Salted Caramel Pumpkin Ice Cream

Creamy nochurn pumpkin ice cream swirled with salted caramel and pumpkin spice crumble topping.

So you’re ready for fall flavors and pumpkin spice everything, but it’s still 100 degrees out? Same girl, same. Lucky for us, I developed this salted caramel pumpkin no churn ice cream so we can enjoy the best of both worlds. And lemme tell you… it is SO good. I probably stole at least 10 bites while shooting this recipe. AND since I STILL haven’t invested in an ice cream maker – it’s no churn which means all you need is a couple bowls and your freezer. Yussssss. You’re gonna love it! Let’s get right to it.

How to Make Salted Caramel

We’re going to start with the caramel sauce because we want to give it some time to cool before swirling it into the ice cream. Now, if you want to take a shortcut and use your favorite store bought caramel sauce, go for it! This is one of my personal favorites. But, if you’re up for it, make it at home! It’s actually super easy.

Measure out the cream, butter, and salt. Set aside until needed.

In a heavy bottomed medium saucepan (preferably not nonstick – I use my stainless steel one – using a nonstick/teflon pan will make it harder to get a smooth caramel, the sugar always tends to crystallize and clump up in nonstick) add 1 C of granulated sugar, 1/4 C water, and 2 TBSP light corn syrup. Stir gently just to moisten all the sugar. Cook over medium high heat until the mixture starts to bubble around the edges. Put a lid on the pan and let it simmer for 3 minutes. This allows any sugar that is stuck to the sides of the pan to steam back down into the caramel and prevents crystallization.

After 3 minutes, remove the lid. Don’t stir the caramel anymore after this point. Continue to cook over medium heat and swirl the pan around occasionally. Cook until the caramel reaches an amber color and you can smell the sugar caramelizing. This will happen around 375-380 degrees, but you can eyeball it. You want it to be a medium dark amber color, but it should smell like caramel, not burned sugar.

Take the caramel off of the heat and let it sit for 30 seconds, then, while stirring with a wooden spoon, drizzle in the cream. The mixture will bubble up and steam so be careful. After the cream is incorporated stir in the butter and salt. Set aside to cool. It will thicken and deepen in color as it cools.

Make the Pumpkin Spice Crumble Topping

In a medium bowl, use a fork to mix together the melted butter, flour, brown sugar, and spices. It should be crumbly, but not too dry. Spread out in an even layer on a sheet pan (a quarter sheet pan is plenty big enough if you have one) Put it into a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes. This will crisp up the topping and also cook the flour so that it’s safe to eat. Set aside

Make the Pumpkin Ice Cream Base

Add the heavy cream to the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment and whip until stiff peaks. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, stir together the sweetened condensed milk, pumpkin puree, vanilla, salt, and spices. Take 1 C of the whipped cream and stir it into the pumpkin mixture, then take the pumpkin mixture and fold it into the remaining whipped cream.

Sacrificing a little of the whipped cream into the pumpkin mixture first, then folding it back in to the remaining cream helps it stay light and fluffy and gives the ice cream the best texture. If you skip that part, you risk deflating the cream too much and ending up with soup.

Grab a freezer safe container – I typically use my 9X9 metal pan – but you could use an 8 or 10 inch cake pan, or a couple loaf pans would work too! Layer in 1/3 of the ice cream base, swirl in 1/3 C salted caramel, and sprinkle 1/3 of the pumpkin spice crumble. Repeat 3 times. You will have some caramel left over for serving, but should use all of the ice cream base and crumble topping. Freeze for at least 6 hours, but preferably overnight.

Serve in waffle cones or in a bowl topped with extra salted caramel!

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Check out these other no churn ice cream recipes! Like this Roasted Strawberry Cheesecake No Churn Ice Cream, or these Mocha Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches.