I told you it would look the same.
The other night, after reading my post about making chocolate chip mint ice cream, my mom texted me, “Mint extract and peppermint extract are 1000 miles apart.” I was like, too late. Also– how could mint extract be a thousand miles from peppermint extract, when mint extract was part peppermint, part spearmint?
But you know what? It made a BIG difference. The spearmint was giving the ice cream the maybe-I-want-to-barf twinge, because it’s a little too mint chewing gum. (I don’t really like spearmint gum.)
Of course, I spilled a little bit of the peppermint extract before it got to the bowl, and with my too-minty PTSD I erred on the side of not accidentally over-minting it again. So I ended up with a MUCH more subtle mint flavor, but maybe-not-minty-enough is DEFINITELY better than possibly-too-minty/maybe-I’m-going-to-barf. (Next time I’ll try to get it just right. Peppermint is definitely what you want to use to achieve that Baskin Robbins flavor.)
You know the ice cream is coming out muy tasty when you find yourself eating probably a whole serving size out of the machine, as it churns.
Caught with my spoon in the ice cream jar!
As for the first batch– it’s in the trash (I didn’t want the chocolate chips to clog up my sensitive sink). Too add insult to injury– somehow it managed to fall all over the kitchen floor as I was ushering it into the trash can. Jerk.
Oh– and a note about the chocolate chips. I used less than the called-for half-cup in this batch, because when the mint flavor is right, you don’t need to rely so much on the chocolate.
Another note– with my Cuisinart machine, it takes less than 20 minutes to churn to a consistency that is totally ready to eat. The recipe claims that you need 2 hours freeze-time after you churn. Nope. Make it right before your friends come over, and you’re good to go.
So– to recap. I took THIS recipe. I halfed it. I used half & half instead of cream. I used ultrafine sugar. I used a little less than the called-for amount of chocolate chips. And it came out… awesome. (And pay attention to your machine’s churn times… like I said, this is ready-to-eat in less than 20 minutes– but that’s my machine.)
You know what? Screw the link. Let’s write it out, RIGHT here. For posterity.
1 cup 2% milk
1 cup half & half
1/2 cup ultrafine sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract (PEPPERMINT) (NOT MINT)
6 drops green food coloring & 2 drops yellow food coloring (optional)
1/2 cup (or less) miniature semisweet chocolate chips (or shaved chocolate… if you have skills)
In a large bowl, stir together the milk, half & half, sugar, salt, vanilla extract and peppermint extract until the sugar has dissolved. Color to your liking with the food coloring. Freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Whenever in the process your machine recommends adding mix-ins, pour in the chocolate chips.
My inspiration.
Unlike the last batch, I can pretty much guarantee that this is delicious. I am no longer concerned about how in the world I’ll manage to finish this less-than-a-quart over the next few days. If that ever happens again– that’s a good sign that the ice cream wasn’t delicious enough, because a quart is not THAT big. (A quart is 8 half-cup servings… but who eats a half-cup of ice cream at a time?) (People with excellent self-control.)
OKAY! Now that I’ve got a handle on mint chocolate chip ice cream, I can start thinking about which flavor I want to try NEXT… hmmm.
xoxo…
Posted by yapplebee 
