DIY Ice Cream for National Ice Cream Day July 19

National Ice Cream Day is coming July 19 and today kicks off the start of the weekend and THAT is a reason to celebrate . . .  and celebrate with ice cream, of course!   The history of ice cream dates as far back as the second century B.C., although no specific date nor inventor has been credited with its creation or discovery. History books tell us Alexander the Great ate snow and ice flavored with honey and nectars and Caesar frequently had servants fetch him ice from the mountains which he then ate with fruits and juices. Up until about 1800, ice cream was an exotic dessert, enjoyed only by the rich and elite. Luckily, nowadays we can all enjoy the delicious dessert, in more ways than one. As a wedding gift, my girlfriends (including Ms. Rockabye!) gave me an ice-cream maker attachment for my KitchenAid Stand Mixer, so to celebrate National Ice Cream Day, I decided to make my own ice cream from scratch . . . for the first time ever. (I used the Oreo Ice Cream recipe from this blog and my KitchenAid recipe booklet)

**this recipe does require an ice cream making machine**

Making Oreo vanilla ice cream requires very few ingredients. All you need is: 1 cup whole or 2% milk ¾ cup sugar 2 cups heavy cream 1 tablespoon vanilla 1–2 cups crushed Oreos (depending on how Oreo-y you like yours!) Steps: 1: In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the sugar and the milk together until the sugar is dissolved. 2: Stir in the heavy cream and vanilla. 3: Cover and refrigerate for about 2 hours. 4: Take out your frozen KitchenAid Ice cream attachment bowl (it needs to stay in the freezer for roughly 15 hours before you can make the ice cream. I did not know this when I went to make this ice cream the 1^st time — always read instructions!) and attach all the necessary items to the stand mixer. 5: While the mixer is on (set to “spin”) pour the mixture into the bowl (this can be slightly challenging. My advice is to use something that has a spout or use a smaller measuring cup) 6: Let the mixer mix until the ice cream has thickened. Mine took about 25 minutes. You’ll notice it start to rise in the bowl. 7: Toward the end, add the crushed-up Oreos (while it’s still mixing). 8: Scoop out the ice cream with a soft spatula (you’ll be surprised how much it makes!) and put it in the freezer for 4-8 hours. Enjoy! You’ll notice that it will still be pretty soft (yay, no preservatives!!) My husband went totally nuts for this and he doesn’t even really eat sweets. Looks like I’ll be making more ice cream this summer.

Need some sweet tunes for your sweet treats? Check these out.

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