No-Churn Baklava Ice Cream is what happens when your Lebanese husband's favorite dessert becomes a frozen situation. Every element of a proper baklava is here. Toasted pistachios and walnuts spiced with cinnamon, crispy baked phyllo flakes, and honey swirled through a no-churn cream and condensed milk base that is silky, rich, and completely scoopable straight from the freezer.
A Quick Look at the Recipe
✅ Recipe Name: No-Churn Baklava Ice Cream
🕒 Ready In: ~ 8 hour 15 minutes
👪 Serves: 10 servings
🍽 Calories: ~ 467 per serving (estimated)
🥣 Main Ingredients: Heavy cream, sweetened condensed milk, pistachios, walnuts
👌 Difficulty: Easy
SUMMARIZE & SAVE THIS CONTENT ON
My husband grew up eating baklava the way most people eat cookies, constantly and without apology. I wanted to give him all those flavors in something cold and creamy for summer, and this ice cream is the result. Freeze it overnight, drizzle with more honey before serving, and watch it disappear.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
No ice cream machine needed. Whipped cream folded into sweetened condensed milk is the only technique here and it works every single time.
Those crispy phyllo flakes. Baked golden and broken into pieces, they add a baklava crunch that no other ice cream has.
Orange blossom water and cinnamon in the base. The two flavors that make this taste distinctly and authentically Middle Eastern rather than just a nut ice cream.
Freeze overnight and serve. The hardest part of this recipe is waiting.
No-Churn Baklava Ice Cream Video
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Ingredient Notes
Heavy Cream: The chilled bowl really helps! Cold equipment keeps the cream cold during whipping, which means it reaches stiff peaks faster and holds its structure better when you fold in the condensed milk. 10 minutes in the freezer before you start is all it takes and it makes a real difference.
Sweetened Condensed Milk: Sweetened condensed milk is what makes no-churn ice cream work. It provides the sweetness, the creaminess, and the body that keeps the ice cream scoopable rather than icy after freezing. Mixing the flavorings into the condensed milk first, rather than adding them to the finished ice cream base, ensures they are evenly distributed through every single bite.
Orange Blossom Water: Orange blossom water is a delicate floral distillate used widely across Lebanese, Turkish, and broader Middle Eastern baking. It is the same ingredient I use in my Orange Blender Cake and my Lemon Semolina Olive Oil Cake and it is worth keeping in your pantry permanently.
Pistachios and Walnuts: Toasting the nuts before adding them is the step that transforms them from raw and slightly bitter to deeply nutty, fragrant, and complex. Do not skip it. Let them cool completely before adding to the ice cream base or the heat will melt the whipped cream.
Phyllo Dough: The baked phyllo adds the signature baklava crunch that makes every bite feel like the real thing. Keep a very close eye on it in the oven. Phyllo goes from golden to burnt in under a minute and there is no recovering from burnt phyllo.
Honey: Good quality honey is the finishing element that ties all the baklava flavors together. Use a honey with some character; a wildflower or orange blossom honey works beautifully here and is very much at home with the Middle Eastern flavor profile.
Cinnamon: Used twice, once toasted with the nuts and once mixed into the condensed milk base. The double application of cinnamon means it runs through every component of the ice cream rather than just sitting in one place.
Pro tip
The Secret to Perfect Ice Cream
Use a metal loaf pan rather than glass or ceramic. Metal conducts cold more efficiently and gives you a more even freeze. It also makes the ice cream easier to scoop straight from the freezer without waiting for it to soften.
Substitutions & Variations
No pistachios? All walnuts works beautifully and is actually closer to some traditional Lebanese baklava recipes. The flavor will be slightly earthier and less sweet but equally delicious.
No orange blossom water? A quarter teaspoon of rose water gives you a different but equally Middle Eastern floral note. Use slightly less as rose water is more intense than orange blossom water. If you want to skip the floral element entirely, add an extra half teaspoon of vanilla bean paste instead.
No phyllo dough? Crushed store bought baklava works as a shortcut. Break it into pieces and use exactly the same way as the baked phyllo. The layers will be slightly less crispy but the flavor will still be very good.
FAQ
Either the cream was not whipped to full stiff peaks before folding, or the mixture was overmixed when folding in the condensed milk. Stiff peaks are essential and gentle folding rather than stirring is what keeps the texture light and scoopable rather than dense and icy.
es. The ice cream is delicious without the phyllo but you will lose the baklava crunch element that makes it so distinctive. Crushed store bought baklava is a good shortcut if phyllo is not available.
I would say up to 3 weeks covered tightly with plastic wrap. After 2 weeks, the phyllo will soften and lose its crunch, and the ice cream may develop ice crystals. Best enjoyed within the first week.
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⭐️ Recipe
No-Churn Baklava Ice Cream
Equipment
- 1 loaf pan
Ingredients
Ice cream base
- 2.5 cups heavy whipping cream very cold
- 14 oz sweetened condensed milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 1.5 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1.5 teaspoon orange blossom water optional
Nut mixture
- ¾ cup pistachios peeled and unsalted, roughly chopped
- ¾ cup walnuts roughly chopped
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Phyllo layer
- 2 sheets phyllo dough
- Extra virgin olive oil for brushing
For layering and serving
- 3 tablespoon good quality honey plus more for drizzling
Instructions
Toast the nuts
- Add the pistachios and walnuts to a dry skillet over medium heat. Toast for 3 to 4 minutes, with the cinnamon, stirring regularly, until fragrant and lightly golden. Watch them closely as nuts go from toasted to burnt quickly. Transfer immediately to a bowl and cool. Add to the food processor and lightly crush or crush by hand.¾ cup pistachios, ¾ cup walnuts, 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Bake the phyllo
- Preheat your oven to 400F. Lay one sheet of phyllo on a large oiled sheet pan and brush with a thin layer of olive oil. Lay the second sheet on top and brush with olive oil again. Bake for 4 to 5 minutes until deeply golden all over. Watch it closely from the four-minute mark. Phyllo burns very fast, and there is no recovering from it. Remove from the oven and let cool completely. Break or chop into irregular, medium-sized pieces and set aside.2 sheets phyllo dough, Extra virgin olive oil for brushing
Whip the cream
- Place your mixing bowl and whisk attachment in the freezer for 10 minutes. Remove and add the cold heavy cream. Whip on high speed until stiff peaks form. The cream should hold its shape firmly when the whisk is lifted. Do not overwhip or it will become grainy.2.5 cups heavy whipping cream
Make the condensed milk base
- In a separate bowl whisk together the sweetened condensed milk, vanilla bean paste, cinnamon, and orange blossom water until fully combined and smooth.14 oz sweetened condensed milk, 1.5 teaspoon cinnamon, 1.5 teaspoon orange blossom water, ¼ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
Fold together
- Pour the condensed milk mixture into the whipped cream. Fold gently with a spatula using slow deliberate strokes from the bottom of the bowl upward. Fold until just combined with no visible streaks of condensed milk. Do not stir or you will deflate the whipped cream and lose the light airy texture. Fold in one and a half cups of the toasted nut mixture gently until distributed.
Layer and freeze
- Pour half of the ice cream mixture into a metal loaf pan and smooth the top. Scatter half of the phyllo pieces over the surface. Drizzle with honey and use a skewer or toothpick to swirl it gently through the layer.3 tablespoon good quality honey
- Pour the remaining ice cream mixture over the top and smooth again. Scatter the remaining phyllo pieces and honey and swirl. Top with the rest of the toasted nuts. Drizzle with the remaining honey and swirl.
- Cover tightly with plastic wrap pressed directly onto the surface of the ice cream. Freeze overnight or for at least 8 hours until completely set.
Serve
- Remove from the freezer and let sit at room temperature for 3 to 5 minutes before scooping. Drizzle generously with extra honey right before serving. The honey is not optional at this stage. It is the finishing touch that ties everything together and makes this taste like a proper baklava experience.
Did you make this recipe? Let me know!