Old-Fashioned Butter Brickle Ice Cream
My favorite ice cream treat as a girl, Old-Fashioned Butter Brickle Ice Cream has disappeared from freezer cases all over the country so one day I decided it was time to make my own. Everyone who has made this says it’s the real deal…and the real deal is wonderful!
The push to finish some gardens in my yard is almost done and I promise some new posts soon but in the meantime I made this Old-Fashioned Butter Brickle Ice Cream for a picnic this past weekend and everyone raved about it.
It is simply the best ice cream so I thought it perfect for me to share again. Toffee flavored ice cream with toffee bits is simply heavenly. I thought my readers wouldn’t mind a blast from the past, especially with a recipe for my favorite ice cream of all time!
I haven’t seen it in grocer’s freezers in decades (which is a big mistake) and yet I’ve never quite let go of how much I loved that delectable treat. Buttery toffee flavored ice cream with toffee bits? It’s not just an ice cream, it’s a journey through my childhood.
From the time I entered kindergarten at the age of four until we moved to a bigger home more suited for the size of our family (5 kids) when I was ten, we lived on St. Madelaine St. in Florissant, MO, a suburb of St. Louis. All of the streets in that neighborhood had Catholic names and both the Catholic church and school were within walking distance of our home.
Did that have anything to do with the number of kids on our street? I don’t know but I have idyllic memories of those times; when walking outside meant finding a playmate and summer days meant trips to the community pool, playing ‘King of the Hill’ during the day and flashlight tag at night.
I had a brother less than a year older than I was and another 2 years younger and I did what they did so I guess you could say I was a tomboy. One of my crowning achievements EVER was beating every single one of the boys down the hill in a road race (balloon tires and all).
I might have had reservations at first but wanting to keep up with the boys saw me swan dive from the high board and cannonball with the best of them.
But I was different from them in many ways. I loved to read and play with Barbie dolls (I was so afraid of tornadoes it was pathetic but I was a good mom…I didn’t race to the basement without those dolls!). I talked sooner than my older brother too.
I remember the Sunday morning when I climbed out of my crib; grabbed our Sunday morning stollen from the kitchen table, climbed into his crib and we both finished it off but I blamed him. Oops.
Quite the trek for little kids but it never seemed that long!
Still, one of the summer memories that is most ingrained in me were the trips to Bergen’s Dairy on Florissant Road. I actually took a gamble they might be there but no; seems they’re long gone. Still that trip remains so familiar in my memory that I was able to recreate it with the magic of Google maps.
A nice little trek for little kids…shows we worked for our ice cream! I don’t recall that I ever walked into Bergen’s and ordered anything but Butter Brickle ice cream.
Oh, I recall perusing that board every single time but nothing ever held the same appeal and as evidence of true love; nothing ever has. Sadly it is unrequited love. Where has all the Butter Brickle ice cream gone? Really; why isn’t every dairy making it even if just for me?!!
I’ve found it in two local spots, neither close enough to walk to and sometimes an urge for an ice cream cone should not constitute having to make a 40 minute round trip by car. Maybe I wanted it all; the sense of family around me, the luxury of a warm summer night and walking lazily home, licking that amazing cone while fireflies fluttered all around us. A time when my world was at peace and seemed almost perfect.
Well, I’m grown up now…that sense of perfection is long gone and now we look for those moments of perfection to punctuate our hectic days. I thought I had found mine. One of those local shops actually agreed to provide me with their recipe and I was as excited as that schoolgirl from long ago.
Until…they waffled. They thought better of it. They changed their mind. I don’t know about you but that set me on fire to make it MYSELF and I have to tell you…this is good, really, really good and in my quest to get it made I discovered some things I did not know.
Butter Brickle was the registered trademark of a toffee ice cream flavoring and of a toffee-centered chocolate-covered candy bar similar to the Heath bar. The flavor and the candy were produced by the Fenn Bros. Ice Cream and Candy CO from Sioux Falls South Dakota.
Old-Fashioned Butter Brickle Ice Cream was introduced to the world back in the 1920’s at the Blackstone Hotel in Omaha, NE. When the company was liquidated in the 1970’s the trademark and formula were sold to the makers of the Heath Bar whose assets were acquired by The Hershey Company in 1996.
If you look closely you’ll see that the packaging on the Heath English Toffee Bits still includes a reference to this history by referring to the content as ‘Bits ‘O Brickle Toffee Bits’. I’ve seen recipes suggest using Skor candy bits covered in chocolate and I’m sure that must taste just fine but it is so not MY Butter Brickle!
I had searched for a recipe before but all I found were egg based and MY ice cream surely was not. One recipe that I saw repeated over and over in my Internet search called for ‘butter flavoring’ and that just seemed wrong so I took my own path. Wanting the ice cream to have a rich toffee/buttery flavor, I made a small batch of a butterscotch sauce that I cooked down until thick and brown which I then added to the ice cream base to intensify that toffee flavor profile.
I had considered making my own toffee and breaking it into bits but stopped myself for a couple of reasons. First, breaking up homemade toffee into little bits seemed a disaster waiting to happen; I imagined toffee dust would ensue more than little toffee pieces. Second; without that effort at homemade candy in the mix, the ice cream was significantly easier to make and really, how much more authentic could you get then by adding the original product? This is decadent; exactly how I remember it. I’m in love.
PIN ‘Old Fashioned Butter Brickle Ice Cream’
Butter Brickle Ice Cream
Ingredients
For the Butter Toffee Sauce:
- 1 Tbsp salted butter
- ¼ cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
For the Butter Brickle Ice Cream:
- 2 cups half and half
- 3 Tbsp butter
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 4 Tbsp toffee sauce
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup Heath toffee bits
- Dash of salt
- Additional bits for garnish if desired
Instructions
- To Make the Butter Toffee Sauce
- Put the butter, brown sugar, cream and salt in a medium saucepan and stir until the butter melts.
- Simmer over medium low heat without stirring for three minutes.
- Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
- Allow to cool while you make the ice cream base.
- To Make the Ice Cream
- Warm the butter, brown sugar and half and half over medium until the butter and sugar have melted. Add the sauce and vanilla, still until thoroughly mixed and chill for a minimum of 4 hours; preferably overnight.
- Add the heavy cream and process the mixture in an ice cream machine.
- Add the toffee bits at the end of processing just to mix them in.
- Ripen in a container for a minimum of four hours before serving.
I followed your recipe exactly and the ice cream won’t harden. Did this ever happen to you. While I’ve never made this flavor, I do make ice cream and never had this happen
I have never had that happen Josiane; there is nothing in the mixture that should not harden. Maybe the mixture was not chilled enough when you started?
Can you make this without an ice cream maker??
Monica…sorry for the delayed response. As to making it without an ice cream maker, I can’t recommend that. There are a couple of recipes for doing that that involve making whipped cream and adding ingredients to that, but I’ve never tried it with this ice cream and just don’t see it working.
Thank you so much. I grew up in Washington, DC and this was my favorite flavor at the local High’s Dairy Ice Cream Store. 2 scoops for a nickel; 3 for a dime!!! Can’t find it anywhere since then, but I’ve gotten use to making ice cream and experimenting with my little Cuisinart maker during the pandemic. And I love, love Heath bars. Will need to scale the recipe down just a bit for the little Cuisinart.
I am going to also try making my butter pecan with your buttery, light brown sugar base. That should make it really good. I use 1/2 amt. dark brown sugar (and 1/2 white sugar) for my chocolate ice cream base and it gives it a wonderful richness and depth to the flavor.
Me too Julia! Highs had the best ice creams around other than maybe actually homemade ice cream parlors like Twinn Kiss in La Plata, MD or Hopkins in Rehoboth DE, or Dumsers in Ocean City, MD! Referring to our local ice cream parlor, and summer time trips in the Chevy Impala station wagon in and around the DC area. I’m buying an ice cream maker and making a couple quarts of homemade ice cream for my sister. She still reminisces about High’s Butter Brickle and I’m going to attempt to make some for her as close to the flavor we loved when we were kids for her birthday coming in a few weeks! Good to share local memories with you from the same moments in time! God Bless
Same here. Grew up in DC! Introduced to bitter brickell late 80s and it been the same love for the ice cream and the original skor bar 🥰
Barb, thank you so much for this amazing recipe! My husband had been raving about the butter brickle ice cream he loved as a boy and bemoaning, like everyone below :o) how he couldn’t find it anywhere. This is a 10/10! My husband, children, and grandchildren loved it and I am having a hard time stopping myself from eating it! I actually made two batches in two days! We also made it and substituted Snickers, Twix, or Reeses into individual bowls and OMG! Each person got to have his or her own favorite, and my daughter just wanted it without additions. Beyond words delicious. God bless you and thank you again!!
I’m delighted to hear you enjoyed it so much. When I made it it was a guessing game and I was pretty pleased that it turned out to be so close to my memory of what it should taste like. Now I need to make it this summer!
Thank you so much for this. I was born & raised in the mid-West (Galesburg, IL) & my favorites as a kid were, butter brickle ice cream, pecan cinnamon sticky buns & Dixie cream donuts. Sadly I can’t find any of those anywhere. About 10 years ago, while visiting home, I over reacted when I found butter brickle ice cream in a grocery store. It was made by Blue Bell out of Iowa. It was listed as a “novelty” item & no one has seen it since. To let everyone know how special this ice cream is; to bring it home to Phoenix, AZ from Illinois I paid a small fortune in dry ice (we were driving) to get 4 cartons home. Of course we also had breaded pork tenderloins frome Gray’s in Galesburg, because BPT sandwiches are also a midwest thing. I make them myself & now, Thanks to you, I can make my most favorite ice cream in the world! If you can come up with my sticky bun & Dixie Cream donuts, I will swear an “Oath of Fealty” to you & you will become a Queen!
I know exactly how you feel Barney! What it really comes down to is a toffee flavored ice cream with toffee bits. Why is that so hard for someone to make ALL THE TIME! I hope you try it and enjoy it as much as we do.
As for those others? There are a million recipes for pecan sticky buns but I’ve only made one; my own simple version. As much as I enjoy time in the kitchen, I can’t say I love waiting for bread to rise a couple of times so I fabricated one using puff pastry and they were both delicious and easy. You might want to take a peek? Yeah, I like to add bourbon to sweets…but it’s always optional.
https://creative-culinary.com/puff-pastry-pecan-sticky-buns-maple-bourbon-glaze-recipe/
I was curious about the Dixie Cream Donuts; no recipes and seems few franchises. Funny but it does appear that the key ingredient was a flour mixture made in my hometown of St. Louis. The old building was being renovated for office space in 2013.
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8389/8553497012_f9a0186e53.jpg
Also curious about Gray’s…seems they are still doing business and the pork tenderloin is their number one sandwich! Their website is from the 90’s though. 🙂
Great hearing from you…take good care. Barb
Dixie cream donuts are in West Frankfurt IL
I loved reading about your search for butter brickle ice cream. I also had this wonderful experience in the “Lake of the Ozarks” in Missouri when I was about 9 or 10 years old. I used to save my money just so I could ride my bike to the ice cream shop on the strip to get some. My parents owned a restaurant there and it was some of my favorite childhood memories. I am from Nebraska originally and I think we used to get this at Goodrich dairy too, but it was never as good as that old fashioned ice cream shop in the Ozarks. I am going to make this for sure. Maybe a couple of batches, LOL. Thank you for putting this together.
Thank you sooooo much! I’m a Colorado native (Longmont, Arvada, and now Aurora) who remembers this ice cream from my childhood! My father loved this flavor which is no surprise bc he loved Heath bars, something he passed along to me lol.
I hadn’t thought about Butter Brickle ice cream in decades, but I was looking at a Nebraska Runza recipe (another childhood food) and the author mentioned that BB ice cream came from NE. After glancing at several recipes, it was your writing that kept me entranced and entertained. You are such a talented writer!
Your memories are so sweet and relatable that I knew you HAD to have the right recipe. Plus, you’re here in Colorado :-)!
Be well and Stay safe from Covid-19) Thank you!
Well we share that love and I love how sweet you are…this is a labor of love. Most food blogs today want to mimic the big guns, no personality, just hard core data that follows Google rules to a ‘T.’ I can’t, I just can’t. I’ve been doing this for over 20 years, these are truly recipes I love made for people I love…if that comes through in any way, I’m a happy camper.
Anita, I also live Colorado in the DTC area. I have loved this ice cream since I was a little girl. My grandparents lived near downtown Denver and introduced me to Butter Brickle their favorite. I have loved this ice cream since then! You can find this ice cream at the Bonnie Brae Ice Cream Shoppe on S. University Blvd (North of I25). All their ice cream is made on-site. Hope you will check it out! I’m going to try this recipe! Thank you Barb!!!
Yes you can…maybe what inspired me to make my own too. I used to take my kids down there a couple of times each summer but it was quite a trip from DTC. The owner had actually agreed to give me his recipe in return for featuring his shop but he reneged and the rest is history!
Aloha,
Can you explain why the heavy cream is added just before churning in the ice cream machine as opposed to before being refrigerated?
You could add it to the other ingredients if you want to while they chill but it’s not necessary; because it’s refrigerated, it should already be chilled when it’s poured into the machine.
Can I make the base/toffee sauce 2-3 days before using?
My 96 year old dad is begging me to make this and I’m eager to please as It was my favorite as a kid. But, a question, please: May I assume that since you mention the butter in the sauce is salted, that the butter in the ice cream is unsalted? Don’t want to screw this up. Thanks.
Hi Jen… I think I’m only surprised that I specified salted butter because I normally use salted butter for everything. So I would say even though I have not made this myself for a while, that I used salted butter in both parts of the recipe. I hope your dad loves it!
Turkey Hill makes the best Butter Brickle around but they don’t sell it in stores. You can only get it at ice cream stands because they only sell the big giant tubs that Ice Cream shops use. I can’t wait to try this recipe.
Can I double this recipe and have the same outcome? My Ice cream maker is 4 quart. Should I expect the churning time to be longer?
Not ice cream weather here, so add a shot of dark rum to a scoop of butter brickle, add two whole cloves a cinnamon stick and top with hot water. Best hot buttered rum ever.
I would love to try that accept there is no Butter Brickle for me to be had unless I make it myself.
In the end they actually sound very similar to each other. I could just throw in a spoonful of toffee pieces! 🙂
Do i just use light brown sugar or dark brown sugar for the ice cream itself?
I changed it to read light brown because that’s all I ever use. Still, I would substitute dark brown without a problem or a blend of the two…they would all work.
I too am a butter brickle junkie. Went without for years, couldn’t find it anywhere in S. Jersey. 2 years ago while on the Ocean City, NJ boardwalk (4 miles from our home) I found it at George’s Ice Cream at 7th & Boardwalk.
We took our 4 year old Grandson to the Boardwalk on Tuesday. He wanted “the green ice cream with chips” (mint choc chip). After a few minutes he wanted to try mine, guess what his favorite ice cream is now?
Ocean City, NJ is a major tourist destination so any other b.b. junkies may want to give that some thought when planning your next vacation.
Smart boy! I have made several devotees too but it requires that I make the ice cream! I would love to find some place where I could buy it occasionally!
Next summer, try Ala Mode at 55th St! Their butter brickle is the closest I’ve had to what we grew up on. My husband researched ice cream menus in a 20 mile radius to find one that served BB for my Mother’s Day treat one year. George’s was fine, but Ala Mode was perfect!
Except I’m in Denver! 🙂
Such a fun post! Brings back some good memories — I used to live in Paddock Hills when I was a kid. So not super far from where you lived. And loved butter brickle then. Still do, actually, but it’s been years since I’ve had any. Now really hungry for it. 🙂
This is mighty good! I come from Omaha and the whole family ate at the Black Angus Restaurant at the Blackstone Hotel a few times a year. My father was a Butter Brickle junky and it rubbed off on this son. Evan’s Dairy way out in Irvington (15 miles) was great for BB. This recipe got raves here in South Dakota. Simple and very tasty. Churns well and at zero in the freezer it is quite solid for scooping. Add a pinch of salt or just use salted butter as I did. Now, if I can figure a way to keep it “in stock”.
I’m glad you enjoyed it; I was certainly going for a flavor I hadn’t actually tasted in years so it’s great to hear people love it as much as I do!
I always use salted butter but that’s a good tip for someone who might not. Thanks for stopping by!
Barb here, too! Here’s my story:
1. I fine an ice cream maker at a thrift store…days later a book on ice cream making!
2. I make vanilla, fresh strawberry, lemon and chocolate malted ice cream! I never buy store ice cream again.
3. But something is missing. I want my old favorite, Butter Brickle Ice Cream!?!
4. I search online for everything “butter brickle”. I find your recipe sounds best.
5. I searched all over Omaha, NE for the toffee pieces! Everywhere! Finally, Walmart was the only place! Hershey’s Brittle-Bits! I buy 3 bags!
6. I’ve made your recipe 4 times already. It is so delicious and everyone I’ve shared it with are in awe of the wonderful, smooth, buttery flavor/crunchy texture! I, too missed not being able to find/buy Butter-Brickle ice cream in the stores. But, not anymore, I make my own, your recipe! So, thanks so much!?
Ooops, that’s Heath Brittle Bits!
Thanks Barb, you make me wish I had a tub in my own freezer now! I think it took a crazed butter brickle fan to find a result that measured up to my own dreams of the past; so glad you loved it too. Is it a Barb thing? 🙂
OMG!!!! I’ve been missing my childhood favorite for many years. I grew up in Omaha and my Aunt worked at the Blackstone from the 50’s until they sold out. I had no idea of this ice creams history.
Goodrich Dairy in Omaha had the best. I’ve tried other brands but nothing compares to the B.B. of my youth.
I don’t own a ice cream maker but it’s on my list for Christmas.
I had no idea exactly what I was doing Zeke because I couldn’t find a good reference for the recipe but I have to say…I think it turned out very true to what I remember; hope you get that ice cream maker and get to try it too!
Love this! But in the diretions the toffee sauce recipe says to put salt in and there is no salt in the list of ingredients.
Should there be salt?
Thanks
Shoot…either omit it or add just a pinch. I don’t remember honestly so need to do it again to make sure I get it right and can change the recipe accordingly. Thanks for the heads up and sorry for the snafu.
My husband and I went to a Homemade Ice Cream Parlor in Myrtle Beach this weekend and I got a “Butter Crunch” ice cream thinking it might be similar to Butter Brickle. I remember telling my husband how Butter Brickle was my dad’s favorite growing up. I still remember the crunch and the intense flavor and it is NOTHING like butter crunch! I am SO GLAD I found this recipe! I will be making this in the next week!!!! Thank you for that wonderful flashback!
how much ice cream does this recipe yield?
There are about 6.5 cups of ingredients so just a bit more than a quart and a half. You could cut it in half too…I wanted a lot for a barbecue so these were the measurements I used.
I’ve been looking for this for years. Grew up outside a small town in North Colorado called Holy Oke. Every Sunday after church we’d head straight for the Sweet Shop. It was a small ice cream parlor with booths and chrome plated stools with vinyl covers. the kind that spin, but are stationary at the counter. Lunch was a Yum Yum burger (sloppy joe) with a bag of chips. But I always had to end my visit with 2 scoops of “butter brikkle ice cream”. That was the highlight. Since I can’t find it anymore, especially here in San Antonio, Texas, guess I’m gonna have to try your recipe. Thank You very much.
Very similar experience Tony except mine was a small place in Florissant, MO! Why it is not the most popular ice cream in the world is beyond me but hope you love my version as much as we did.
It doesn’t say how much salt to use in the toffee sauce. just to “Put the butter, brown sugar, cream and salt in a medium saucepan…” – just checking so I don’t ruin this 🙂
I saw your second comment so glad it worked out. How did you like the ice cream?
I found your recipe from a google search, and I was SO excited. I’ve been jonesing for some good old butterbrickle ice cream – I so loved it as a child. I am from MO, and although I grew up in the Kansas City area, I did live in St. Ann for several years when I was a young adult, and I’m very familiar with Florissant. What a small world! Anyway, thanks so much for this yummy recipe. Can’t wait to try it!
It is a small world and I hope you like it…I did my best to create what is really sort of a toffee flavor ice cream with toffee bits too. Not a butter pecan base at all and certainly not using an artificial flavoring like I saw somewhere. So not MY memory! I haven’t been back to St. Louis for years; it would probably be unrecognizable!
Funny story…I did a Google search for Butter Brickel ice cream because I was curious about the ingredients. Yours was the first one I decided to read and I read the entire post with fascination! Not only am I from St. Louis, but I totally identify with your childhood memories! I read with longing about those days of innocence and the simplicity of life. What is even more interesting is that I just bought my first quart of Butter Brickel ice cream… ever…from Oberweis. It is absolutely delicious! I’m a fan. Now, though, I may need to try making it! Thank you for the memories and the recipe, neighbor!
Nothing more fun than connecting with someone else over shared remembrances is there? I wish I could find some locally; the only way I get to enjoy it is if I make it. I’m jealous!
BTW neighbor no more; I long ago moved to Raleigh, NC and then almost 30 years ago to Denver, CO. I still have some family there though but haven’t been back in years…I convince them to come to Colorado!
Braums in the OK, KS, AR, MO area makes a butter brickle. It’s not quite as good as the Schwan’s I remember as a kid but it’s close enough. http://www.braums.com/ice-cream/premium/premium-butter-brickle/
This sounds FABULOUS, Barb! I can’t wait until the warm weather arrives so I can take my ice cream maker for a spin 🙂
For me I not only love the taste Becca but it’s intertwined with such great memories. Why it’s my best ever!
What exactly is “half and half”?
Half and half is half milk and half light cream. Look for unthickened cream.
I grew up in Kansas City. I remember one year I called all the local bakers because I wanted a butter brickle birthday cake. One actually made it for me. I live in Australia now. I was surprised that no one puts cream in their coffee. I was told on the plane going over that everyone uses milk. Then I had to learn about the various guises of cream.
I just had butter brickle ice cream from Culver’s in the Chicago area. It was great. I want to have it when I go back home to Tasmania so I was looking up recipes.
I’ve made this ice cream a few times — it’s definitely my favorite — sometimes I add butterscotch syrup (couple tbsp) — this is delish, too. YUMMY thanks for sharing this one. I think it’s even better than store-bought brands. Plus I know EXACTLY what’s in it.
LOVE hearing someone loves it as much as I do…YEAH!!
My late Uncle Ed used to give us butter brickle when I was a kid and we’d go to visit him on the Oregon coast. I now live overseas, and the last time I came home to Portland, OR I looked for it, to no avail. I found butter pecan all OVER the place, and a disappointingly close butter toffee, but no butter brickle. Now I’m living in Paraguay, and I brought some “Bits o’Brickle” back with me, and I just finished making the base. Can’t wait for it to chill down and freeze it! The butter toffee sauce will also become a staple for me in the future… I enjoyed licking the pan once I had the 4Tbsp. of sauce I needed for the recipe! Thanks for sharing!
I hope you like it Cheryl; I was sort of surprised that NO ONE had a recipe out there so this was most definitely seat of my pants winging it. Guess that’s called ‘recipe development’ huh? 🙂
My Mom got me hooked on BB when I was 5 years old and have always had some in the freezer. It disappeared for awhile when I was in my 30’s. I have found out that you can still get it from Bluebunny.com. My Mom will enjoy it more if it is homemade!
I can get it from some local shops but I didn’t know Blue Bunny made it…still, homemade is the BEST. Hope Mom enjoys it!
No longer available at Wells Blue Bunny. 10/01/2019
I thought I was the only one who had a love affair with Butter Brickle ice cream! Thank you for posting your recipe. When I was a youngster and had a choice between chocolate ice cream or butter brickle, brickle always won! 🙂
For me there was never a choice…it was BB or nothing at all. How it ever disappeared is beyond me! 🙂
Butter brickle ice cream used to be my favorite, but alas, I cannot find it either. You have a wonderful story – I enjoyed reading it. Will be trying your recipe as soon as I eat the ice cream I already have. Thanks for sharing!
I know SO many people that love it; how could it not be everywhere? I hope you enjoy it; I know we did…time to make some more!
I haven’t been able to find Butter Brickle ice cream since I was a young adult. Thanks for this great recipe. I can now enjoy one of my favorite treats.
Exactly how I felt Paula…it’s the best isn’t it?
I have been missing this ice cream too, very glad I found this recipe!! I was wondering how much your recipe makes as my machine only makes 1 quart at a time. Thank you!
hi there, I too have enjoyed butterbrickel icecream, I was wondering can iuse a gallon of my fav icecream and turn it into a buterbrickel, I recall seeing it somewhere but can’t recall. so was wanting to see what you tought. thanks Russ
I couldn’t say Russ…I suppose if you wanted to soften some vanilla ice cream and then add the other components and re-freeze it, it would be close? Let me know if you try it.
My mother loves, loves, loves butter brickle. It is getting harder to find and usually only High’s convenience stores have it. I did a search and found your site and this recipe. I had to look all over for the “brickle” (even was going to bang up Werther’s or melt the chocolate off of Heath bars!) until I searched online again and found them at Wegmans. I had to ask someone to help me because I did not see them as they were almost gone and way back out of view. After all of that, I made this ice cream for my mother for Thanksgiving and she loved it!! So did my sister and brother. I have never actually liked it, so I was pleasantly surprised when they all agreed that it was better than the High’s version. She even managed to get it home in good shape after a 3 hour drive. Thank you so much for this recipe and for sharing a wonderful story about it. I never knew what the “brickle” was until I read this. I wanted you to know how much this meant for me to be able to do for my mother and to have her love it so much!! I have bookmarked your blog and hope to find more recipes that will continue to make memories.
This might be the first comment I’ve ever had that made me both laugh and cry. Chuckled a bit at your quest for the ‘brickle’ but teared up at how much this meant to you and your mom…for that reason alone I’m glad I decided to just go for it…well, that and the fact that I love it so much too. I often call neighbors to come share something I’ve made that I love. I called no one. I was quiet as a mouse with my spoon and bowl of ice cream.
How much salt? Step 1 put butter, brown sugar, cream, and salt into saucepan… I used a pinch of salt since I did not know. It seemed to turn out pretty good. Is it light brown sugar for the sauce and dark brown for the other? It seemed like the ice cream I made was a little darker than your picture so not sure if you used dark or light brown sugar in the base of the ice cream.
It seemed to taste very good but I am giving it as a gift so I wanted to give them the recipe with the ice cream.
Oops…did I really forget salt? I was just telling my daughter last night that the hardest part of blogging recipes for me is to remember what I put into them; so many years of just cooking by taste; a pinch of this and a dash of that; now I try to take notes but this isn’t the first time I’ve messed up! It’s just a dash of salt…I’ve revised the online recipe to include that information…thank you!
Ohhh, I do love Butter Brickle ice cream! What a terrific story – great to see your ice cream journey, too. 🙂
It was so good…really decadent but worth every single calorie.
This is on my to do list and i shared this recipe on my newsletter this month – http://us5.campaign-archive2.com/?u=9bc1b5f1c2c1cb8a98f1f3ad5&id=61665afde9&e=5bdcd0f2e5
Thanks for sharing…it is SUCH a good ice cream. Delish even. 🙂
Love your childhood story, and love this ice cream! I am always on a search for English Toffee ice cream, my childhood favorite, but your post brought back wonderful memories for me too. I can’t believe I had forgotten all about Butter Brickle. Yum! Pinning this now. Yum, yum,yum!
I’ve heard that so much…how many people forgot about it. Hard to understand but think we bloggers could bring about a resurgence!
Wow some great recipes and I love the photos of the finished dish, it’s always reasuring to know what it should look like.. :))
Thank you Diane…and glad you stopped by. I never do the step by step business but yes, hoping that a decent photo of the results is helpful to readers.
I’d never heard of butter brickle until I read this post but it sounds divine! As does the ice cream 🙂
It’s really just toffee in little pieces and it does make for an amazing ice cream!
Great story and what a delightful old fashioned flavor. Butter Pecan has always been a favorite and you don’t find it everywhere anymore. Now I can make this with an extra sprinkling of crunch candy.
There might be some old fashioned flavors I can live without but whoever decided ‘butter’ type ice creams were passe needs to wake up! Both are wonderful.
I enjoyed reading every word of this post. You are such a lovely writer Barb and a pretty darn amazing ice cream maker too.
You are too kind but I do love your support Paula. I’m gonna open an ice cream shop right next to my bar. 🙂
It’s so fun to hear childhood stories and memories. Boy how times have changed! This ice cream sounds just lovely!
I know right…I mostly wondered how many kids would walk several blocks for an ice cream and not whine or want to bring their handheld video something? Too many I fear. 🙂
I love this story!!!
I also love butter brickle. No Heath chips here so I have to make my own butter toffee and than smash it with a rolling pin. The last ice cream I made I made macadamia toffee and the ice cream was to die for.
Now I want ice cream!
So I’ve heard…I almost made the toffee too but wasn’t sure just how much smashing it would take without turning to powder; if you do it you MUST let me know!
This ice cream sure looks delicious. Thanks for the recipe! 🙂
Aren’t memories wonderful and when you make today as good as the memory it’s 10 times better. Great sounding ice cream.
Some of them are…this was certainly a special one.
My, this sure looks heavenly. I’ve never seen those toffee bits here, but I’m sure I can improvise.
If they were there, they might be by the chocolate chips? If not…smash up a toffee bar to bits!
What a wonderful story Barb! I think every one of us has a story connected with childhood and ice cream. Mine is long walks around Balboa Island licking a cone from the Jolly Roger… (sigh). As for your recipe, I think you nailed it… and you are right – American ice cream typically did not have eggs in it – as I recall, the ones that did were called “frozen custard” versus “ice cream”!
Now, that bag of Heath butter toffee bits is calling to me from the pantry…. you know, you REALLY are not good for my productivity :-)!!!!
I always think of custard as the ice cream with eggs in it and then it’s also softer maybe. Maybe I don’t know because I’ve never made it? Probably. This is decadent; it will require a lot of sorbets in between!
This has been my favorite ice cream since I was a little girl growing up in the 50s. I am also surprised that it has faded away and has not been resurrected. It is a marvelous ice cream.
I have seen it on a few ice cream shelves, and I did buy a carton of it once, but the makers got it all wrong. It was too creamy, not a bright enough flavor and had almost no brickle. Major fail in my eyes.
I will have to try this in a month or so, to see if it matches up to my taste memory. Can’t do it before, as I am having major surgery this week.. But as soon as I am mobile enough, you can bet I will be making this!!
Well the one thing I did was to put in a LOT of those brickle pieces…I always wished for more so made my own dream come true. 🙂
oh. my. word. i love that the butter toffee sauce requires salted butter.
feel free to call me the next time you make this. because i will be right over. 🙂
Yes, I thought that was a small concession to today’s salted craze! Next up I’m actually going to see what I can do to lighten it up a bit. It is so good but sort of a once in a blue moon treat. I would prefer once a month. 🙂
This sounds wonderful! I’ve never had that flavor, but I know I’d love it! Loved your childhood memories!
I only wish I had a photo. One of my sisters has deemed herself the owner of all things familial including family photos. It was like I never existed! 🙂
Oh yum! This is a wonderful post with stories from your childhood taking me back to thoughts of my own. In our house the ice cream flavor would have been mint chocolate chip– my mother’s favorite. I always preferred plain vanilla or maybe vanilla with something mixed in like chocolate chips. This butter brickle sounds and looks heavenly. Can’t wait to try it at my house!
It was certainly a walk down memory lane Holly I can’t deny and fun doing it too.
This ice cream looks incredible!
It is…I mean was. I need more.
Oh Barb, all this ice cream is making my mouth water more and more with each post but this one, this one in particular has my swooning and reliving my own childhood memories. I hadn’t thought about it in a million years but my grandmother always had butter brickle ice cream in her freezer when we were small children!! I completely forgot about that until I read your post. And why is it that no one makes that flavor anymore?!? It was my favorite as a child. Thank you for providing me a recipe to make my very own and for helping me remember what I’ve been missing all these years.
You make me feel much less ancient that you have actually had it too. Whoo hoo!! Really why doesn’t someone make it…they would make a killing!
Would you believe I’ve never had butter brickle ice cream? Never. But that’s about to change! Can’t wait to try this rich, creamy, toffee delight. Yum.
That needs to change. It’s like toffee ice cream with toffee pieces. How could that not be good huh?
So glad you finally found your perfect recipe. Sometimes a flavor or smell can just take us right back to our childhood. I love the fact that you purchased your mix-in. Making ice cream is enough of a triumph. Heath bars take me back to MY childhood. I love them.
I have always said that I’m sure my cavity was courtesy of a Heath Bar. Or make this ice cream…or both. I share the love.
YES! The ice cream I’ve been waiting for! I can only imagine how rich and delightful it is.
It is the epitome of Mmm Mmm good. That is all. 🙂
This sounds amazing!
I love butter brickle ice cream and you are so right, never see it in the stores. I think the closest I have found is Haagan Daz pralines and cream. Going to make this because lately I haven’t even seen pralines and cream in the grocery store. Thanks for recipe.
I like it better. Just toffee, no pecans…yep, the BEST!