Dark Chocolate-Mint Ice Cream

I warned you.

I told everyone there would be more ice cream. This one is even easier than my Vanilla Bean. You don't need a stove, and there's not much work. The most work you'll do is by giving the dark chocolate a rough chop. 

I made this ice cream both by using chocolate chips, and then again with the dark chocolate chunks. I thought the chips were too big in the ice cream, they were almost hard to chew on. I actually ended up chopping my chocolate in the food processor, so I had larger chunks along with chocolate shavings. This technique ensured a little bit of chocolate in every bite, and it was just perfect. Both me and the hubby thought this was miles above any commercial mint chocolate chip ice cream. 

Except maybe Baskin Robbins.

As many of you know, I worked there when I was in college. I was employed scooping ice cream for a good 2 1/2 years, at which time I could say I'd learned and/or accomplished: 

-how to decorate cakes

-how to escape the walk-in freezer if someone accidentally locked you in there

-that moldy ice cream smells like death 

-the tasting of all 45 flavors 

A little secret about Baskin Robbins? There's more than 31 flavors. My co-workers and I counted at one point on a slow weekday afternoon. Mint Chocolate Chip was probably my #1 favorite flavor of ice cream and my go-to. #2 was Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, #3 was Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, and #4 was Cookies & Cream (I think I like candy in my ice cream!). Every once in a while I'd make a Brownie Sundae, and even rarer still, sometimes I'd make a coffee drink. Most shifts, I'd just grab tasting spoons of ice cream. A taste here, a taste there, and that was it. And Mint Chocolate Chip was usually where I aimed my spoon. So it seemed natural to try my own take on it. 

I adapted a simple vanilla ice cream recipe by altering the extracts and adding a little bit of food coloring. The food color is completely optional, but I added it for a little whimsy. All I can say is all batches of this ice cream never made it in the house more than 2 days. We loved it. Loved, loved, LOVED it. 

Recipe to follow later, but I even made homemade ice cream sandwiches from a batch of fresh made cookies. The hubby was in heaven. 

This picture really makes me want ice cream. And cookies. And chocolate. There should be 1 day a week where all you eat is dessert. Dessert all day. All day long. 

Ugh. I have such a sweet tooth :)

I'm starting physical therapy for my back today. I've been taking it easy for the last week and a half, not doing any exercise at all. And it's killing me. However, I can say that a steady regiment of sitting on the couch, reading, icing and heating, and ibuprofen 3 times a day has led to an improvement. A great improvement. Hopefully with starting physical therapy, I'll be at a place where I can start working out again.

And gain some sanity back!

I'm also hoping to get the car back this week. Yeah, that still hasn't happened yet.

#*$%^&#

Happy Monday!

Ingredients (makes 5 cups):

1 cup whole milk

3/4 cup sugar

pinch of salt

2 cups heavy cream

3/4 tbsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp peppermint extract

1/2 tsp green food color

1 cup dark chocolate chunks, topped

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, combine milk, sugar, and salt. Using a hand mixer, mix for 1-2 minutes or until sugar is dissolved. Stir in cream, extracts, and food color. Cover, and chill for 2 hours or overnight.

2. Turn ice cream maker on. Pour mixture into frozen freezer bowl, then mix for 15 minutes. Mixture should look thick. Add dark chocolate chunks. Mix for 5 minutes. Serve immediately, or transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze for a couple of hours for a harder texture. Store in freezer. 

Printable Recipe

Recipe adapted from Cuisinart.

If you liked this recipe, you may enjoy these:

Homemade Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Frozen Banana Ice Cream

Boozy Salted Caramel Milkshakes

Linked to: Treasure Box Tuesday, Create It Thursday, Thank Goodness It's Thursday, Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday, Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party, Snickerdoodle Sunday