I have found my new favorite thing–homemade ice cream. Believe it or not, I have never made homemade ice cream! I mean, I’ve made my parents recipe which is DIVINE and probably will be my all time favorite, but it’s a no-cook, eggless recipe so it’s a little different than this one. Yes, this one had eggs, had to be tempered, the whole nine yards but honestly it was NOT hard and turned out soooooo good.
For my first ice cream adventure I chose to do a Thin Mint Brownie Ice Cream with REAL mint, tons of crushed cookies and chunks of dark chocolate brownie. Oh and a chocolate chip swirl! Just for good measure. And I have only one thing to say about it–YUM. Actually, MAJOR YUM. Seriously people, this stuff is so, so good. Rich, creamy and totally addictive. I will NEVER buy ice cream from the store again. It does take a little forethought as you need to steep the mint and also let the final mixture chill but it could definitely be done in one day, just in time for after-dinner dessert if you start it early enough! I’ll definitely be experimenting more with flavors in the future so be warned–lots of ice cream recipes in the near future! Haha!
Enjoy!
- 3 c. Heavy Whipping Cream
- 3 c. Whole Milk
- 2 Bunches Fresh Mint Leaves (I used .75 ounces which was plenty in my opinion)
- ⅛ t. Salt
- 1½ c. Sugar
- 12 Egg Yolks
- 1 t. Pure Vanilla Extract
- 2 c. Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies, coarsely chopped (I used all but 6 or 7 of the whole box, about 1½ sleeves)
- 2 c. Brownie Pieces (I used half a batch of Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate box mix)
- ½ c. Dark Chocolate Chips, melted
- Green Food Dye, optional
- Combine cream, milk, mint and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer. Remove from heat, cover and let steep for 1 hour or overnight in the fridge (I let mine steep for 2.5 hours and it was definitely strong enough).
- In a large bowl, whisk together sugar and yolks. Remove mint from cream mixture and discard. Bring milk mixture to a simmer over medium heat. Using a measuring cup or ladle, slowly pour about ½ c. hot milk mixture into the egg-yolk mixture, whisking constantly. Continue adding milk mixture, about a ½ c. at a time, until it has all been added.
- Pour mixture back into saucepan and cook over low heat, sitrring constantly with a wooden spoon, until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of wooden spoon, about 10 minutes. Stir in vanilla. The custard should retain a line drawn across the back of the spoon with your finger. Pour through a fine sieve into a medium bowl. Stir occassionally until cooled. Cover and transfer to refrigerator until chilled, at least one hour or overnight (I chilled mine overnight).
- Pour custard into a 2-quart ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer's instructions until set but not hard. Toward the end of the freezing, add green food coloring, if using. Pour into an air-tight container and stir in cookies and brownie chunks. Swirl in melted chocolate chips. Freeze for at least four hours or overnight.
