Creamy Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
Super creamy with a soft touch of mint and finely chopped chocolate. This recipe is so simple, delicious and the ultimate crowd-pleaser!
During one of the first meals I shared with Kendall Grace, my husband’s daughter, I thought I had blown my chances with her over a bowl of ice cream. We had finished our supper, and we each sat down with a big bowl of vanilla ice cream, hers COVERED in chocolate syrup, and she looked at me and asked if I wanted some syrup, too. When I said “no, thank you,” she turned her nose up and without hesitation, she questioned my decisions: “umm…you don’t want chocolate syrup?!” I quickly changed my mind and nodded, “oh, of course I do—load me up!” We’ve been besties ever since.
Our kids LOVE ice cream, and they get that love from their daddy. Growing up, I didn’t lose sleep over ice cream. Then, one night, the ladies from the church I attended hosted an ice cream supper where there were tubs and TUBS of homemade ice cream in every flavor imaginable, and from that point forward, I was sold!
My mom’s favorite flavor was mint chocolate, and coincidentally enough, so is Kendall’s. Knowing I have to keep up with her ice cream habits so she’ll continue to accept me as her own (just kidding, she loves me!), and wanting to come up with recipes to get us through this heat wave, I decided to attempt making homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream. Not meaning to brag, but let’s just say I nailed it because this ice cream is sooo good!
I use the same base for every flavor I make because this method makes the creamiest, yummiest homemade ice cream I’ve tried; plus, it doesn’t require any eggs and is very simple. My ice cream maker holds 4 quarts, so my base is always 3 cups of half and half, 1 cup of milk, 4 cups of heavy cream, 2 cups of sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. I use the vanilla extract regardless of the additional flavor I’m adding because it makes every batch ultra delicious.
Also, if you don’t already have an ice cream maker, you can get the one I use from Amazon, here. This one by Hamilton Beach has great reviews, too. I don’t think you could go wrong with either, and I prefer the ones that hold more ice cream. Kendall does, too! Haha!
Ingredients for the Mint Chocolate Flavor:
3 cups half and half
1 cup whole milk
4 cups heavy cream
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoon mint extract
8 drops green food coloring
6 ounce semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
Directions:
Chop chocolate in a food processor to get it very fine.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk half and half, milk and sugar until sugar is fully dissolved.
Whisk in cream, vanilla extract, mint extract and food coloring, if desired.
Pour into the bowl of your ice cream maker, following manufacturers instructions. After churning about 15 minutes, add the chocolate and mix well.
Churn for an additional 10 minutes, checking the ice cream as it’s churning to prevent over-churning. At this point, the ice cream should be the consistency of soft serve.
Pour into a freezer container or loaf pan and store in the freezer. Freezing in a loaf pan for an additional hour will help the ice cream firm up a bit more to get yummy, creamy scoops for a waffle cone.
I hope you enjoy!!
