Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

     Hello!  Today's recipe comes from an ad for Philadelphia Cream Cheese I found in a "Taste of Home" magazine. I love cheesecake and I love ice cream so why wouldn't I love this?  Plus, I've been looking for an excuse to dust off my Cuisinart ice cream maker for about 5 years now (seriously, I haven't used it in over 5 years!).

     This recipe is incredibly simple to make and can be made without an ice cream maker, the mixture just needs to freeze overnight.  a few tips... The recipe calls for blending 1 1/2 cup of strawberries until smooth but we chose to blend only 1 cup with the Ninja (love that machine) and chopped the remaining 1/2 cup.  This way the ice cream had chunks of strawberries in it.  I added the graham crackers at the very end to reduce sogginess (is that a word?).  You can make this slightly lower in fat by using 1/3 reduced fat cream cheese rather than the full fat variety.  That's what I used and it made me feel 1/3 less guilty about eating a second bowl!  And get creative, this doesn't have to be just ice cream... turn it into an ice cream pie by pouring mixture into graham cracker crust and freezing for 8 hours.  Top with a dollop whipped cream and a drizzle of chocolate sauce and you've got one amazing pie!

      But here's the important part - the taste.  It is absolutely amazing - thick and rich, just like a piece of cheesecake!  I sprinkled some crushed graham crackers on top to give it a little extra crunch, and had I thought of it I would have saved some of the berry puree and drizzled that on top as well!  Guess I'll have to make another batch and give it a try!

Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
• 1/3 cup whipping cream
• 1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries
• 3 graham crackers, coarsely chopped

1. Mix cream cheese, condensed milk and whipping cream in bowl with hand mixer until well blended.  Freeze 4 hours, or until almost solid.  **If using an ice cream maker I would only freeze for 3 hours, we found it too thick when frozen for 4.

2.  Beat cream cheese mixture with mixer until creamy.  Blend berries in blender until smooth.  Add to cream cheese mixture with chopped graham crackers; mix well.  Freeze 8 hours or until smooth.

**If using ice cream maker, add cream cheese mixture and berries to machine.  Mix for 20 minutes.  Add chopped graham crackers and mix for another 1-2 minutes, or until well blended.  Serve immediately (consistency will be of soft serve) or freeze 2 hours or until firm.

3.  Remove dessert from freezer 15 minutes before serving; let stand at room temperature to soften slightly before scooping into dishes.  Top with chopped graham crackers.  Enjoy!