepan, whisk together 1 cup of the cream with the milk, honey, egg yolks, vanilla and salt.
- Heat the custard over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it begins to steam and just bubble slightly around the edges. Do not let it boil.
- Remove the custard from the heat, and pour through a mesh strainer to remove any bits of cooked egg. Cover and refrigerate the custard until thoroughly chilled, preferably overnight.
- After chilling the custard, use an electric mixer to whip the remaining 1 cup of cream until soft peaks form. Gently whisk the whipped cream into the chilled custard.
- Pour the custard into your ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
- Transfer the churned ice cream to lidded containers, and freeze until firm enough to scoop, at least 8-10 hours.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
What kind of honey should I use?
You can use any honey that you like. Of course, the flavor of the honey will affect the flavor of your ice cream. I used a raw, unfiltered local honey, which has a much stronger flavor than a generic “honey bear” honey.
Does honey make homemade ice cream softer?
It does. Honey is a liquid sugar, and not only sweetens the ice cream, but gives it an exceptionally smooth, creamy texture.
Can I make this ice cream a little less sweet?
Sure, instead of 3/4 cup of honey, you can reduce it to 1/2 cup.
Do I need an ice cream maker for this recipe?
Yes, this is a custard-based ice cream that needs to be churned in an ice cream maker.
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Salted Honey Ice Cream
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Ice Cream Maker
- Electric Mixer (Stand or Hand-Held)
Ingredients
- 2 cups cold heavy whipping cream, divided
- 1 cup whole milk
- ¾ cup honey
- 5 large egg yolks
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
Instructions
- In a saucepan, whisk together 1 cup of the cream with the milk, honey, egg yolks, vanilla and salt.
- Heat the custard over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it begins to steam and just bubble slightly around the edges. Do not let it boil.
- Remove the custard from the heat, and pour through a mesh strainer to remove any bits of cooked egg. Cover and refrigerate the custard until thoroughly chilled, preferably overnight.
- After chilling the custard, use an electric mixer to whip the remaining 1 cup of cream until soft peaks form. Gently whisk the whipped cream into the chilled custard.
- Pour the custard into your ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions.
- Transfer the churned ice cream to lidded containers, and freeze until firm enough to scoop, at least 8-10 hours.
Great recipe. Followed the exact measurements used a KitchenAid stand mixer for whipped cream and the ice cream maker attachment. Yield was 1 quart, not 2 as listed.
So glad you liked it! I’m not sure how you would only end up with 1 quart, though. Just the ingredients on their own add up to more than 4 cups of liquid (which is already more than 1 quart). And then when the cream is whipped and more air is incorporated during churning, the volume increases quite a bit more. I measured my ice cream after churning, and did get 2 quarts (8 cups).
I have made this recipe a few times. I’ve even added 2/3 cup dark black cocoa to it for an amazing deep dark choc ice cream!
This time, I decided to forgo whipping the one cup of cream and instead added it to the cooking mixture. Thinking it wouldn’t make a difference. It totally did! Still delicious but it made about half of what it normally does volume wise. I was shocked how big of a difference whipping the one cup of cream must make cause that’s the only thing I did different. I’ll be whipping the second cup of cream from now on! This is a delicious recipe that doesn’t have refined sugar 🙌🏻
This is hands down our favorite ice cream recipe! Now that we are no longer following a keto diet and wanted a honey based recipe, this is my go to! It’s very easy to make, so creamy, and the leftovers are still the perfect consistency. Thank you for such a great recipe!!