Make your holidays chocolate-y and minty with this homemade ice cream. I included chunks of cookies, crushed peppermint and a chocolate fudge swirl.
Happy holidays! Although this year’s holiday season is very different from years past, I am hoping that you all can find some joy and peace.
You know what never fails to give me joy? Ice cream. No matter the weather, time of year or how full I am, I can always count on my good friend ice cream to cheer me up.
Earlier in the month, I had a self-induced stress fest. I scheduled to take an industry certification exam (for work) on a Monday. Two days later, I signed myself up to take a skating test. Two days after that, my daughter wrote a proctored entrance essay for her middle school application. It was a lot to take on in a little bit of time.
Mint and chocolate is my favorite flavor combination, so I used them in this ice cream. I added peppermint extract to the ice cream base, had Addie crush up a candy cane, and I also chopped up some sandwich cookies for good fun. Oh, we had some leftover chocolate sauce so we swirled that in too.
The resulting ice cream was fantastic, as expected. I enjoyed eating it after the stress-fest was over (I passed my certification exam, by the way). Hope your holidays are full of joy!
Husband’s rating: 4 out of 5
Addie’s rating: 4.5 out of 5
My rating: 4.5 out of 5
Holiday mint and cookies ice cream
Ingredients
- ¾ cup organic cane sugar
- ½ cup skim milk powder
- 1 and ⅔ cups whole milk
- 1 and ⅔ cups heavy cream
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 12 chocolate sandwich cookies crushed into chunks
- 1 candy cane crushed
Instructions
- 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 peppermint extract 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 (I prefer to chill my custard overnight).
- Once the ice cream mixture has completely cooled, churn in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's directions.
- Fold in cookie chunks and the crushed candy cane. If desired, you can also swirl in some chocolate sauce in between layers. Freeze for 8-12 hours before serving.