Shortcut Blueberry Ice Cream

This recipe for shortcut blueberry ice cream is almost to easy to be called a recipe!  All you need is your favorite vanilla ice cream, some blueberry jam and a little bit of time.  

Summertime, how do I love thee..let me count the ways!  And let me start that counting with a frosty dish of shortcut blueberry ice cream, because let’s face it: pretty much everyone has ice cream on their summer love list.  And while I do love me a cone full of Dairy Queen soft serve, with practically no work at all you can also have a freezer full of your own concoction of vanilla ice cream swirled with ribbons of luscious summery blueberry jam.

And even better, there is no ice cream maker involved!  Just you, your mixing bowl and your freezer.  Shortcut blueberry ice cream, here we come…let’s make it!

This shortcut blueberry ice cream recipe is as easy as vanilla ice cream, blueberry jam, and time!Click To TweetNow, you can make this any jam flavor you want…if you are a strawberry or blackberry or apricot jam person, go ahead and make it that way.  But in early summer, I am All About the Blueberries.

Aren’t they just so cheery?  So, here’s what you need to do.  Grab yourself a pint of your favorite vanilla ice cream.  In our house that either means Ben and Jerry’s, or the old classic Haagen-Daz.

Put it in the fridge instead of the freezer for an hour or so.  You want it soft enough to stir, but not soupy.   When it’s soft enough, scoop it out into a medium sized mixing bowl or a loaf pan and stir it a little until it is all the same consistency.

Now!  Get out your favorite blueberry jam.  In my house we are currently obsessed with homemade blueberry jam that we make with fresh blueberries and chia seeds.  No scary canning, no pectin or any of that other stuff.  It’s kind of like jam magic, and click here for that recipe!

But of course you can also use a store-bought blueberry jam, and my go-to for that is the marvelous Stonewall Kitchen Wild Maine Blueberry Jam.  There are little teeny wild blueberries mixed in with it, and it’s as close to blueberry jam heaven as you could want.

Drop tablespoon-fuls of jam on to the top of your soft ice cream, and gently swirl them into ribbons and streaks with a knife.  You want your blueberry ice cream to have blueberry throughout it, but in nice thick ribbons, so swirl it juuuuuuuust until the jam is mixed in.

Now comes the hard part.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, pop it in the freezer, and wait the agonizing amount of time that it takes to re-freeze into ice cream consistency.  I KNOW. For me, that is overnight, because I want it to be nice and firm.  It gives you something to look forward to the next day!

Now go get a cone or a bowl and your favorite ice cream scoop and dig in!  Happy blueberry ice cream summer, my friends!  What’s your favorite summer treat?  I want to know!