BY 
For some reason, surviving the month of July is always a major feat for me. In June, we’re excited that school is out, we end up traveling a lot, we have a lot of birthdays and other celebrations, and it just seems to fly by. In August, we’re gearing up for school and making all sorts of last-minute fun memories. But July? July drags on. July is hot. If I ever have a really bad month, it’s almost always July.
Guess what? July is over. Even though this wasn’t really a bad one (not like the July of Lost Jobs or the July of Abcessed Teeth or the July of the Water Heater Leaking through the Ceiling and onto the Oven, Thus Frying the Electrical Panel), I’m glad it’s over. And when I’m glad, I eat cheesecake. Or cheesecake ice cream. Or super duper easy cheesecake-esque ice cream that doesn’t require an ice cream maker.
You’ll need cream cheese (light or regular, but not fat free; you’ll get ice crystals and weird flavors), sweetened condensed milk, whipping cream, lemon zest, strawberries, and a graham cracker crust. I really, really like the texture of frozen graham cracker crust, which is why I used it instead of regular ol’ graham crackers.
Combine the cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, lemon zest, and whipping cream in a large bowl…
and mix with an electric mixer until combined. Freeze for 4 hours or until semi-solid.
Remove the cream cheese mixture from the freezer and beat until creamy. Place the berries in a blender
and blend until desired consistency is reached (I like some almost-whole berries in mine, but you might want it completely smooth). Add to the cream cheese mixture.
Add in chopped graham cracker crust and mix well. Freeze for 8 hours or until firm.
Remove the ice cream from the freezer 15 minutes before serving. Allow to soften slightly before scooping.
Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
Recipe adapted by Our Best Bites from Philadelphia Cream Cheese
1 8-ounce package cream cheese (regular or light), softened
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup whipping cream
2 teaspoons lemon zest
2 cups fresh strawberries
1/3-1/2 cup prepared graham cracker crust broken into pieces
Instructions:
Mix the cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, lemon zest, and whipping cream with an electric mixer until combined. Freeze for 4 hours or until semi-solid.
Remove the cream cheese mixture from the freezer and beat until creamy. Pulse the berries in a blender until desired consistency is reached (I like some almost-whole berries in mine, but you might want it completely smooth). Add to the cream cheese mixture. Add in chopped graham cracker crust and mix well. Freeze for 8 hours or until firm.
Remove the ice cream from the freezer 15 minutes before serving. Allow to soften slightly before scooping. Serves 6-8 (8 would be very small, although dietarily sound servings)
I’m so sad for you to have such bad associations with July. July is the month I get to shirk responsibility and spend all day at the pool with my kids with no guilt because it’s too hot to do anything else. It’s the month we go to free movies at the theater and spend $7 for unlimited popcorn and my kids think I’m awesome because I refill the bucket as many times as they want. It’s the month for fireworks, barbecues, and beach vacations. How sad not to love July!
Looks amazing! Thanks for sharing!
Would this recipe work if you wanted to use an ice cream maker to freeze it? Or do you have to freeze it the normal way?
I’m honestly not sure, but you could always give it a shot! 🙂
That’s funny, August is usually our month for all bad things to happen. This year, July seemed to take a lot of money from us, so hopefully August will be great!
Cheesecake-esque anything is good in my book! I’d start eating and never look back. Congratulations on your second book! It looks wonderful!
What a delicious treat! My winning combination – strawberry and cheesecake ! I will try them surly! Thanks
I just laughed out loud at the description “dietarily sound servings.”
Grilling is the Best! Just about anything: hamburgers, steaks, fish, hot dogs, veggies….Yum, Yum and Yum!
This sounds amazing, I love ice cream recipes that don’t need a machine! You HAVE had some lousy Julys…summer isn’t my favourite season to begin with, but this looks like a good way to survive the heat 🙂
I love July! The ice cream looks good, but I am not that ambitious. I would just buy some premium strawberry cheesecake ice cream.
Question: Could I mix some butter and sugar in with graham cracker crumbs and call that my crust? Or should I actually crust it first and then break it up? I’m sure it depends preference, I’m just guessing you took the shortcut and actually broke up a store bought crust.
I’m excited to try this recipe! Thanks!
Nothing says beat the summer heat like ice cream !! Plus – this sounds sssooo easy 🙂 THANKS.
Dietarily sound you say? Challenge accepted! I’m eating the whole thing by myself.
I love ice cream recipes that don’t need an ice cream maker 🙂
I officially hate July as well. This July was the month of blown turbos, being stranded in Utah, and broken home air conditioning. Thank God it’s over!
Love the website and ice cream recipes. I tired making chocolate chip ice cream but the chips fell to the bottom of the tub. Any recommendations on how to avoid this?
This looks amazing! I might make it for my son’s birthday around Labor Day 🙂 I always have issues with recipes that require freezing…they either turn out weird or stick to the container. SO, what’s your favorite container for freezing stuff like this? Would it be the plastic container I see in the photos? Have you tried freezing this in jars? Thanks! Love the blog, as always!
This looks wonderful. I think I am making this next week for a girls day I am having.
Oh my yum! You’re a genius!
Well my cheesecake ice cream is in the freezer as we speak. I used peaches however and the only thing I did differently was a little bit of vanilla flavoring, I just believe everything is better with vanilla flavoring, I think its the vodka I like. I hope the peaches taste as good as I know the strawberries would have, but when I get to grocery store we had home grown peaches and oh did they smell good … and as far a diatery sound serving… well there will be three of us here tonight for a meal and I for one know there will be none left. I have the first cookbook and will also get your new one, just haven’t pre-ordered it yet..lazy. It’s July and August… dogs days in the south,
that should have said “got to grocery store” Proofreading is not one of my virtures.
OMG, sounds yummy. I’m going to have to figue a way to make sugar free. I only wish I had enough time to make everything you ladies publish…
So yummy! I was going exactly according to the recipe, but when I went to grab the graham crackers (I couldn’t find the graham cracker crust at the store), I saw the oreos. It reminded me how I love to put oreos and strawberry ice cream at cold stone so I couldn’t resist. So tasty!