Name: Blueberry Cheesecake No-churn Ice Cream
Prep time: 30 min
Total time: 330 min
Ingredients: 1 cup blueberries; 3 Tablespoon sugar; 2 Tablespoon lemon juice; 1 teaspoon lemon zest; 14.5 oz can sweetened condensed milk; 8 oz block cream cheese (softened); 2 cups heavy cream; 1 cup crushed graham crackers

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Sweet ice cream, tart blueberries, and tangy cheesecake come together in this most amazing Blueberry Cheesecake No-churn Ice Cream. The best part? No ice cream maker required!

With an abundance of summer blueberries at my disposal and a hankering for fancy ice cream, this recipe was born. I spent most of the summer watching my family enjoy delicious ice cream treats, not feeling comfortable in the safety of the ice cream for myself. Have you ever gone down the ice cream rabbit hole? You would think that something like ice cream would be safe to eat for celiacs, wouldn't you? Nope, that's not always the case.

Blueberry cheesecake no churn ice cream in a loaf pan with a scoop in an ice cream scoop. Sugar cones to the side.

The Perils of Finding Gluten-free Ice Cream

Many ice creams while on the surface might be gluten-free, still aren't safe to eat:

Ice cream shops that scoop ice cream out of tubs are a definite no-go due to cross contact. Sure they could scoop from a fresh tub with a clean scoop for you if you ask, but if you dig a little deeper you may find that the ice cream is produced in the same facility or on the same lines as their other ice creams, opening up the door to cross-contamination issues with the ice cream itself.
For that reason, many ice cream brands say that they won't make gluten-free claims due to cross-contact in the production process.
Soft-serve shops can also be tricky to navigate. The toppings, gluten and gluten-free, are usually grouped closely together and the milkshake/blizzard blenders are not cleaned between every use leaving the door wide open for cross-contamination.
Even when reading labels at the grocery store, sometimes it's hard to tell if the ice cream is safe unless it explicitly states it's gluten-free.

So what's a girl in the heat of summer to do? I guess what a girl always does... make her own ice-cream!

Why No-Churn?

Problem is, I really can't stand the ice cream maker. First off there's the bowl. If it's even in the freezer when the urge strikes, it's buried somewhere deep under mountains of frozen fries and mystery meats. Then there's the machine itself, it's loud enough to wake a sleeping child next door! Who wants to bother?

Well, my friends, what if I told you could make deliciously creamy ice cream, without the clunky machine? You can!

Enter: no-churn ice cream. Let me tell you, it's so easy, so creamy, and so delicious, it's totally worth making at least once! I found this recipe recipe for vanilla no-churn ice cream, which seems to be the standard base recipe. From there, you can add in whatever tickles your fancy! I personally went all in on this blueberry cheesecake flavor!

What I love about this flavor, Blueberry Cheesecake, and no-churn ice cream in general:

Both sweet AND tart! If you're not a fan of overly sweet desserts, this is your jam!
If you love cheesecake... well, hi! Skip right to the recipe!
Easy to make with only a handful of ingredients!
Creamy, not icy.
An impressive homemade dessert! Pull this out of the freezer and wow your guests!

Only Seven Ingredients Needed

While this ice-cream sounds fancy, it only requires seven ingredients!

Flat lay of ingredients needed for blueberry cheesecake no churn ice cream.

Ice-cream Base:

Sweetened condensed milk
Heavy whipping cream

Blueberry Swirl:

Blueberries: fresh or frozen
Sugar
Lemon

Cheesecake Component:

Cream cheese: brick-style cream cheese, not whipped
Graham Crackers: I used Pamela's Gluten-free Graham Crackers. They have a nice cinnamony flavor. You could use any kind, but go with some that have a cinnamon flavor!

Making Blueberry Cheesecake No-churn Ice Cream

Step 1: Make the blueberry sauce by combining blueberries, sugar, lemon juice, and zest in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer for about five minutes.

Blueberries, sugar, and lemon juice in a sauce pan, cooked down into blueberry sauce, shown on a wooden spoon.

Allow to cool to at least room temperature. I used fresh blueberries, but frozen should also work.

That sauce right there is so good! It would be delicious on so many other things!

Step 2: Whip heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form.

A bowl of heavy whipping cream, whipped to stiff peaks.

Step 3: Combine sweetened condensed milk with softened cream cheese. Then, slowly fold the cream cheese mixture into the whipped cream.

Sweetened condensed milk is poured over softened cream cheese, then the mixture is folded into the whipped cream.

Step 4: Gently fold the blueberry sauce into the ice cream mixture. Don't over mix, leave it swirled!

Blueberry sauce is folded into the ice cream base, leaving vibrant purple swirls in the bowl.

Can we just have a moment for those gorgeous swirls?...

Step 5: Put a layer of ice cream base, followed by a layer of crushed graham crackers in a loaf pan. Continue layering until the loaf pan is full and ingredients are gone, using extra containers if needed.

Layering the ice cream in a loaf pan alternately with Pamela's gluten free graham crackers.

Step 6: Freeze! At least 5 hours or until solid. In the meantime, do some preemptive cardio.

Blueberry cheesecake no churn ice cream in a loaf pan, a scoop in a yellow ice cream scoop is resting on the ice cream.

Once it's nice a frozen, get yourself a nice big scoop and plop it on a gluten-free cone!
Y-U-M!

If you love this easy dessert, check out how to make ice-cream cake! It's easier than you'd think and another stunning dessert!