Recipe: Double Hazelnut Ice Cream

Who doesn’t love Nutella? We have an unhealthy relationship with Nutella though. In that, we can’t keep it in the house because it disappears in one day. Scary. Scary delicious.

I had several reasons for making this recipe. First, I’ve really been itching to try a low fat milk version of ice cream since my first super rich half and half version. Second, we went to our neighborhood specialty pasta store (Dave’s Fresh Pasta) and they sell my favorite milk (Crescent Ridge) and I had to try making ice cream with this milk. And third, we bought these fabulous hazelnuts in Oregon on our honeymoon and John had the amazing idea to use them in ice cream. I married a smart man.

Notes: I made this recipe up myself and it turned out great. Also, I made this ice cream by the manufacturer’s directions for my Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer Ice Cream Attachment.

Kim’s Double Hazelnut Ice Cream
2 cups low fat milk
1.5 cup Nutella
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1.5 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 cup hazelnuts, chopped finely

To start my ice cream “batter” I mixed my Nutella, vanilla, salt, sugar, and 1 cup of milk together. I wanted to combine everything but not make a mess. Once the initial mixture was combined, I added my second cup of milk and mixed again. Then I stashed the mixture in the fridge to cool down for about 30 minutes.

While my mixture cooled I chopped up my hazelnuts. I opted to chop them fine because they mix together better in the Ice Cream Attachment that way and because I wanted crunch in every bite of the ice cream.

We bought these Freddy Guys Hazelnuts at the Portland Farmers Market on our honeymoon. They are perfect and extremely tasty!

Once my “batter” was ready I set up the Ice Cream Attachment. The directions say to let the mixture go for at least 20 minutes. At about 12 minutes this ice cream was solidifying so I decided it was done.

I added my nuts to the mixer but it immediately screwed up the mixing blade so I turned off the mixer and manually stirred in my hazelnuts.

I packaged up the ice cream and put it in the freezer for 3 hours.

I couldn’t wait any longer but this’ll stay in the freezer and I’ll check the texture again tomorrow.

I have to say I impressed myself with this ice cream. It is delicious! The texture is a little grainy, and as it melts it becomes a bit watery. I think both things are in part to the low fat milk. But it’s fine with me, I don’t think it takes away from the taste of the ice cream at all.

Despite the Nutella and the hazelnuts, this ice cream tastes exactly like a Fudgesicle! It is creamy, chocolatey, and crunchy but not too sweet. The nuts add the perfect savory flavors. I love everything about this!