cheeky recipe: vanilla malt ice cream

so i am already kind of in love with my ice cream maker. i wanted to start with a really easy recipe for my first attempts. thanks to annie's eats and david liebowitz for their great tips for beginning ice cream makers. i started with annie's philadelphia style vanilla bean and tweaked it a bit, less sugar, a touch more vanilla, and lots of malt balls. i brought this to my friend kristen's birthday dinner tonight and it was pure vanilla malt goodness.

vanilla malt ice cream (adapted from annie's eats)

• 2 cups heavy cream, divided
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• pinch of salt (i used vanilla bean salt)
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup crushed malt ball centers
• 1 tablespoon of vodka (optional)

combine 1 cup of the cream with the sugar and salt in a medium saucepan. scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the pan and drop in the vanilla pod. heat over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is dissolved. remove the mixture from the heat and stir in the remaining 1 cup of cream, the milk and the vanilla.

cover and refrigerate until the mixture is well chilled. remove the vanilla bean before churning. freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

you can add a tablespoon of vodka before churning to help keep ice cream smooth. i added the malt ball centers with five minutes of churning left