This soft and fall-spiced Pumpkin Ice Cream Bread is the easiest bread I’ve ever made and one of my favorite fall treats. You only need two ingredients to make it!
Sometimes recipes look almost too good to be true, like an ice cream bread recipe. I remember the first time I made ice cream bread and my expectations were very, very low. Two-ingredient bread made with ice cream? I didn’t think it would turn out as good as promised.
I was wrong, of course, and learned that it is possible to make a tasty, spiced bread with just two ingredients and the good news is that it tastes delicious. You’d never guess it was made with just ice cream and flour.
What is Ice Cream Bread?
Ice cream bread is just what it sounds like – bread made with ice cream and self-rising flour. It works because the ice cream has the eggs, dairy fat and sugar while the self-rising flour is a combination of all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. With those two ingredients, you have everything you need to make a quick bread.
What I love about ice cream bread is that you can create all kinds of different bread depending on the flavor you want. In this case, I used some premium pumpkin ice cream that I picked up. I’ve loved that ice cream since I first tried it last year and it was hard to part with half of it to make this bread!
But it was worth it because this pumpkin bread is soft, full of pumpkin pie spices, and just a little bit sweet.
Ingredients
- Pumpkin ice cream: Be sure to use a premium full-fat ice cream. Low-fat or other non-premium ice cream will not work as well. You will need to let it sit out at room temperature to melt before making the bread. Or you can warm it in the microwave if your short on time.
- Self-rising flour: If you don’t have any on hand you can make your own. Whisk 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour with three teaspoons of baking powder and ¾ teaspoon of salt.
How to Make It
Just stir the two together until smooth, pour it into a loaf pan, and bake the bread for 55 to 65 minutes at 350°F.
Allow the bread to cool to room temperature before slicing and serving it.
Tips for Making Ice Cream Bread
It’s important to use premium ice cream that contains eggs for this bread. Premium ice cream also has a higher fat content and that, including the eggs in the ice cream, are necessary for the bread to turn out right.
You also want to make sure the ice cream is very soft. This will make it easier to combine it with the flour. You can leave the ice cream out at room temperature to soften it, or just pop it in the microwave and melt it at 10 to 15-minute intervals, stirring in between each.
Can you freeze ice cream bread?
Yes, it will freeze well. Once the bread is cool, wrap it in plastic wrap and store it in a freezer bag. It will keep for up to two months.
More Ice Cream Bread Recipes
2 Ingredient Pumpkin Ice Cream Bread
Ingredients
- 3 cups of premium pumpkin ice cream softened/mostly melted (see note)
- 2 1/4 cups self rising flour If you dont have self rising flour, use all purpose flour and add 3 tsp baking powder and 3/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9 x 5 loaf pan.
- In a large bowl, mix softened ice cream and flour with large wooden spoon until combined and no ice cream or flour chunks remain. Scoop batter into loaf pan. Bake for approximately 55-65 minutes until knife inserted comes out clean.
Notes
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
Do you think it would work with nonfat ice cream?
No, most likely not. I believe you need full fat for this to work because it’s using the fat and eggs from the ice cream to create the bread.
No……do not use low fat or sugar free ice cream. It will not turn out.
Such a unique treat! It makes total sense with ice cream, but I never would have thought to do it. So easy and I bet it tastes great!
Yeah when you think about it, it does make sense because of all the ingredients in the ice cream. But it’s so much easier than getting out butter, eggs, milk, etc. And it doesn’t taste like a 2 ingredient bread.
This is such a brilliant idea! I have a rule for myself to only have 1 carton of ice cream at a time (otherwise I would only eat the flavor I like more, and the other would be untouched). Now if I want to finish the ice cream more quickly I can just bake it into a bread! (Although mint chocolate chip bread might not work out as well as pumpkin… hahaha)
I have a serious ice cream hoarding problem. I like to collect unique/exotic flavors. And then I never finish them. So yeah, this is a great way to get rid of them. The original recipe I found did a chocolate one so I think I might try that one next. It probably works best with stronger flavors since you don’t have anything else in there other than flour to flavor the bread.
This sounds great! Could I do it with other flavors of icecream as well?
It should work with any ice cream flavor.