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The Fusion You Didn’t Know You Needed: Apple Pie Ice Cream

By Author Liv Headley

Posted on  - Last updated:

Apple pie is always best served with ice cream, so why wouldn’t ice cream’s best flavor also be apple pie?

With this amazing fusion recipe, you’ll get to enjoy your favorite warm and cozy dessert as a delicious icy treat! Keep reading to learn how to make apple pie ice cream.

A scoop of apple pie ice cream in a small pie crust cup.

Getting Started

The order of this apple pie ice cream recipe will depend on wait times. The ice cream maker bowl needs 16 to 24 hours to freeze, the ice cream base needs two hours to three days to set, and the pie crust needs two hours in the fridge.

If you want to give your base lots of time to set, start this apple pie ice cream recipe by preparing your vanilla ice cream.

Make the Ice Cream Base

Use a knife to slice down the middle of a vanilla pod. Then scrape out the paste with a spoon.

In a large saucepan, add two cups of whole milk, two cups of heavy cream, a half cup of sugar, a pinch of salt, and both the vanilla paste and the empty pod.

Stirring ice cream base ingredients on the stove.

Cook this on medium heat, stirring occasionally, while you prepare your eggs.

Separate the yolks from your eggs into a bowl with a half cup of sugar and whisk them together until the mixture thickens and lightens in color.

Whisking egg yolks and sugar together.

When the contents of the saucepan start to boil slightly, place your eggs by the stovetop.

If you have one, use a mat under the bowl containing your eggs so that it doesn’t move as you stir it. Now slowly ladle in a third of the milk mixture. Whisking the eggs constantly to evenly distribute the heat.

Pouring ice cream base into egg mixture for tempering.

Turn the burner to low and slowly whisk the egg mixture into the pan. Then switch over to a wooden spoon.

Cook this mixture for a few more minutes, until it thickens just enough to coat the back of the spoon with a thin, white film.

You don’t want this to boil, so quickly take it off the heat and pour your apple pie ice cream base through a fine mesh strainer into an air-tight container. Then seal it and place it in the fridge to set.

A container of ice cream base.

Make the Pie Crust

To prepare the apple pie crust for this ice cream recipe, whisk one and a quarter cup of flour and a half teaspoon of salt together.

Add half a cup of butter and use a pastry cutter, or two forks, to break it up into tiny, pea-sized pieces.

Cold cubes of butter in flour and salt.
Scraping a pastry cutter being used for cutting in pie crust butter.

Fill a measuring cup with cold water and a few cubes of ice. Slowly add it to the bowl, one tablespoon at a time.

You’ll usually need a quarter cup of water, or four tablespoons, in there. The exact amount will change depending on the temperature of your kitchen.

Use a wooden spoon to blend the ingredients between each spoonful until the dough forms large chunks.

Using a wooden spoon to mix ice water into pie crust dough.

Flour your work surface and dump the dough out of the bowl. Use your hands to fold and press the chunks until you’re left with one big dough ball.

A shaggy ball of pie crust dough.

Now, wrap the ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for two hours.

Pie crust wrapped in plastic, chilling in the refrigerator.

Make the Apple Pie Filling

While you wait for the crust to be ready, start making your apple pie ice cream filling!

Start by peeling, coring, and dicing two Golden Delicious apples into half-inch-sized pieces. Then measure out all your other ingredients.

Chopping apples.

Place a medium-sized saucepan over medium-low heat on your stove and melt two tablespoons of butter.

Add the apples and half a cup of brown sugar to the pan. Stir these together with a wooden spoon until the brown sugar evenly coats the apple chunks.

Using a knife to scrape apples into a saute pan.

Then, stir in a teaspoon of cinnamon until the sugar has fully melted.

Adding ground cinnamon to apples and brown sugar.

Now lower the heat and cover the pan so the apples can steam. Make sure you’re stirring it every once in a while to keep the sugars from burning.

When the apples have softened, finish cooking them uncovered until the moisture evaporates. Creating a thick syrup, perfect for your apple pie ice cream!

Apple pie filling cooked to softness.

Take your pie crust from the fridge and preheat the oven to 350º Farrenheit.

Sprinkle some flour onto your work surface and a rolling pin. Using only a gentle force, slowly press and roll out your dough.

Rolling out pie crust.

Start each roll from the center and work outwards to ensure an even spread, but the shape doesn’t really matter.

Pie crust ready for baking.

Roll it to an eighth of an inch thick, then place it on your baking sheet with some parchment paper. Use a fork to poke holes in the surface to stop it from bubbling and puffing up in the oven.

Baked pie crust.

Bake your pie crust for 15 to 20 minutes or until the edges turn a nice golden brown. Then, place it on a cutting board and chop it into bite-sized pieces.

Chopping pie crust into bite-sized pieces.

Finally, it’s time to put your apple pie ice cream together!

Make Apple Pie Ice Cream

Grab the bowl from the freezer at the last possible minute, then quickly assemble your ice cream maker and turn it on before pouring in your apple ice cream base. Otherwise, you could damage the machine.

Pouring ice cream base into the ice cream maker.

Let the ice cream churn for 15 to 20 minutes before adding your apple pie filling and pie crust.

Adding the apple pie filling to the ice cream mixture.
Adding pie crust pieces to the ice cream mixture.

Wait another five to ten minutes for everything to combine. Then, pour your thick and creamy ice cream into its air-tight container.

Apple pie ice cream poured into a container.

Let it finish harderning in the freezer for another two hours. Then reward your hard work with a fresh helping of homemade apple pie ice cream!

How to Serve

Plated scoops of apple pie ice cream served in small pie crust cups.

To make your apple pie ice cream even better, double your pie crust ingredients and use half of it to bake edible pie crust bowls!

Just cut mini pie crusts with a biscuit cutter, or a glass, and bake them in a muffin tin.

Pie crust cups made in a muffin tin.

Enjoy Your Apple Pie Ice Cream!

When it comes to apple pie, there’s no better pairing than ice cream. And this fusion apple pie ice cream recipe brings that pairing to a whole new level!

A half-eating scoop of apple pie ice cream in a pie crust cup.

For more information on the different apples you can use, check out our article on Apple Varieties!

Apple Pie Ice Cream

Apple Pie Ice Cream

Yield: 12 Servings
Prep Time: 2 hours
Mixing Time: 20 minutes
Freezing Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 4 hours 20 minutes

If you love apple pie a la mode, then our fusion apple pie ice cream is for you! This decadent frozen treat of homemade vanilla ice cream combined with apple pie filling and pieces of pie crust (all made from scratch) is sure to delight everyone who tastes it.

Ingredients

  • For the Apple Pie Ice Cream Base
  • 2 cups of whole milk
  • 2 cups of heavy cream
  • 1 cup of sugar
  • Pinch of salt
  • 5 egg yolks
  • 1 Vanilla pod (2 tsp of vanilla extract)
  • For the Pie Crust
  • 1 ¼ cups of all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup of softened butter
  • ½ tsp of salt
  • ¼ cup of ice water
  • For the Filling
  • 2 Golden Delicious apples
  • 1 tsp of cinnamon
  • ½ cup of brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp of butter

Instructions

For the Apple Pie Ice Cream Base

  1. Slice down the middle of the vanilla pod and use a spoon to scrape out the paste
  2. Cook the whole milk, heavy cream, half the sugar, the vanilla pod, and the vanilla paste in a large saucepan on medium heat, stirring occasionally
  3. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until it becomes light and creamy
  4. When the contents of the pan start to lightly boil, slowly ladle a third of the mixture into the egg bowl, stirring constantly
  5. Turn the heat down to low and pour the tempered egg mixture back into the pan
  6. Stir this with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens just enough to coat the back of the spoon
  7. Remove from heat, pour into an air-tight container, seal, and put it in the fridge
  8. Let your apple ice cream base set for a minimum of two hours and a maximum of three days

For the Pie Crust

  1. Add your flour and salt to a bowl, whisking just enough to blend
  2. Dump in your softened butter and use a dough cutter to distribute it
  3. Fill a measuring cup with cold water and ice
  4. Add around four tablespoons of the ice water to the bowl, stirring between each addition
  5. When the dough starts to form large chunks, prepare a floured surface for kneading
  6. Press and fold your dough until it forms a single ball 
  7. Wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge for two hours
  8. Preheat your oven to 350º Farrenheit and re-flour your work surface
  9. Use a gentle force to slowly roll out your dough, starting from the center and working out to all sides
  10. Roll it to about an eighth of an inch thick, then poke holes along the surface with a fork
  11. Place your crust on a baking sheet with parchment paper and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown
  12. Chop it into bite-sized pieces
  13. Leave these in a bowl by your ice cream maker for later

For the Filling

  1. Peel, core, and dice two Golden Delicious apples
  2. Measure out all your ingredients and bring them to the stove
  3. Melt the butter in a medium-sized pan
  4. Add in the apples and brown sugar, stirring just enough to evenly distribute the sugar
  5. Add the cinnamon and stir everything until the sugar fully melts
  6. Turn the heat down to low and cover the pot until the apples have softened
  7. Stir it occasionally to make sure the sugars don’t burn
  8. Once the apples are cooked, uncover the pot and cook until the water evaporates and it becomes syrupy
  9. Pour your apple pie filling into a dish and leave it by the ice cream maker for later

For the Apple Pie Ice Cream

  1. Gather all your ice cream components by the ice cream maker
  2. Grab the ice cream maker bowl from the freezer, assemble the machine, turn it on, and pour in the apple ice cream base
  3. Let that churn in the machine for 15 to 20 minutes, until it’s almost ready
  4. Slowly pour in your apple pie filling and pie crust chunks
  5. Let the components fully incorporate for five to ten minutes
  6. Pour your apple ice cream into an air-tight container and put it in the freezer to finish hardening, at least two hours
  7. Serve up your apple pie ice cream and enjoy!
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