Rich and creamy ice cream is flavored with cotton candy extract, and dyed vibrant “cotton candy style” colors, for a fun summer dessert. This frozen treat is so simple to make, and no ice cream maker is required!
This is one of my Frozen Dessert recipes I know you’ll want to keep on hand!
We’re in the thick of summer, with all it’s stifling heat and bright sunshine. When the temps rise, I love to make a cool treat for the kiddos.
Especially this cotton candy ice cream. It has all the deliciously sweet flavors you’d expect, as well as the bright colors, of cotton candy, but it’s super easy and fun to make!
Making homemade ice cream is deceptively simple, and most of the time is spent just waiting for it to freeze.
Plus, this cotton candy ice cream recipe doesn’t use an ice cream maker – so you can absolutely make this, with no fancy tools required!
As a bit of an ice cream connoisseur, I can attest that homemade ice cream tastes SOOOO much better than store-bought.
How to make cotton candy no churn ice cream?
This is just an overview; the full ingredients and directions are in the recipe card toward the bottom of this post.
- Beat heavy cream. This is most easily done with a hand mixer, and the heavy cream needs to be very cold.
- Beat milk and sugar. You’ll do this until you have stiff peaks (when you lift the beaters out of the mixture and turn them so the beaters are facing up, the peaks stay mostly upright, and don’t fold down).
- Divide and color. Add half of the mixture to one bowl, and half to the other. Add food coloring and stir well.
- Add to loaf pan. I like to do this in alternating colors, so when you scoop the ice cream, you’ll get some of both colors.
- Freeze. This will take several hours.
Helpful Tip!
The ice cream can be dyed any combination of colors you’d like. I just chose blue and pink to achieve that classic “cotton candy” color scheme. Any food coloring can be used, so please choose a type and color of dye that you love.
Variations of this recipe
- Larger batch – if you’d like more than the 1.5-2 quarts of ice cream this recipe makes, feel free to double the recipe (just make sure to double all of the ingredients), and use a 9×13″ pan instead of a loaf pan.
- Cotton candy extract – without this extract, this ice cream will just taste like a less-flavorful version of vanilla ice cream. You can use any brand you’d like, but this is the cotton candy extract I use (amazon link).
- Dyes – I like to use gel food dye, but you can use traditional liquid dye if you’d like. Just make sure it’s food-safe, and comes in the colors you want to use.
- Sweetened condensed milk – most no-churn ice cream recipes are made using a different method, involving a can of sweetened condensed milk. If you’d like to make this recipe using that method, I’ve included those instructions down in the “chef tips” section of the full written recipe.
FAQ’s
All it means is that no ice cream maker is needed. With traditional ice cream, you need to make an egg custard and add the mixture to an ice cream maker where it’s mechanically churned for a length of time. This recipe eliminates all of that.
Unfortunately no, not with the same creamy results. Milk or half and half just don’t have enough fat content to whip into stiff peaks. Regular whipping cream will technically work, but it won’t be as creamy.
Making no churn ahead of time
No churn ice cream is perfect for making ahead, since it has to freeze for at least 5 hours.
Although, I recommend letting it freeze overnight just to be sure it’s fully frozen.
Storage
Ice cream needs to be frozen in an airtight container, and will last for 2-3 months.
If you use a 9×5″ loaf pan (as depicted in these photos), cover it tightly with 2 layers of foil, or a lid (if it came with one).
My Favorite Thermometer!
I’ve had this mixer for years, and it still works just as well as it did the day I got it. It’s perfect for making homemade no churn ice cream!
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @the_chunky_chef on Facebook and Instagram!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream cold
- 1 cup whole milk cold
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp cotton candy flavor extract
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 – 3 drops red or pink food dye coloring
- 2 – 3 drops blue food dye coloring
- sprinkles for garnish
Instructions
Prepare
- Add a 9×5” loaf pan to the freezer to chill. If your freezer is large enough, you can also add a large mixing bowl (for when you whip the cream). If not, just make sure it's not warm or hot.
Whip the cream
- Add the cold heavy whipping cream to the cold large mixing bowl and beat with an electric hand mixer on MED-HIGH speed until peaks are starting to form.
Add milk, sugar, and flavoring
- To the bowl, add whole milk, granulated sugar, cotton candy extract, and vanilla extract. Beat with mixer on MED speed until stiff peaks are formed. **see Chef Tips note #2 for more information on stiff peaks**
Add colors
- Divide the mixture in half, adding half to a smaller mixing bowl, and leaving the other half in the large mixing bowl.
- To one bowl, add red/pink food coloring, and stir well to combine. To the other bowl, add blue food coloring, and stir well to combine.
Add to pan and freeze
- Use an ice cream scoop to scoop the mixture, and add to the prepared loaf pan in an alternating pattern (one blue, then one pink), repeating until you run out of both mixtures.
- Cover tightly, and freeze for about 4-6 hours, or until hard.
Serve
- Scoop ice cream into a cone or bowl, top with sprinkles, and enjoy!
- Ice cream will have a purple-ish color when melted.
Want to save this recipe for later? Click the heart in the bottom right corner to save to your own recipe box!
Chef Tips
- Recipe makes approximately 1.5 quarts, which I’ve estimated is around 8 – 12 servings. Of course, feel free to break this up into as many (or as few) servings as you’d like.
- Stiff Peaks – When you turn the mixer upside down (with it OFF), so the beaters are facing up, the cream will stand up in a peak (like a little mountain), and not fold over onto itself. This is a great visual guide from Taste of Home.
- For the best storage, I recommend a container like this one (amazon link).
- Exact time needed for freezing will depend on how cold your freezer is.
Sweetened Condensed Milk Version:
- Replace the whole milk and granulated sugar with a 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk.
- After beating the heavy cream until stiff peaks form, add the sweetened condensed milk, cotton candy extract, and vanilla extract, then gently fold with a rubber spatula.
- Proceed with the recipe as directed.
Nutrition Disclaimer
The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Sandra says
This is so fun!! The best treat for summer! My kids enjoyed making and eating this!
Beti says
Such an amazing summer treat!! I love it!
katerina says
Wow! This is such a fun treat! Can’t wait to try it!
Catalina says
wow! This ice cream looks amazing! All the kids will go crazy over it!
Erin says
Such an amazing treat! Can’t wait to make this!
Beth says
Oh, my. Now that looks delicious and so perfect for a hot day! There’s nothing more summer than ice cream that looks AND tastes like cotton candy!