Homemade Bourbon Ice Cream! This deliciously boozy ice cream is flavored with a good shot of bourbon. Enriched with egg yolks, it’s a grown-up treat.

To learn all about the basics of making homemade ice cream, check out my Vanilla Bean Ice Cream post. But first, let’s talk about this fabulous Homemade Bourbon Ice Cream.

Any time you add liquor to ice cream or sorbet you have to balance flavor versus texture.

Alcohol lowers the freezing point of ice cream. If you add too much liquor the ice cream will never freeze to a scoopable texture.

My challenge in creating this recipe was to make an ice cream that had a good bourbon flavor, but could still form a nice scoop after freezing.

For the first test I replaced a 1/2 cup of milk in my base recipe with 1/2 cup of bourbon. That batch was very very tasty but wouldn’t freeze any firmer than a milkshake. Not that there’s anything wrong with a Bourbon milk shake…

So I reduced the bourbon to 1/3 of a cup and added back an ounce of the milk. I figured the extra water in the milk might help the ice cream firm up a bit without muting the flavor of the bourbon too much.

With 1/3 of a cup of bourbon the ice cream has a nice boozy flavor and it still manages to freeze to a scoopable texture. Admittedly, the ice cream is fairly soft, even after a night in the freezer. But I’m fine with that trade off.

If you prefer a firmer ice cream or a milder bourbon flavor you can reduce the liquor to 1/4 cup.

Scroll through the photos to see how to make Homemade Bourbon Ice Cream:

a bowl of egg yolks and a pan filled with cream on the stove. — Mix the egg yolks with the sugar. Heat the milk and cream to scalding.

a knife with vanilla bean seed on the tip — Scrape the vanilla beans out of the pod and add them to the cream.

hot cream pouring into a bowl of egg yolks. — Pour the scalding cream into the egg yolks. Return the mixture to the pan and cook until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Custard in a strainer. — Strain the custard back into the bowl from the yolks.

a cup pouring bourbon into custard — Stir the bourbon into the custard and chill completely before running it in your ice cream machine.

Bourbon Ice Cream is the perfect accompaniment to Peach Dumplings, Peach Pie or Peach Cobbler.

Here are some more unique homemade ice cream recipes: Carrot Cake Ice Cream, Rhubarb Ice Cream, Malted Milk Ice Cream, Blueberry Ice Cream, Chai Tea Ice Cream, Lavender Honey Ice Cream, White Chocolate Ice Cream with Chocolate Truffles and Brown Sugar Ice Cream.

If you love this recipe as much as I do, I’d really appreciate a 5-star review.

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4.86 from 7 reviews

Bourbon Ice Cream

By: Eileen Gray

Delicious and creamy homemade ice cream flavored with bourbon. Rich with egg yolks, it's a real treat.

Prep Time10

Bake Time10

Freeze Time8

Total Time8 20

8 servings

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Ingredients

12 oz heavy cream (1 1/2 cups)
10 oz whole milk (1 1/4 cups)
1 vanilla bean (split)
6 each egg yolks
8 oz granulated sugar (1 cup)
1/8 teaspoon table salt
3 oz bourbon (1/3 cup)

Instructions

Combine the cream and milk in a small saucepan. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla pod and stir them into the cream along and add the vanilla pod. Heat the mixture over medium high heat until scalding hot.
10 oz whole milk, 12 oz heavy cream, 1 vanilla bean
While the cream heats up, whisk together the yolks, sugar and salt in a small bowl. Once the cream mixture is scalding hot, pour it into the bowl with the yolks and whisk to combine
6 each egg yolks, 8 oz granulated sugar, 1/8 teaspoon table salt
Return the entire mixture to the saucepan and heat over medium low, stirring constantly. Cook the custard until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spatula or wooden spoon. Do not allow it to come to a boil.
Remove the pan from the heat and strain the custard back into the bowl from the yolks. Stir the bourbon into the custard. Cover the bowl and chill until very cold. At least 4-5 hours or over night.
3 oz bourbon
Freeze according to the directions for your ice cream machine.
When the ice cream is ready, scoop it into a container and smooth to an even layer. Lay a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the ice cream, cover tightly and freeze until firm. Because of the alcohol this ice cream will take a bit longer to freeze and will be a bit softer than usual.