Make fresh and fruity homemade ice cream in a hurry without an ice cream maker! This Strawberry Soft Serve takes literally minutes and you only need a food processor.
Truly, we love homemade ice cream and popsicles. And even though I tend to use no-cook recipes, or basically "make a smoothie and pour into a mold" things, they still require hours of freezing time. What about when nothing is prepped and it's hot, you're tired, and you just want ice cream? Friends, this. is. it.
Why You Need This Recipe
- A food processor is all you need! No freezing the ice cream machine insert, no cooking, and no churning.
- Four ingredients! Yup, you should always have these on hand.
- The kids can make it. Since the fruit is already the right size, I feel pretty safe letting little hands use the food processor.
Key Ingredients
Strawberries - whether you've frozen your own, or you always pick up a bag at the store, they are perfect to keep in the freezer at all times.
Whole milk or cream - go for the best quality. Your own cows or the local dairy, but whatever you use, make sure it is high fat.
Maple syrup - just a hint to add sweetness to the fruit.
Salt - yup, salt brings everything together!
How to Make Strawberry Soft Serve
Step 1: Process the strawberries, maple syrup, and salt until like big grains of rice.
Step 2: Add in the milk and process a few seconds.
Step 3: Scrape down sides and process again.
Step 4: Scrape down sides one more time and process til mostly smooth.
Tips and Tricks
- I prefer to stay on the side of still having small strawberry chunks over making it into a soup by over processing.
- If it does get too soupy, you can freeze for 20 or so minutes and give it a stir before eating.
- Pre-measure the ingredients into little bowls if your kids are still quite young. This way they can simply do the adding and processing.
- Adding a touch of vanilla extract never hurt anything.
Substitutions
I feel this strawberry ice cream tastes similar with whole milk or cream. To me this is a major bonus as cream is never plentiful enough! I skim what I can off the jars of milk but often I want the cream for other uses. Since I can use whole milk, I make this more often.
No strawberries? No problem. I've made with blackberries, and really you could use any frozen fruit, adjusting sweetener to how the fruit tastes. Slices of peaches may be a bit too big, they might need to be half slices? I feel the key is that the frozen fruit is all similar size so that it processes more evenly (like you wouldn't want to mix blueberries with big strawberries. If you want to use some banana, slice in similar size to the strawberries, etc.).
FAQs
While we consume lots of dairy...not everyone does! My Mom eats a plant based diet and I've made this using the cream off the top of a can of coconut milk and it is delicious!
You can definitely give it a try. It always depends on which fruits you use and how sweet they are on their own. Like people make "ice cream" from bananas only, because if frozen when super ripe they are already super sweet on their own. Sometimes berries can be a bit tart and need a little help.
If you have a high-powered blender that makes smoothies with ease, you should be able to handle this recipe. It is less liquid than a smoothie but just listen to the blender as it works to determine if it is going ok or not.
More Ice Cream Recipes to Enjoy
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Strawberry Soft Serve Ice Cream
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 cups frozen strawberries (10 ounces) or other frozen fruit of choice, see notes
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
- fat pinch sea salt
- ⅔ cup whole milk or cream use the best quality possible
Instructions
- Using a food processor or high speed blender, process the strawberries, maple syrup and salt until like big grains of rice.
- Add in the milk and process a few seconds.
- Scrape down sides and process again.
- Scrape down sides one more time and process til kinda smooth.
- If it's too soupy freeze until firm enough, otherwise, enjoy!
Adventures of a Real Mom
Reblogged this on Adventures of a Real Mom and commented:
Can't wait to make this!
Mariah Babcock
Oh my! This is so good! And easy! Definitely gonna pick strawberries this year to make this often!