The Best Creamy & Easy Homemade Peach Ice Cream

Is there any sound more joyful than the gentle whir of a homemade ice cream maker on a hot summer day? Is there any taste more perfect than a scoop of rich, creamy, and intensely flavorful ice cream made with fresh, sun-ripened peaches? If you’re searching for that quintessential taste of summer, this is the ultimate guide to creating the best Homemade Peach Ice Cream of your life.

This isn’t just a recipe; it’s a timeless summer tradition in a bowl. This is a classic, Southern-style churned ice cream, which uses a rich and delicious combination of different dairy products to create an unbelievably smooth and creamy base. We’ll show you how to take the best peaches of the season and turn them into a frozen treat that is bursting with pure, authentic fruit flavor. Get ready to create some delicious memories!

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Recipe Overview: The Ultimate Taste of Summer

What makes this Homemade Peach Ice Cream so beloved is its authentic, intensely peachy flavor and its incredibly rich and creamy texture. This recipe uses a classic, easy method that doesn’t require making a complicated cooked custard base. Instead, fresh peaches are puréed with a rich and unique blend of half-and-half, sweetened condensed milk, and evaporated milk. The result is a foolproof, old-fashioned ice cream that is simply the perfect celebration of peak-season peaches.

Metric	Time / Level
Total Time	4 hours 35 minutes (includes freezing)
Active Prep Time	15 minutes
Difficulty Level	Easy
Servings	32 (makes about 2 quarts)

The Essential Ingredients for the Creamiest Ice Cream

This recipe uses a handful of classic, high-impact ingredients to create its signature rich and creamy texture.

• Fresh Peaches: The undisputed star of the show! The success of this ice cream depends on using the best peaches you can find. You want perfectly ripe, fragrant, and intensely sweet fresh peaches for the most incredible flavor.
  • How to Choose: A perfect, ripe peach will have a beautiful golden-yellow background color, a fragrant, sweet aroma, and will yield to firm, gentle pressure. Avoid rock-hard peaches, as they lack flavor.
  • Best Variety: Freestone yellow peaches are the easiest to work with, as their pits come away cleanly from the flesh.
• The Southern-Style Dairy Medley: This combination is the secret to an incredibly rich and smooth ice cream with a classic, nostalgic flavor.
  • Half-and-Half Cream: Provides the perfect base balance of rich cream and milk.
  • Sweetened Condensed Milk: Adds sweetness and is a key ingredient for a smooth, non-icy texture. The high sugar content helps to keep the ice cream from freezing rock-solid.
  • Evaporated Milk: Adds a unique, concentrated, and slightly caramelized milky flavor that is a hallmark of many old-fashioned ice cream recipes.
  • Whole Milk: Used to top off the mixture to the perfect consistency for churning.
• White Sugar: Just enough to enhance the natural sweetness of the peaches and to help create a smooth, scoopable final product.

Pro Tutorial: The Easiest Way to Peel Peaches

For the smoothest ice cream, you’ll want to peel your peaches. The “blanching” method is a game-changer!

1. Prep: Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and prepare a large bowl of ice water on the side.
2. Score: Use a small knife to gently score a shallow “X” on the bottom of each peach.
3. Blanch: Carefully lower the peaches into the boiling water for just 30 to 60 seconds.
4. Shock: Immediately use a slotted spoon to transfer the peaches from the boiling water to the ice water bath. This stops the cooking process.
5. Peel: Once the peaches are cool enough to handle, you can use your fingers or a small knife to easily peel the skin away. It should slip right off!

Step-by-Step to the Best Homemade Peach Ice Cream

This recipe requires an ice cream maker, but the process is wonderfully simple.

Step 1: Prepare the Creamy Peach Base

First, prepare your fresh peaches by peeling, pitting, and chopping them.

In a blender or a food processor, combine the chopped peaches with the pint of half-and-half and the 1/2 cup of white sugar. Work in batches if you need to, to avoid overfilling your blender.

Blend the mixture until the peaches are puréed and the mixture is smooth.

Step 2: Combine the Ice Cream Mixture

In a large bowl or directly in your gallon ice cream freezer container, combine the peach purée mixture, the can of sweetened condensed milk, the can of evaporated milk, and the teaspoon of vanilla extract. Stir everything together until it is well combined.

Pour in enough whole milk to bring the mixture up to the “fill line” on your ice cream maker’s canister (this will be about 2 cups). Stir one last time.

Pro Tip: For the absolute creamiest result with the smallest ice crystals, it is highly recommended to chill this ice cream base thoroughly in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, or even overnight, before you churn it. A very cold base churns faster and produces a smoother final product.

Step 3: Churn the Ice Cream

Pour the chilled ice cream mixture into the freezer bowl of your ice cream maker.

Freeze and churn the ice cream according to your manufacturer’s specific instructions. This will typically take about 20 to 25 minutes. The ice cream is done churning when it has thickened to the consistency of a thick, soft-serve ice cream.

Step 4: Ripen (Freeze) Until Firm

The freshly churned ice cream will be delicious but very soft. To get a firm, scoopable consistency, you need to “ripen” it in the freezer.

Transfer the churned ice cream to an airtight, freezer-safe container. Press a piece of plastic wrap or parchment paper directly onto the surface of the ice cream to prevent ice crystals from forming.

Freeze until the ice cream is firm, which will take about 4 hours.

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Serving Your Homemade Ice Cream

There is nothing quite like a scoop of fresh, homemade ice cream. Serve it in chilled bowls or your favorite waffle cones. For a beautiful presentation, you can garnish each serving with a fresh slice of peach.

Storage and Make-Ahead Tips

Homemade ice cream is a wonderful treat to have waiting in your freezer.

• Storage: Store the ice cream in an airtight, freezer-safe container in the coldest part of your freezer (usually the back).
• Preventing Freezer Burn: To keep your ice cream at its best, always press a piece of plastic wrap or parchment paper directly onto the surface of the ice cream before securing the lid. This minimizes its exposure to air.
• Longevity: Your homemade ice cream will have the best, creamiest texture within the first week. It will still be delicious for up to a month, but may start to develop some small ice crystals over time.

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Creative Recipe Variations

This classic peach ice cream is a fantastic base for other delicious summer flavors.

1. Add a Berry Swirl: For a beautiful and delicious Peach Melba or Peach-Blueberry ice cream, you can create a simple fruit swirl. After you have transferred the churned ice cream to your freezer container, dollop a few spoonfuls of a raspberry or blueberry purée over the top and use a knife to gently swirl it in just a couple of times before the final freeze.
2. Make it a Peach Cobbler Ice Cream: For a fun, textural twist, you can fold in 1/2 cup of crushed shortbread cookies or buttery graham cracker pieces into the ice cream after it has finished churning, just before you transfer it to the freezer.
3. Add a Hint of Warm Spice: To complement the sweet peaches, you can add 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon or a tiny pinch of ground cardamom or nutmeg to the sugar when you purée the peaches.

Enjoy the Ultimate Summer Tradition!

You’ve just created the quintessential taste of summer in a bowl. This Homemade Peach Ice Cream is a celebration of fresh, seasonal fruit and the simple joy of a classic, homemade treat. It’s a creamy, refreshing, and deeply satisfying dessert that is perfect for sharing with family and friends on a warm day.

We hope you love every last, perfect, peachy spoonful!

If you enjoyed making this recipe, please leave a comment below or share it with a friend who loves homemade ice cream!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)