Pumpkin Cheesecake Ice Cream (Ben & Jerry's Copycat)
Featuring a creamy homemade pumpkin ice cream base infused with just the right amount of warm, cozy spices, a crunchy-salty-sweet graham cracker crumble swirl, and a thick ripple of cheesecake filling, this frozen treat is hard to beat. Adapted From Jeni's.
Ingredients
- 2 C Whole Milk
- 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp Cornstarch or Tapioca Starch
- ¾ C Pumpkin Purée
- 1 ½ oz Cream Cheese room temp
- 1 tsp Kosher Salt
- ¼ C Honey
- 1 ¼ C Heavy Cream or powdered heavy cream, vegan whipping cream
- ⅔ C Brown Sugar
- 2 tablespoon Light Corn Syrup
- 1 tablespoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
Graham Crust Swirl
- ½ C Graham Crackers about a half sleeve, finely ground. Gluten-free works!
- 6 tablespoon Flour or AP gluten-free flour blend.
- 1 teaspoon Cornstarch or Tapioca Starch, Potato Starch, Arrowroot Powder
- ¼ C Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 4 tablespoon Butter
Cream Cheese Swirl
- ½ C Cream Cheese Fruit Dip or use 1 slice of store-bought cheesecake crumbled into bits
Instructions
Ice Cream Base
- Make a slurry with the cornstarch and about 2 tablespoons of the milk. Set aside.
- Whisk the cream cheese and salt in a bowl until smooth.
- Add the pumpkin purée and honey to the cream cheese mixture. Whisk again until smooth. Set aside.
- Add the remaining milk, plus the cream, sugar, corn syrup, and pumpkin pie spice in a 4-quart or larger saucepan.*
- Bring to a rolling boil over med-high heat. Boil for 4 minutes.
- Remove from heat and add the cornstarch slurry. Whisk to combine, then return to heat.
- Bring the mixture back to a boil and cook, stirring frequently, until thickened — about 1-2 minutes.
- Whisk the hot milk mixture into the pumpkin cream cheese mixture. Either chill the bowl in an ice bath, or refrigerate the mixture for about 6 hours.
Graham Swirl
- While the ice cream base chills, make the gravel. Preheat the oven to 275F. Line a small, quarter-baking sheet with parchment. (you can use a regular-sized baking sheet if needed, but only use the middle half.)
- Mix the graham crumbs, flour, cornstarch, sugar, and salt in a bowl.
- Add the melted butter and stir until all the dry ingredients are moistened and the mixture looks like wet sand.
- Pour the crumb mixture onto the prepared baking sheet and spread it out evenly.
- Bake for 10 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the oven and toss with a metal spatula. Cut the mixture into about ¼-inch pieces.
- Return to the oven and bake for about 10 more minutes, or until deep golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
Assemble.
- Spin ice cream according to manufacturer instructions.
- Pack about ¼ of the mixture into your freezer-safe container. Top with ¼ each of the graham cracker swirl and dollop about 2 tablespoons of the cream cheese mixture in teaspoons across the top.
- Repeat the packing process, adding more ice cream and inclusions until you've used them all.
- Freeze the ice cream for at least 4 hours in the coldest part of your freezer.
- Scoop and enjoy!
Notes
Expert Tips:
- For perfect swirls, don’t add your mix-ins while the ice cream is churning. The trick is to pack the ice cream and inclusions in layers!
- To prevent ice crystals from forming, press a piece of parchment or plastic wrap directly on top of the ice cream before putting a lid on the container. Also, remember that homemade ice cream doesn’t have the preservatives that store-bought ice cream has, so it’s best consumed within 2 weeks of churning.
- For the perfect scoop, let your ice cream container hang out at room temperature for 5-10 minutes.
- For the perfect scoop, continued. Not gonna like: this ice cream scoop is AMAZING. It’s definitely a splurge, but well worth it if you make ice cream at home a lot.
- Use a bigger pot than you think you need. There’s not even 4 cups of liquid that goes into the ice cream base, which makes it look like it could easily fit in a 2-quart pot. THIS IS A VISUAL LIE. Once the milk and cream start boiling, they expand a LOT. Please, do yourself and your cooktop a favor — use a 4-quart pot or larger.
- To chill the ice cream base faster, pour the ice cream base into a gallon-sized zip-top bag, remove the excess air, zip the top, then submerge the ice cream base in an ice bath. It’ll cool enough to churn in just 20-30 minutes if you agitate it every few minutes. Since zip-top bags are sometimes prone to user error, I suggest keeping the sealed top of the bag out of the water.
- Gluten-Free - Use certified GF graham crackers and flour to make the graham cracker swirl. Make sure to let the mixture rehydrate and rest for 30 minutes prior to baking to avoid a grainy consistency. If you’re using the store-bought cheesecake shortcut, make sure it’s also gluten-free.
- Dairy-Free/Vegan - Swap whole milk for the full-fat plant-based milk of your choice. I suggest using a barista blend and opting for at least 50% being a higher-protein option like soy milk. Use vegan whipping cream or coconut cream in place of heavy cream and vegan cream cheese. Finally, swap honey for molasses or maple and use the plant-based butter of your choice.
- Corn-Free - Both tapioca starch and tapioca syrup can be used in equal proportions to cornstarch and corn syrup, respectively.
- Sweet Potato Pie Ice Cream - For another equally delightful twist on favorite holiday desserts, use sweet potato purée in place of pumpkin purée. Instead of a cheesecake swirl, torch mini marshmallows with a kitchen torch (or use the broiler) and fold those in, instead. You’re welcome to either keep the graham swirl for a pie vibe, or omit it for a fun alternative to sweet potato casserole.
Nutrition
Calories: 291kcalCarbohydrates: 36gProtein: 3gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 10gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 47mgSodium: 483mgPotassium: 156mgFiber: 1gSugar: 29gVitamin A: 2979IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 93mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!