No Churn Crunchie Ice Cream

My delicious no-churn Crunchie ice cream recipe is packed with chocolate, honey and lots of crushed honeycomb Crunchie bars!

Crunchie bar ice cream

Cadbury Crunchie bars are another of my childhood favourites – sweet, crunchy hokey pokey honeycomb, covered in the nation’s favourite chocolate. Turning my favourite candy bars into ice cream has become something of a hobby for me, and this one is set to become a firm favourite.

This Crunchie bar ice cream recipe is absolutely delicious and almost effortless. Chocolate honey honeycomb ice cream, softly scoopable straight from the freezer and topped with crunchy Crunchie pieces.

Whatever you may have been told, you don’t need special equipment to make ice cream. There’s no ice cream machine involved in this recipe – just an electric whisk or a strong wrist!

No churn ice cream without condensed milk!

Many no-churn ice cream recipes use condensed milk, which gives a dense and creamy texture. It suits some combinations very well, but it is very sweet and calorific. The texture can also deteriorate faster than other ice creams.

This no-churn ice cream is different, using cream, egg and sugar to give a light and fluffy mousse-like result that pairs perfectly with the light-as-air Crunchie bar.

Why you will love this

• Chocolate honeycomb Crunchie ice cream! Five magical words!
• It’s so easy that anyone can make this from basic ingredients.
• No special equipment needed – no ice cream machine, no churning.
• This no churn Crunchie ice cream recipe does not use condensed milk, so it isn’t quite so sticky and sweet. In fact, it is a lot like store-bought ice cream – but better.
• It is delicious!
• The recipe is scalable, adaptable and fairly forgiving, so you do not need to measure or be accurate.
• It is far cheaper than buying premium ice cream from the store.
• It’s great for impressing your friends.

No churn Crunchie ice cream – ingredients 

• Sugar – I use golden caster sugar for almost everything (aside from preserving), but white sugar is also fine. If you only have granulated sugar, pulse it in a blender or spice grinder for a few seconds, taking care not to turn it into icing sugar.
• Crunchie bars – Three regular bars, or 4 or 5 smaller ones from a multipack. Two go straight into the ice cream and one needs to be held in reserve for when you are ready to serve, as the bars you add to the ice cream will dissolve, or lose their crunch. You can use other chocolate covered honeycomb bars in this Crunchie ice cream recipe if you need to.
• Honey – any runny honey will do here.
• Chocolate – A regular bar supermarket own brand chocolate or chocolate drops is fine. I prefer dark for more intense flavour, but milk is also perfect.
• Double cream – Again, regular double cream. You can use the expensive extra thick if you want, but it isn’t necessary.
• Egg – I always buy free range.

Raw Eggs

I don’t worry about eating raw eggs that I buy in the UK. The risk from hens’ eggs with a British Lion stamp is low and most people can safely eat them. More information on raw eggs from the NHS.

Crunchie ice cream – step-by-step

Before you start, read my step-by-step instructions, with photos, hints and tips so you can to make this perfectly every time.

Scroll down for the recipe card with quantities and more tips at the bottom of the page.

Before you start, grab and weigh out your ingredients so you know you have everything!

Step one – Put about 30 ml or 2 tbsp of the cream into a small saucepan. Then break up the chocolate and add it to the cream.

Heat over the gentlest setting, stirring all the time until the chocolate is melted and you have a smooth ganache. Set to one side to cool.

Step two – Pop two regular Crunchie bars into a plastic bag and give them a gentle bash with a rolling pin to break them up, or pop them on a chopping board and cut.

However big or small the pieces are, the Crunchie honeycomb will either dissolve or lose crunch in the ice cream. It will, however, still have all that lovely flavour.

Separate out about 2 tablespoons of the larger pieces to decorate with and set to one side. 

Step three – Crack and separate the egg. Put the white into a clean bowl and whisk with the electric whisk until you have soft peaks.

Whisk in a teaspoon of the sugar to stabilise it.

Pro Tips – Successfully whisking egg whites 

It is important that you do not have any grease, oil or fat in with egg whites or they will not whisk.

• Use a scrupulously clean bowl – I far prefer glass, metal or ceramic. It is almost impossible to get a plastic bowl grease-free unless you have a dishwasher.
• You don’t want any of the egg yolk to mix with the whites. If you are using more than one egg, don’t break them over the mixing bowl! It is important to separate each egg before you add the white to the bowl with the other whites, so crack each into a small bowl first, one at a time, checking for any stray bits of shell. If you break a yolk, set that egg to one side and use it for something else. 
• Slightly older eggs are better when you need to whisk egg whites. If you only have very freshly laid eggs, leave the separated whites in a bowl for an hour or two before whisking.

Step four – Whip the remainder of the cream until you have soft peaks.

If you do this after whisking the egg whites, there is no need to wash the whisk between the two tasks!  

Step five – Add the egg yolk, sugar and honey to the cream. Whisk again. The cream will probably still be quite liquid at this point. Don’t worry about it.

Step six – Add half the cooled chocolate and cream (ganache) to the whipped cream mixture. Then slowly whisk it in. Repeat with the rest of the mixture. This will thicken the cream mixture up again.

It is important to mix it slowly and gently and to make sure it has cooled first. If you are too enthusiastic, the mixture can start to split, which will result in grainy ice cream.

Step seven – Add the whisked egg white to the cream mixture, and use a spatula to gently fold in.

The air in the cream and egg white is what gives the ice cream its lovely mousse-like fluffy texture and removes the need to churn it, so try not to knock it out. Be gentle.

Step eight – Add the crushed Crunchie pieces and fold in. Again, be very gentle.

Step nine – Transfer your Crunchie ice cream to an airtight freezer container and decorate with the reserved pieces of Crunchie bar.

Seal and freeze for at least 6 hours or until solid before serving. 

Step ten – When you are ready to serve, break up the final Crunchie bar. Top each portion with the crunchy Crunchie! If you are not eating all the ice cream at once, reserve some of the Crunchie pieces in an airtight container for next time.

FAQS

Hints, tips & variations

• Make the ganache on a low heat, stirring all the time.
• When whisking egg whites, make sure the bowl is scrupulously clean as any fat will stop them whisking. If you break the yolk when separating the egg, it is best to use that egg for something else (keep in a tub in the fridge and use within two days). Start again with a fresh egg.
• When you add the ganache to the whipped cream mixture, make sure it has cooled, and whisk it in on a slow speed to avoid the ice cream splitting.
• You can vary the chocolate. Try white, dark or a mixture in place of the milk.
• Add a half teaspoon of vanilla extract when you whip the cream.
• Fold in the egg whites as gently as you can for the fluffiest, softest ice cream.
• The ice cream will keep far better in a sealed container. 

More no churn ice cream recipes (with your favourite chocolate bars)

• Biscoff Ice Cream – just 4 ingredients with Biscoff swirls and cookie chunks

• Mini Egg Ice Cream – soft, scoopable and so easy to make

• Twix Ice Cream – chocolate, shortbread and swirls of delicious caramel.

• Toblerone Ice Cream – just three ingredients, packed with chunks of Toblerone.

• Baileys Ice Cream – even better served with a dash of Baileys poured over

• Creme Egg Ice Cream – three ingredients and probably the best way to enjoy a creme egg!