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Butter Brickle Ice Cream

Butter brickle ice cream is creamy vanilla custard loaded with shards of hard-crack golden toffee brickle that shatter and lightly melt at the edges. Made with a cooked custard base and folded-in toffee pieces for a deeply caramelized butterscotch crunch.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
chilling + freezing 4 minutes
Total Time 44 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Calories: 420
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

For the butter brickle
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 0.5 cup unsalted butter 1 stick
  • 0.25 tsp salt
  • 0.25 tsp vanilla extract
For the ice cream
  • 2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 0.75 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 5 egg yolks
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 0.25 tsp salt

Equipment

  • 1 saucepan
  • 1 ice cream maker

Method
 

Make the butter brickle
  1. Melt the granulated sugar and unsalted butter in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the mixture reaches 300°F (hard crack stage). Keep stirring so it caramelizes evenly and doesn’t scorch.
  2. Stir in the salt and vanilla extract, then pour the hot toffee onto parchment. Let it cool completely until firm.
  3. Shatter the cooled toffee into bite-size pieces. Set aside so it stays dry and crunchy until churning.
Make the custard
  1. Heat the heavy cream, whole milk, and brown sugar, stirring until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is smooth. Do not boil aggressively.
  2. Slowly whisk the hot cream mixture into the egg yolks to temper them. Keep whisking until the custard base looks uniform.
  3. Cook the custard, stirring constantly, until it reaches 175°F on a thermometer. When ready, it should coat the back of a spoon.
  4. Strain the custard, then stir in the vanilla extract and salt. Cool the custard to room temperature.
  5. Refrigerate the custard for 4 hours until very cold. Chill time is required for best texture during churning.
Churn and freeze
  1. Churn the chilled custard in an ice cream maker until it reaches soft-serve consistency. Fold in the butter brickle pieces during the last 5 minutes.
  2. Transfer the churned ice cream to a container and freeze until firm. Freeze until fully set for clean scoops.

Notes

Pro tip: use a candy thermometer for the butter brickle—300°F (hard crack stage) is what makes the shards shatter instead of becoming chewy. Chill the custard in the refrigerator for 4 hours, and keep it covered during freezing; store in the freezer up to 2 months. For a dairy-reduced option, use a plant-based heavy cream and whole-milk substitute that measures and heats like dairy, but keep the custard method the same for proper thickening.