Love Cereal Milk? Try This Ice Cream Infused with Honey and Cinnamon

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Like many breakfast-loving kiddies growing up, my brothers and I really enjoyed eating cereal in the mornings.

Vertical close-up image of three scoops of white ice cream in a white bowl.

And I’m not talking about the high-fiber, low-sugar, whole-wheat cardboard stuff (though we’ll never say no to hearty homemade granola).

We craved the ones that were basically big bowls of sugar, with marshmallows, unnaturally bright neon colors, questionable shapes, and outrageously sweet flavors.

Out of all of our favorites, we were the most obsessed with Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

Vertical image of three bowls of ice cream topped with spices on a white towel, with whole sticks on the side.

But the best part of all, even better than the cereal itself, was the leftover milk. I loved how it was infused with all the cinnamon spice and sugar. It was basically two treats in one!

My mouth is watering right now just thinking about a big bowl of sickeningly sweet, cinnamon-y goodness. Ah, yum…

While I could run to the store and grab a box of my favorite breakfast and relive my crazy-energy childhood of being hopped up on tons of sugar, I’m feeling a little more creative in my adulthood.

Vertical image of scooping out white ice cream from a pan.

This recipe for homemade ice cream is the perfect dessert version.

Flavored with a teaspoon of cinnamon and rich honey, the creamy base literally tastes just like that leftover cereal milk I used to excitedly slurp up as a kid.

Vertical image of a white bowl with scoops of a frozen dessert, with cinnamon sticks and ground spices on a wooden surface.

With only 5 ingredients, the simple flavors are at their purest – no one will be missing the marshmallow candies or long list of artificial colors and flavors. And you’ll love how easy it is to make!

Another bonus? This recipe does not include eggs. The final texture will be a little icier than traditional custard-base ice cream recipes, but it’s still creamy and delicious for those who have egg allergies, or for those don’t incorporate eggs in their cooking and baking.

So savor a bit of your childhood now, and whip up a batch:

Print
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Horizontal image of white bowls filled with ice cream garnished with ground spices, with cinnamon sticks on the side.

Cinnamon and Honey Ice Cream


  • Author: Nikki Cervone
  • Total Time: 8 hours 10 minutes
  • Yield: 12 servings 1x

Description

Love sweet and tasty leftover cereal milk? You need to try our recipe for homemade ice cream that’s infused with cinnamon and honey.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 3/4 cups whole milk
  • 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 2/3 cup honey

Instructions

  1. Heat the milk, cream, and cinnamon in a medium saucepan over low heat, whisking occasionally until just warmed. Increase the heat to medium, and add the salt and honey. Whisk until the mixture just comes to a boil.
  2. Immediately remove from the heat and chill completely. For the best results, let the mixture chill for at least 8 hours, or overnight, in the refrigerator.
  3. After chilling, churn the mixture in an ice cream machine, following the manufacturer’s instructions. For storage, place in an airtight container and store in your freezer.

Notes

Original recipe by Shanna Mallon, adapted from Falling Cloudberries: A World of Family Recipes.

  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 8 hours

Cooking by the Numbers…

Step 1 – Gather and Prep Ingredients

Horizontal image of bowls of milk, honey, and spice, with a pile of spice and a blue towel.

Measure the amounts needed for the milk, heavy whipping cream, cinnamon, salt, and honey. Set out a medium saucepan and whisk.

Step 2 – Warm the Milk, Cream, and Cinnamon

Horizontal image of a spice and milk mixture in a black pot.

Mix together the milk, cream, and cinnamon in the pan. Heat over low heat, whisking occasionally until just warmed.

You are gently infusing the dairy with the cinnamon during this step, so avoid bringing the mixture to a boil.

Step 3 – Add the Salt and Honey

Horizontal image of honey being poured into a spiced mixture in a black pot.

Whisk in the salt and honey, and increase the heat to medium. Whisk occasionally until the mixture just comes to a boil.

Don’t walk away from the pan – the dairy can quickly boil over in just a few minutes!

Step 4 – Chill

Horizontal image of a bowl with a creamy mixture.

After the mixture comes to a boil, remove immediately from the heat. Completely chill the ice cream base mixture.

To cool it down as fast as possible, you can pour the mixture in a bowl resting in an ice bath, and whisk occasionally until it is cool.

For the creamiest results when freezing in the next step, we recommend letting the base chill in the refrigerator for about 8 hours, or overnight.

Step 5 – Freeze

Horizontal image of a spoon scooping ice cream out of a pan.

After chilling, churn the mixture in an ice cream machine, following the manufacturer’s instructions.

Depending on the thickness of the honey, the ice cream’s final firmness may be a little soft.

Step 6 – Serve

Horizontal image of white bowls filled with ice cream garnished with ground spices, with cinnamon sticks on the side.

Serve scoopfuls in bowls, and enjoy!

A Sweet and Spicy Dairy Infusion for the Kid at Heart

There’s always that one cereal from childhood that you can’t get out of your head, even in adulthood.

Horizontal image of a scoop of ice cream on pound cake on a dark surface.

For my brothers and me, Cinnamon Toast Crunch will forever be our favorite breakfast in a bowl, with that leftover infused milk bringing us so much yummy joy.

I may not eat those sugary cereals anymore, but I love to have this homemade cinnamon and honey ice cream as a decadent dessert with a crazily similar flavor profile – especially when it starts to slowly melt… I can’t handle the deliciousness!

Serve it on its own, or plop a hefty scoopful on top of your favorite apple pie, or vanilla cake.

What cereal do you miss the most from your childhood? How can you transform your favorites into sweet desserts? We’d love to know in the comments below, and be sure to rate our recipe.

And for more refreshing ice cream recipes try these:


Don’t forget to Pin It!

A collage showing different views of a honey and cinnamon ice cream recipe.

Photos by Nikki Cervone, © Ask the Experts, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. See our TOS for more details. Originally published by Shanna Mallon on April 2nd, 2009. Recipe adapted from Falling Cloudberries: A World of Family Recipes. Last updated: June 24, 2020 at 19:29 pm.

Nutritional information derived from a database of known generic and branded foods and ingredients and was not compiled by a registered dietitian or submitted for lab testing. It should be viewed as an approximation.

About Nikki Cervone

Nikki Cervone is an ACS Certified Cheese Professional and cheesemonger living in Pittsburgh. Nikki holds an AAS in baking/pastry from Westmoreland County Community College, a BA in Communications from Duquesne University, and an MLA in Gastronomy from Boston University. When she's not nibbling on her favorite cheeses or testing a batch of cupcakes, Nikki enjoys a healthy dose of yoga, wine, hiking, singing in the shower, and chocolate. Lots of chocolate.

11 thoughts on “Love Cereal Milk? Try This Ice Cream Infused with Honey and Cinnamon”

  1. I just wanted to say that I thought this was a beautifully written post. Yay Spring and all that it entitles, including delicious icecream

    Reply
  2. Oh, Tessa Kiros. Her lovely prose always makes me want to write and take photos and live life with loveliness. Manos is just a brilliant photographer and fits her writing perfectly.

    Sure enough, Falling Cloudberries led me to weep nostalgia for Greece (my adopted homeland) a couple weeks back on my blog. And if it’s possible, her third and fourth cookbooks – Apples for Jam and Postcards from Portugal are even nicer.

    Reply
  3. Hi there…Just had to comment after coming across your blog for the first time today. Beautiful photos- I’m always up for a new ice cream recipe- seems as though ice cream season is creeping up with each passing day (not to say I wasn’t making new flavors all winter long!)

    I’ve heard a few others mention the Cloudberry book and now I want to order it even more. Also, I am a huge fan of cardamom in yeasted breads (it’s a very popular flavor combo here in Norway) and I think you should give those buns another go- a good rule of thumb when converting fresh cake yeast to dry active yeast:
    1 oz (30 grams) cake = 2 1/4 teaspoon dry active

    Thanks for sharing, I’ll be sure to keep poping back in!
    -Siri

    Reply
  4. Oh my gosh that looks amazing. I love your photography. A family friend used to have an old-school ice cream machine, that thing was….fun to work.

    Reply
  5. Is it ok that I confess to you that I’m more of a traditional ice cream lover? As in chocolate or cookies ‘n cream or coffee. Everything else, not so much. Even with something mild like honey or lovely like cinnamon, it throws me off and I’m not happy. But the most important thing is that you’re happy with it. 🙂

    Lovely pix.

    Reply
  6. Lan, It’s hard to top good old chocolate or cookies and cream, no question! In fact, I just had some tonight – yum! The honey kind is different, but it’s good – very sweet and surprising and Greek, but very good. (But we can still be friends if you never try it, deal?)

    Reply
  7. Lovely post! Here in Florida we don’t get to appreciate the seasons the way other parts of the country do as we basically have one season, hot & humid! I’m going to give this ice cream a try though I’m going to use my ice cream maker.
    ~ingrid

    Reply
  8. Hey this recipe looks awesome! We’re in the middle of making it right now with our brand new ice cream maker but… your recipe called for salt & we can’t find where in the instructions we add it!
    I tried googling how/when people add salt to ice cream so we are going to go with that, but we figured we’d let you know.

    Reply
    • Thanks so much, Ty! Sorry for that salty mistake – we have updated the recipe and Cooking by the Numbers section. Please add the salt along with the honey.

      Reply

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