If you have leftover brownies hanging around the house (ha!), throw them into an ice cream base for an amazing treat. I had some leftover cool mint dessert and turned this into one of our favorite new ice creams!
A few weeks ago, my husband accomplished an amazing milestone in his life. He shot a hole in one (golf). Not only is it an amazing feat in and of itself, but he had never achieved this before. Guys, he’s been playing golf for 35+ years. So that means he’s been waiting for his hole in one for most of his life.
Addie and I were super excited and jumped up and down when we received the text about the news. We had also planned on making an ice cream that morning prior to knowing about my husband’s accomplishment. As it happens, one of my husband’s favorite desserts is what we lovingly call “cool mint dessert.” It’s essentially a chocolate mint brownie but with a nickname.
Anyway, I had a few bars of cool mint dessert left in the refrigerator and vowed to add it to a batch of ice cream. In addition to the brownie bits, I also added some (store-bought) chocolate sauce and drizzled it into the ice cream. And thus, a new favorite ice cream was born. My husband thoroughly enjoyed this and loved being able to celebrate his milestone with a scoop of ice cream.
This chocolate mint brownie ice cream was rich, easy to scoop and full of brownie bits and fudge swirls. It wasn’t too sweet, and it definitely satisfied our chocolate tooth and craving for a frozen dessert. If you want to dial up the mint flavor, you could add a teaspoon or two of peppermint extract into the ice cream base. Another option is to use a chocolate ice cream custard instead of vanilla/plain. You won’t regret it.
Husband’s rating: 4.5 out of 5
Addie’s rating: 4.5 out of 5
My rating: 4.5 out of 5
Chocolate mint brownie ice cream
Ingredients
Brownies
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 2 and ¼ cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 and ¼ cups unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder optional
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 and ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups chocolate chips
Mint cream center
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 stick (8 Tablespoons) unsalted butter room temperature
- ½ to ¾ teaspoon peppermint extract
- 3 drops green food coloring optional
Chocolate glaze
- 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup chocolate chips
Ice cream
- ¾ cup organic cane sugar
- ½ cup skim milk powder
- 1 and ⅔ cup whole milk
- 1 and ⅔ cup heavy cream
- 3 large egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- chocolate sauce optional (I used store-bought)
Instructions
Make the brownies
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan.
- In a saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter, then add the sugar and stir to combine. Return the mixture to the heat briefly, just until it's hot, but not bubbling; it'll become shiny looking as you stir it. Heating this mixture a second time will dissolve more of the sugar, which will yield a shiny top crust on your brownies.
- Transfer the sugar mixture to a medium-sized mixing bowl, if you've heated it in a saucepan. Stir in the cocoa, salt, baking powder, espresso powder, and vanilla.
- Whisk in the eggs, stirring until smooth. Add the flour and chips, again stirring until smooth. Spoon the batter into a lightly greased 9" x 13" pan.
- Bake the brownies for about 30 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, or with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it. The brownies should feel set on the edges, and the center should look very moist, but not uncooked. Remove them from the oven and cool completely on a rack.
Make the mint cream center
- Combine all ingredients in a bowl and beat until smooth. Evenly spread it on top of the cooled brownies.
Make the chocolate glaze
- Melt ingredients together in a small saucepan or in the microwave. Chill the bars in the refrigerator for at least an hour before serving.
Make the ice cream base
- Get a large bowl and fill it with ice. Set aside.
- In a large saucepan, mix together the sugar, milk powder, and milk. Whisk until the milk powder dissolves. Then add the cream and mix well.
- Place the egg yolks in a small bowl and set aside.
- Put a fine mesh sieve on top of a large bowl and set aside.
- Turn the stove to medium and clip a candy thermometer to the side. Stir the mixture until it reaches 110 degrees F (45 degrees C).
- Take the saucepan off the stove (but do not turn it off). Pour about 1/2 cup of the milk mixture into the small bowl with the egg yolks. Keep whisking so the eggs don't scramble. Then pour the egg yolks back into the sauce pan and keep stirring.
- Keep heating the mixture until it reaches 165 degrees F (75 degrees C). This will take about 5-10 minutes.
- Pour the mixture into the fine mesh sieve. Remove the sieve and stir the vanilla into the custard mixture. Mix well.
- Allow the ice cream mixture to cool in the ice bath before transferring to the refrigerator to cool completely, at least another 1-2 hours.
- Once the ice cream mixture has completely cooled, churn in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's directions.
- While the ice cream is churning, chop up the brownies into small chunks. Scoop up some of the churned ice cream into a freezer-safe container. Then add a layer of brownies chunks. Drizzle fudge sauce on top and repeat.
- Let the ice cream freeze for a good 6-8 hours before serving.
Wow superr!!