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15 Fantastic Frozen Custard Recipes to Try

January 16, 2025

For over 100 years, frozen custard has delighted tastebuds across the United States. At Freddy’s, we happily celebrate the craveability of frozen custard treats every day and invite our guests to enjoy our frozen custard recipes with their own customizations. From scoops of custard to shakes and sundaes made with it, frozen custard recipes and dishes are full of flavor and easily adaptable to suit individual palates. Below, learn more about how to make your own version of this deliciously decadent treat and consider trying one of the familiar or unique flavors in the provided collection of frozen custard recipes!

 

Frozen Custard Recipes: Common Ingredients, Tools and Tips

 

baker cracking egg over bowl

 

Can’t get to a Freddy’s near you today? Want to attempt making your very own frozen custard? In this section, find an overview of the recipe basics for making frozen custard including ingredients, tools and tips. Although the recipe you ultimately select may offer variations on what’s listed below, this guide will help you with custard preparation, cooking, cooling and churning experience.

 

Basic Ingredients in Frozen Custard Recipes

 

Whole milk and heavy cream, egg yolks and granulated sugar, as well as a pinch of salt and vanilla, either as an extract or paste from the bean, form the foundation of many frozen custard recipes. The exact ratios of each ingredient needed in a recipe are impacted by factors including desired consistency or the incorporation of other flavoring ingredients. Additionally, some recipes utilize ingredient substitutions to suit allergies or other dietary preferences. For example, a recipe intended to provide a lower-fat frozen custard or a dairy-free one might use soy milk instead. If you are using a pint of Freddy’s frozen custard as the base for creating other delicious flavors, we make it easy to review the nutritional information and potential allergens in our frozen custard recipe, as well as those for our many other menu items.

 

Flavoring Ingredients in Frozen Custard Recipes

 

In addition to the taste and texture resulting from the base ingredients of frozen custard, flavoring additions are also essential to frozen custard recipes. Importantly, the timing for adding these ingredients may vary according to their type. For example, cocoa might be added prior to chilling, while adding caramel ribbons to the frozen custard may happen just before churning finishes. Frozen custard flavor may be created using the following ingredients: fruit and herbs; cakes, cookies and other desserts and snacks; chocolate; nuts and nut butters and candy. Ingredient selection may be inspired by classic pairings, seasonal inspirations, other sweet treats and even beverages. On the Freddy’s menu, we invite our guests to provide us with a loose frozen custard recipe for their sundaes or concrete with their choice of assorted mix-ins, such as marshmallows and pecans.

 

Common Tools and Equipment Used to Make Frozen Custard

 

Both restaurant chefs and home cooks may prefer to use different tools or equipment even if they are making the exact same dish. The same is true in frozen custard recipes. For example, while some recipes may call for straining the custard, others may leave it out entirely. However, if you are preparing to try a frozen custard recipe in the near future, here is a list of common tools and equipment that you may want to have available.

 

Utensils: Whisks, spatulas and spoons are vital for mixing the custard base, stirring in flavor additions and transferring every drop of custard from one piece of cookware to the next. Straining tools like a sieve, cheesecloth or mesh strainer may be recommended to create the smoothest texture or as a solution for any mistakes that may be made in the process. For ingredient and cooking accuracy, measuring cups and spoons are beneficial, as well as thermometers. You might also need a knife to chop up frozen custard ingredients like candy bars or cookies and a scoop for serving.

 

Cookware: A few different mixing bowls may be needed for combining ingredients in the frozen custard recipe as well as cooling at various stages. Additionally, a saucepan is typically used to heat the milk and cream. Finally, a freezer-safe storage container will ensure that your frozen custard is ready for enjoyment and helps preserve its peak quality, as highlighted by the National Center for Home Food Preservation.

 

Appliances: While an ice cream maker and ice cream maker bowl are generally recommended for the churning and freezing process, alternative methods may call for food processors or stand mixers, as illustrated in this recipe from Serious Eats.

 

3 Tips for Making Frozen Custard Recipes at Home

 

In trying a frozen custard recipe from a cookbook, food blog or social media video or post, it’s likely that the recipe has already gone through substantial trial and error. Based on their own experiences with recipe testing, creators will often offer tips or cautions as needed in their content. Here are 3 general recommendations to consider, if you are new to making frozen custard:

 

Choose quality ingredients. Relatively few ingredients come together to form the base of a custard and sometimes only a few more complete its final flavor. Ensuring that they are of the best possible quality, perhaps fresh from your local farmer’s market, will help further enhance the overall taste of your frozen custard.

 

Try your best to avoid curdling. Sometimes, the eggs end up more scrambled than they should be. If this situation does happen to you, you will certainly not be alone in experiencing this custard-making pitfall. Patience with mixing and attention to heat and cooking time are key. For additional guidance about how to avoid frozen custard pitfalls, check out this list of common mistakes in making homemade ice cream and custard from Tasting Table.

 

Don’t rush the cooling process. Whether you are freezing the ice cream maker bowl in preparation for executing the frozen custard recipe or in the middle of chilling your custard base prior to churning, time yourself accordingly per the recipe’s recommendations.

 

15 Frozen Custard Recipes

 

Sundae custard bar with ingredients

 

Now that you have an idea of what to expect when making a frozen custard recipe, you may be ready to try one! In this section, find a curated list of 15 different frozen custard recipes, ranging from those with more classic flavors to others with more unique or multi-layered tastes. Whether you try one to simply enjoy with a spoon or use it as the filling for another dish, keep the above tips in mind, as well as those provided by the recipe creators. If you aren’t feeling up to making your own custard base, visit a Freddy’s near you for our frozen vanilla or chocolate custard and then create many of the flavors below with other homemade or store bought components, like caramel sauce or candied lemon. Alternatively, customize your own frozen custard recipe with our rich and creamy custard choices as well as the many mix-ins, toppings and sauces available at Freddy’s.

 

Vanilla: This frozen vanilla custard from All Recipes showcases a classic take on this dessert and provides a versatile foundation for creative combinations. In the “Chef’s Notes,” you’ll also find a cone recipe in which you may choose to serve this decadent anytime treat!

 

Chocolate: For another beloved sweet flavor, this chocolate frozen custard recipe from The View from Great Island invites indulgence in the cool, creamy, chocolate-y goodness that you’ve been craving. This recipe also includes additional tips and tricks for the frozen custard making and storage process.

 

Lemon: Refreshing and luscious, tangy and sweet, lemon juice and zest offer the perfect foil to the richness of the eggs and cream in this frozen lemon custard recipe from The Frayed Apron. The notes in the recipe also highlight that lemon can be exchanged for other citrus fruits, if you prefer lime or orange flavor over lemon.

 

Strawberry: At Curly Girl Kitchen, it’s recommended that strawberries are chopped finely to meld more seamlessly with the texture of the custard versus being left in larger chunks. Check out the surprise ingredient which is intended to benefit the overall mouthfeel of the final frozen custard!

 

Peanut Butter Cup: Frozen custards that incorporate peanut butter often have a chocolate base, this recipe from 5 Boys Baker uses a vanilla custard foundation and then adds in both Reese’s® Peanut Butter Cups and melted peanut butter. It may be hard to keep this batch of frozen custard around for more than a day or two, if you happen to have peanut butter fans in the house!

 

Cookies and Cream: Burrata and Bubbles offers a recipe for this classic pairing, as well as multiple serving suggestions in addition to simply enjoying on a cone or with a spoon. There is also a “how-to” section for different variations on this same dessert duo.

 

Butter Pecan: Butter pecan is another popular flavor. However, this recipe from Simply Recipes amplifies the rich, nutty goodness by incorporating browned butter into the custard base.

 

Mint Chocolate Chip: Create an eye-catching treat with this recipe from Brown Eyed Baker. It includes both guidance on achieving the classic green hue often associated with this pairing and choosing preferred levels of mintiness.

 

Cookie Dough: Enjoy two recipes in one with Honest and Truly’s cookie dough frozen custard recipe. This creator provides both directions around custard making and about how to make edible cookie dough, if you’ve only previously made dough intended for baking.

 

Salted Caramel: This recipe from Entertaining with Beth includes a video tutorial to help guide you through the process. The instructions also include pairing recommendations that would go well with this rich, creamy treat.

 

Coquito: Sense & Edibility® offer this frozen custard recipe which is inspired by a Puerto Rican holiday drink. The recipe includes guidance about both booze-infused and non-alcholic variations of this dessert.

 

Pumpkin Pie: Including a variety of spices and the recommendation for a candied ginger garnish, enjoy a scrumptious seasonal sweet with this frozen custard recipe from Beyond Mere Sustenance. This recipe also illustrates some of the ingredient variations (types of milk, whole egg use) that may appear in the directions for this dish.

 

S’mores: With toasty marshmallow custard and chunks of s’mores, this recipe from Food52 may bring the flavors of summer camping or fire pit fun in any season. For this recipe, one of the greatest perils may be trying to keep the S’mores from being eaten before they are incorporated into the base!

 

Cake Batter: Store bought cake mix is often the key to this recipe, as shared by That Skinny Chick Can Bake. Feeling like having a sweet extravaganza? Get two boxes, bake one and top your final creation with cake pieces.

 

Waffles and Bacon: While this pairing isn’t totally out-of-the-box when it comes to breakfast, it may provide quite a surprise when it appears for dessert. For fans of these two foods, this frozen custard recipe from AllRecipes may be the one to wow them!

 

FAQ about Frozen Custard Recipes

 

Do I have to add the salt listed in my frozen custard recipe?

Most recipes call for just a small amount of salt which helps create the smooth creamy texture that custard is known for. If you are looking to lower the total sodium in a frozen custard recipe, it may be better to consider other flavoring ingredients instead of the initial (and minimal) salt in the custard base. For example, if a recipe calls for peanuts, use the unsalted variety, even if the frozen custard recipe doesn’t specifically call for it.

 

Do I have to have an ice cream maker to make a frozen custard recipe?

No, you don’t, although it does make the process a little easier and may offer better control over various factors like churning and temperature!

 

How can I store my frozen custard?

Freezer storage temperature impacts how long frozen custard can be stored, ranging from one to several weeks. Longer storage time for frozen custard recipes, as with many other food items, may also result in taste and texture changes, even if the custard is still safe to eat. As usual, it’s helpful to adhere to any additional guidance about proper storage in the recipe itself. However, as is the case with frozen custard from Freddy’s, pints and quarts of this treat don’t typically make it long enough to necessitate long-term storage!

 

At Freddy’s, we’re proud of our frozen custard recipe and freshly churn it at our restaurants so that our guests can enjoy it at peak quality. We also offer dozens of additional flavoring options with sauces, fruit, candy, cookies and more, so that you can personalize your own fantastic custard combination. Want to skip the kitchen time and go straight to enjoying your frozen custard treat? Stop by your local Freddy’s today!