Does Butter Pecan Ice Cream Have Butter In It?

Many ice cream lovers enjoy the popular flavor of butter pecan ice cream. It’s a delicious combination of vanilla ice cream with added nutty and buttery flavors, including chunks of toasted pecans. However, despite its name, some people question whether or not this flavor of ice cream actually contains real butter.

Is There Butter in Butter Pecan Ice Cream?

Butter pecan ice cream commonly contains butter in it. A typical practice is to roast the pecans in butter before they are added to the ice cream. Butter can also be used to create the custard base as is the case for this butter pecan recipe from Simply Recipes.

If you review the ingredients of the popular store-bought butter pecan ice creams below, you will notice that they all contain butter in them.

Breyer’s Butter Pecan Ingredients: Milk, Sugar, Corn Syrup, Butter Pecans [Pecans, Cottonseed Oil, Butter (Cream, Salt), Salt], Cream, Contains 2% or less of each of the following: Whey, Carob Bean Gum, Mono And Diglycerides, Salt, Natural Flavors, Carrageenan, Tara Gum, Guar Gum, Caramel Color, Lactase Enzyme, Annatto (For Color), Vitamin A Palmitate.

Haagen Dazs Butter Pecan Ingredients: Cream, Skim Milk, Sugar, Pecans, Lactose Reduced Skim Milk, Corn Syrup, Egg Yolks, Coconut Oil, Salt, Butter (Cream, Salt), Vanilla Extract.

Great Value Butter Pecan Ingredients: Milk, Cream, Sugar, Buttermilk, Whey, Pecans (Pecans, Cottonseed Oil, Salt, Butter), Corn Syrup, Skim Milk, Contains 2% or less of Natural Flavors, Mono & Diglycerides, Carob Bean Gum, Guar Gum, Cellulose Gel, Cellulose Gum, Carrageenan, Salt.

It is important to note that not all butter pecan ice cream brands use butter in their recipes. Some may opt for alternative ingredients to reduce costs, cater to dietary restrictions, or for other reasons. Favorite Day, a food & beverage brand owned by Target, is an example of an ice cream brand of butter pecan that does not contain butter. Below are its ingredients.

Favorite Day Butter Pecan Ingredients: Milkfat And Nonfat Milk, Sweet Cream Buttermilk, Liquid Sugar (Sugar, Water), Corn Syrup, Pecans (Pecans, Cottonseed Oil, Salt), Whey, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Contains Less Than 2% Of Natural Flavor, Salt, Mono And Diglycerides, Guar Gum, Calcium Sulfate, Carob Bean Gum, Carrageenan, Caramel Color.

Final Thoughts

You’ll often find butter in butter pecan ice cream, but it is not in all brands or recipes. Be sure to review the ingredients, if having butter in butter pecan ice cream is desirable for you or possibly something you may want to avoid. However, should it really be called butter pecan if it doesn’t really have butter in it? Maybe that’s a topic for another time!

Featured Image Credit – Mike Fabio/flickr