9 Ice Cream Recipes You Need To Try This Summer

The ice cream maker is a kitchen appliance owned by many and employed by few. Sure, you might haul it out once or twice each sunny season to make a batch of French vanilla, but summer quickly gets away from many of us, and the idea of committing one's weekend to churning up a pint can grow daunting. That's why we should all make homemade ice cream a habit—when it becomes routine, it becomes easily achievable.

What follows are recipes for all kinds of ice cream (inventive flavors ahead!), most of which require only minimal cooking, like melting chocolate, or no cooking at all. Most importantly, you'll receive tips for streamlining the process, plus lots of inspiration for your own custom pints. Ice cream doesn't have to be complicated; it only ever has to be delicious.

While many of us are looking for any excuse to bust out our underused ice cream makers, let's start with a recipe that doesn't require one: the classic no-churn vanilla. This is essentially a "cheater semifreddo," starting with a basic mousse and adding sweetened condensed milk to add sweetness and a rich texture. While the vanilla tastes great on its own, you can add flavors or mix-ins to your heart's content. It only needs to freeze for a few hours, so if you want ice cream today, as soon as possible, this is the recipe to use. 

This recipe was designed for the home cook who loves bold flavor but would rather eat a scoop of Breyers than temper any eggs. Pretty in Pink, as we call this flavor, packs a huge punch of strawberry flavor by roasting the berries in advance; this removes some of their water content and keeps them from turning into icy chunks in your final product. Crème fraîche tempers the berries' tartness, but in the spirit of flexibility, you can swap with sour cream if preferred. Get the recipe here.

Commercially made mint-flavored products tend to use mint oil or mint extract for flavor rather than fresh mint (the kind that grows as a plant); this can leave a lot of store-bought mint ice creams tasting like mouthwash. By contrast, this Mint Chocolate Ice Cream recipe features multiple layers of intense minty flavor by steeping fresh mint leaves in the cream and adding mint sugar to the mixture. For a real wallop, toss in some sliced Fannie May Mint Meltaways candies. Get the recipe here.

One of the best ways to use homemade ice cream is to layer it onto a cake, and the cake itself doesn't have to be anything special—a box mix will do just fine. This raspberry ice cream recipe works heavenly well as the center of an almond cake, spread onto the bottom cake layer straight from the ice cream maker while the mixture is still pliable. For killer mix-ins, try chocolate flakes or toasted slivered almonds. Get the recipe here.

This recipe for dark chocolate ice cream features a deeper flavor than most pints you can find at the grocery store. How? By combining bittersweet chocolate and cocoa powder, plus instant espresso powder to lean into the complexity of the chocolate notes. Malted milk powder brings out the chocolate's nuttiness, and buttermilk adds an all-around brightness. The result is a perfectly indulgent base to which you can add all manner of mix-ins: peanut butter cups, M&M's, Oreos, chocolate flakes, toffee, candied pecans, York peppermint patties, roasted peanuts, smoked almonds, bourbon-soaked dried cherries—you get the idea. Now get the recipe.

If you think vanilla is a boring flavor, it might be because you've only tasted the stuff made with imitations and lesser extracts. This recipe for homemade vanilla ice cream aims to correct the record on vanilla by layering vanilla paste, vanilla sugar, and vanilla powder together, ensuring there's not a dull bite to be had. Get the recipe here, and prepare to be amazed.

The trick with peanut butter ice cream is to find a way to spotlight its pure peanut butter flavor without pulling focus toward the mixture's dairy-forward sweetness. This recipe achieves exactly that, creating a roasty, peanutty base flavor and adding in mix-ins that underline its proper peanut crunch. For the Reese's fans out there, rest assured there's chocolate invited to this party, too. Get the recipe here.

Rich coconut ice cream, chewy toasted coconut, crunchy toasted almonds, and flakes of dark chocolate—please tell us that this Almond Joy Ice Cream recipe has your attention. If so, you should know that of all the ice cream recipes in this list, this is the number-one "must try" flavor. It's a variety that lets you choose your own adventure: By adjusting how long you steep the coconut in the dairy, you get to determine just how intense the coconut flavor is in the finished product. Get the recipe here.

You've never had a coffee ice cream like this before. Whereas most store-bought varieties are barely beige, with a hint of coffee flavor, this recipe will make you think you're taking an espresso shot in a waffle cone. Espresso powder, coffee syrup, and espresso baking morsels join forces in this ice cream base to enhance all the flavors that hit your tongue. It's deep, rich, and plays nicely with chocolate, which is just about all we need in life. Get the recipe here.