Hazelnut Ice Cream

Simple and creamy, this no churn hazelnut ice cream *semi optionally* swirled with chocolate hazelnut spread and chocolate covered hazelnuts.

Prep Time30

Freezing Time8

Total Time8 30

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American, German

Keyword: Chocolate, hazelnut, ice cream

Servings:

Calories: 323kcal

In a large pan, pour in the hazelnuts. Place over medium low heat, stirring frequently to keep from burning, until they become golden brown and the skins start to flake off.
Pour the toasted hazelnuts onto a kitchen towel and rub against each other with the towel to remove the skins. Ideally this will take off most of the skins, if it doesn't, use your fingers to peel as much as you can (but don't stress if there's still some left).
Transfer the toasted and peeled hazelnuts to a high powered blender or food processor. Blend on medium low speed, slowly increasing to high until a smooth butter forms.

In a large mixing bowl, pour in the sweetened condensed milk along with 100 grams of hazelnut butter. Stir to combine and then sprinkle in the flaky sea salt and stir once more.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add in the heavy cream and vanilla extract. Use a whisk attachment to whip on medium high speed until stiff peaks form.
Add half of the whipped cream to the hazelnut milk mixture. Use a large flat rubber spatula to fold the hazelnut milk into the heavy cream, being careful not to stir thereby knocking the air out.
Once mixed, add the remaining heavy cream and fold again. Place in the fridge for a moment until ready to assemble.

Line a metal loaf pan with parchment paper or prepare your container of choice for the ice cream.
If adding, chop the dark chocolate covered hazelnuts and set aside.
Pour half of the hazelnut ice cream mixture into the lined pan. Drizzle with the chocolate hazelnut spread and sprinkle with half of the chocolate hazelnuts. Swirl together and then repeat with the remaining ice cream and mix ins.
If not adding any chocolate, simply pour the hazelnut cream mixture into the lined pan and place in the freezer.
Place the assembled ice cream into the freezer to set for at least 8 hours or over night.
Remove from the freezer about 10 minutes prior to serving.

Tips for No-Churn Hazelnut Ice Cream

When toasting hazelnuts keep the heat below medium and don't walk away- you want to keep tossing the hazelnuts to keep them from burning. This allows the oils to release and therefore the skin to come off.
While the recipe only calls for 100 grams of hazelnut butter, I find that I need at least 250 grams of hazelnuts for my vitamix to actually turn it into hazelnut butter. You can store any extra in an airtight container in the fridge and use as you would use any other nut butter.
If you find the hazelnut butter difficult to stir in just let it sit out for a little until it comes to room temperature.
If you don't have flaky sea salt you can always leave it out, I don't recommend substituting regular table salt because it will simply make salty ice cream whereas the flaky salt adds little bursts of salt to balance out the sweet richness.
Both elements of chocolate can be left out but I think they make quite the yummy addition.
This recipe is quite creamy but for optimal scoopability, allow it to sit out for 5-10 minutes before scooping and serving.