Homemade Raw Milk Ice Cream

Creamy and delicious homemade raw milk ice cream is such a treat! Made with simple ingredients like raw milk, raw cream, maple syrup or raw honey, pastured egg yolks and vanilla – it’s healthy and easy to make. Customize this homemade vanilla ice cream with your own mix-ins to create any flavor!

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homemade raw milk ice cream

We have been learning about the benefits of raw milk for quite a while. But it wasn’t until recently that we finally found a local farm where we can purchase raw milk! I was ecstatic. We would love to have our own family milk cow, but we’re not quite ready yet. So we are very grateful for our farmer friend who is able to supply it for us in the meantime. Because it is summertime and the cows have recently calved, there is lots of extra milk to enjoy! We have been buying so many gallons of milk we can get so we can make delicious summer treats like this one.

I love being able to make homemade raw milk ice cream for my kids for so many reasons. First of all, there are no gross ingredients like you would find in so many of the store-bought ice cream options. It is made with 5 super simple HEALTHY ingredients and no sugar. That’s a win! Of course, all kids love ice cream, but it is usually considered junk food. It has so much refined sugar / corn syrup, weird gums and stabilizers, and ‘natural’ flavors that really aren’t all that natural. I love being able to let them have homemade raw milk ice cream without worrying about what they’re putting into their bodies. The whole family loves it, and it’s made with only the good stuff.

Raw milk has certainly been on the rise in popularity over the last couple of years. Which is amazing because there are so many health benefits in raw milk! The Raw Milk Institute says, “Numerous scientific studies have shown that raw milk is correlated with decreased rates of asthma, allergies, eczema, fever and respiratory infections. Raw milk also aids in recovery from antibiotic use, and provides many gut-healthy probiotics and enzymes.” Read more about the benefits of raw milk here. 

is raw milk safe?

The first question people always have when they find out my family only consumes raw milk is, “is raw milk safe?!” Raw milk is safe as long as you are careful about where you are getting it from. If your milk is coming from a small, clean, healthy farm then yes! The milk will be full of bioavailable (absorbable) vitamin A, D, and K, phosphorus, zinc, and omega-3 fatty acids. Not to mention many beneficial bacteria (great for gut health), enzymes and probiotics! If it is coming from a conventional dairy farm, then no. Traditional dairy farms are usually really large scale and the cows are forced to produce more milk than they would naturally. This leads to mastitis which leads to infection which leads to antibiotic use… never drink raw milk that was intended to be pasteurized.

The process of pasteurization wasn’t invented until 1864. Until then, the only milk that people had ever consumed was raw milk. When people are concerned about the safety of raw milk, I always remind them that EVERYONE drank raw milk up until 5 minutes ago! Although it is done in the name of safety, pasteurization destroys all of the good bacteria and enzymes. This is why we opt to consume milk the way we believe God intended it, with all vitamins, minerals and proteins intact.

ready to try raw milk? check out these raw dairy recipes –

• Raw Milk Yogurt in the Instant Pot
• Raw Milk Greek Yogurt
• Raw Sour Cream
• How to Make Butter from Raw Milk

tips for making homemade raw milk ice cream

-This recipe can be used as a starting point, or an ice cream base, if you will. Feel free to add chocolate chips, chocolate chip cookies, cookie dough, berries, etc. to create many different flavors! Add 1/2 cup of cocoa powder to the recipe before blending if you want to make chocolate ice cream.

-If you do not have access to raw milk or you are not comfortable consuming milk raw, you can replace the fresh milk and fresh cream with whole milk and heavy cream / heavy whipping cream from the grocery store.

-Some people also do not want to consume raw eggs. If this is you, you can mix all of the ingredients together and slowly heat the ice cream base to cook the eggs. Put the mixture in the fridge and allow it to cool completely before pouring into your ice-cream maker. 

-When you store the ice cream in the freezer, it’s helpful to press plastic wrap right on top of the ice cream and then add a lid to your airtight container. This helps prevent ice crystals from forming.

tools you will need

• Blender
• Ice Cream Machine
• Measuring Cups and Spoons

ingredients

• raw milk (or whole milk)
• raw cream (heavy whipping cream)
• raw egg yolks
• maple syrup
• vanilla extract

how to make homemade raw milk ice cream

All ice cream machines are a little different. But the one we have has an insert that needs to be frozen completely before making ice cream. This frozen ice cream maker bowl is what will actually freeze the ice cream mixture while churning. So this is a very necessary step in the process. After your ice cream bowl is frozen solid, you can start to make your ice cream!

First, place all ingredients into a blender and blend on medium speed. Make sure all of the raw egg yolks are completely mixed in.

Pour ice cream mixture into your ice cream machine and follow the manufacturers instructions. The process usually takes about 15-25 minutes. When the ice cream is done churning, you can either eat it right away or allow it to freeze until it’s a little more solid. If you choose to freeze it or store it, pour it into an airtight container. I usually just use a bread loaf pan and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Then stick it in the freezer and enjoy later. The end result is the BEST creamy deliciousness perfect for any summer day. 

topping ideas

-Of course, you can’t go wrong with vanilla ice cream topped with just berries. But this Easy Berry Sauce is even better. It is SO good on Raw Milk Ice Cream!!

-Homemade chocolate or caramel sauce

-Chocolate chips, chocolate chip cookies, cookie dough, etc. 

-Sourdough brownies may be one of my favorite things to eat with homemade ice cream.

-See the ‘tips’ section above for a chocolate ice cream variation.

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