Classic Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

This is the classic mint chocolate chip ice cream. Sweet. Simple. Minty, but not too much overpowering mint. (Drool drool)

My love of mint chocolate chip ice cream started as far back as I can remember. It was always my favorite when I went to the ice cream shop. It still is my favorite (well, there’s one other ice cream that I would consider my favorite, but unfortunately Baskin Robbins stopped making Chocolate Rum-amuck… but I digress).

I’ve recently learned that my new sister-in-law’s favorite ice cream is also mint chocolate chip. (I knew I liked her!). For Superbowl Sunday she got roped into challenging me to make something really tasty for her. What better reason than that to make her favorite ice cream (and it isn’t like you have to twist my arm to eat mint chocolate chip ice cream).

The recipe for this ice cream is a pretty basic one that starts with making custard for the base. I’ve found that I like the custard based ice creams much better than the Philadelphia style ice creams that are just cream, sugar, and flavorings. The custard based ice creams are creamier, thicker, and richer; I might even say they’re more traditional – at least they’re the ones that I grew up eating.

To make the chocolate chips, I used a good quality dark chocolate bar with 70% cacao. I took a serrated knife and shaved off small chucks of the chocolate bar.  I left some chunks a bit larger so that there would be some texture contrast. I thought about making a ganache (a mixture of chocolate and cream) and chopping it into small pieces after it hardened, but decided to go a little more traditional this time.

You could also use mini chocolate chips from a bag. Or, try breaking up some chocolate mint candies or adding some Oreo cookie pieces to the ice cream.

Whatever you decide to mix in (or leave the mint ice cream without any mix-ins), it’s delicious!

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Click on the picture to get to the recipe

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Classic Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Recipe

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Classic Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Servings 6

Author Debi

Ingredients

• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 cups half-and-half
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 2 teaspoons peppermint extract
• 5 drops green food coloring optional
• ¾ cups chocolate shavings

Instructions

1. In a medium mixing bowl, beat the sugar into the eggs until thickened and pale yellow. Beat in the cornstarch and set aside.
2. Bring the half-and-half to a simmer in a heavy medium saucepan. Slowly beat the hot half-and-half into the eggs and sugar. Pour the entire mixture back into the pan and place over low heat. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the custard thickens and coats the back of the wooden spoon. Be careful not to let the mixture boil or the eggs will scramble. Remove from heat and pour the hot custard through a strainer into a large clean bowl. Allow the custard to cool slightly, and stir in the cream, peppermint extract, and food coloring, if using. Cover and refrigerate until cold or overnight.
3. Stir the chilled custard, and freeze in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s directions. Slowly add any mix-ins to the machine when the ice cream is semifrozen, or in the last couple minutes of mixing. Allow the machine to mix in the chocolate. When finished, the ice cream will be soft but ready to eat. For firmer ice cream, transfer to a freezer safe container and freeze at least 2 hours.