Rich, creamy, and smooth, this Lemon Crumb Ice Cream has the bright flavor of lemon combined with the salty sweet flavor of a graham cracker crust!
A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I took a last minute quick trip to St. Louis. While we enjoyed our couple of day stay a lot, it was hot.
As in really hot. With high humidity. It didn’t take long for us to start seeking air conditioning or a huge glass of ice water after being outdoors for any length of time.
When air conditioning and ice water weren’t an option, there was frozen custard. Not just any frozen custard, Ted Drewes frozen custard. So good.
Since it was so hot out, I strayed from my usual chocolate or peanut butter options and went for something citrusy. I settled on a creamy lemon custard with graham crackers.
After my first bite, I knew I had to recreate it at home. It was light and tangy with just the right amount of sweetness. Just what you want on a hot, summer afternoon!
I know a lot of people are wary of making custard because of the eggs involved, or they don’t like the extra time it takes.
So I made my version a lemon crumb ice cream. I still wanted that rich, creamy texture of frozen custard, so I decided to try adding pudding mix.
I mixed up the base like you would a pudding, whisking it until the mixture thickened. It worked beautifully. The ice cream came out rich, creamy, and smooth.
For the graham cracker crumbs I decided to give them a little extra flavor. I love the flavor of a simple graham cracker pie crust. Since I didn’t want to have to turn the oven on, I just made a quick, smaller version of a no-bake pie crust with larger pieces of crushed graham crackers.
The sweet, salty, buttery pieces were just the addition that the lemon ice cream needed to make it truly addictive!
Lemon Crumb Ice Cream
Ingredients
For the Crumb
- 1 Cup crushed graham crackers
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 2 Tablespoons butter, melted
For the Ice Cream
- 1 1/2 Cups half & half (you can also use heavy cream in place of the half and half)
- 1 Cup heavy cream
- 1/4 Cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 Cup sugar
- 1 (3.4 oz) package instant lemon pudding mix
Instructions
- In a small bowl, stir together crushed graham crackers, sugar, salt, and melted butter. Spread mixture on a paper towel to dry.
- Begin preparing ice cream base by carefully whisking together half & half, heavy cream, lemon juice, vanilla extract, sugar, and pudding mix in a large bowl. Whisk for about 4-5 minutes or until mixture starts to thicken (like pudding).
- Pour mixture into ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer's instructions. When ice cream is soft-set, add graham cracker mixture. (It is okay if graham cracker crumbs are not completely dry.) Finish churning.
- Enjoy or pour into a freezer-safe container to freeze until hard.
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Eunice Wong
Thursday 17th of June 2021
Hi, can I replace the cream with Greek yorgurt?
Jessica@A Kitchen Addiction
Saturday 19th of June 2021
The texture will not be nearly as creamy and the flavor will be noticeably more tangy. But that's up to you if you don't mind. :)
Lea Ann (Cooking On The Ranch)
Monday 19th of March 2018
Pinning. Gotta make this soon.
Marcia
Wednesday 29th of June 2016
So amazingly delicious!
Lisa
Monday 24th of August 2015
This was hands down one of the BEST icecreams I have ever tasted...just like frozed Lemon cream pie. My entire family, including the grandkids just loved it
Jessica@A Kitchen Addiction
Monday 24th of August 2015
Thank you! So glad your family liked it! It's a family favorite here, too! :)
Marie
Friday 3rd of April 2015
i love to try this ice cream .. But can u please tell me what is half and half is because I am from Austrlian