Brown Sugar Ice Cream with Pumpkin Gingersnaps

I always like a little texture with my ice cream. Growing up I always went for simple vanilla ice cream, but then topped it with an excessive amount of sprinkles and gummy bears. There really is nothing that beats that combo for me, but I still like to try! October is still going strong on the pumpkin front, and I just keep churning the recipes out {see what I did there?!}. This simple brown sugar ice cream base pairs perfectly with crumbled pumpkin gingersnaps, soaked in browned butter. If you're not huge into pumpkin, but still want to be basic, try this subtle pumpkin flavored treat. Serve up a bowl while you sit by the warm fire, or if you are like us and the temps are back towards the 100s {seriously AZ?} then cool down with this fall-inspired dessert! 

Brown Sugar Ice Cream with Pumpkin Gingersnaps

Ingredients:

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 cups milk
• 3 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tbsp. pumpkin pie spice
• 2 tbsp. honey
• 6 pumpkin gingersnaps, crumbled
• 3 tbsp. butter

In a medium saucepan, heat together the cream, milk, 1/4 cup of the sugar, spice and honey over medium-high heat, stirring to melt the sugar and honey. Meanwhile, whisk together the egg yolk and the remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a medium bowl and set aside. 

Once the milk mixture begins to simmer, ladle 1/2 cup of the simmering milk into the egg/sugar mixture, slowly pouring as you whisk constantly. Do this one more time with another 1/2 cup of the simmering milk. This allows your eggs to temper, before adding them back into the ice cream base, keeping them from turning into scrambled eggs. 

Slowly add the tempered egg mixture back into the saucepan, whisking as you pour. Bring the mixture back up to a simmer and allow it to thicken slightly, until it coats the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat and pour through a fine mesh sieve into a large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and place into the fridge to cool completely, 8 hours or overnight.

Once the ice cream base has chilled, remove from the fridge and process the base in your ice cream mixer according to its specific directions. While the ice cream begins to churn, heat the butter over medium heat until it begins to brown and has a nutty fragrance. Remove form the heat and add the crumbled cookies. Mix to combined. During the last 5 minutes of mixing, add in the buttered cookies.

Add the churned ice cream into an airtight container and place in the freezer until hardened, about 4 hours before serving.