Mint Fudge Ice Cream with Brownie Pieces - SRC

St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner, which means it's the perfect time for mint/chocolate desserts. Well, any time is perfect for mint/chocolate desserts in my opinion, but that's just how I roll.

So when I saw this recipe on my assigned blog for the Secret Recipe Club, I knew it was the perfect choice. Well, that and because she said it was quite possibly the best thing she had ever made. That nearly requires a taste test, don't you think?

So my blog this month was Pale Yellow, where Tracy has some seriously awesome baked goods (and lots of other selections as well, but I was irresistibly drawn to the sweets, as usual).  Caramel Snickers Bars, Brown Butter Biscoff Rice Crispy Treats, and Chocolate Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies were a few of the delectable treats that caught my eye, but I just kept thinking about this ice cream.

And boy, am I glad I did.

Now here's the thing. You have to plan ahead to make this - the ice cream mixture has to chill before being churned, the brownies need to be baked, cut into chunks, and frozen, and the fudge sauce made and chilled before you can combine it all together. So give yourself a day to get all the components ready (or at the very least, start very early in the morning), and then complete the recipe the next day.

I've used mint extract lots of times, but this recipe uses real mint leaves, simmered right in the milk and cream to impart that real mint flavor. I was amazed at how delicious it was - the flavor is so authentic with no aftertastes. Sublime.
Combine that with fudgy brownie chunks and an incredible fudge sauce swirled through every bite - and you have a little bowl of heaven. Totally worth the time invested to make it. And the calories.

I was running short on eggs, so I didn't use Tracy's egg-based ice cream - I just used the normal vanilla I make except with the step of simmering the mint leaves added in. I also didn't use the fudge sauce that Tracy did, because it uses corn syrup, which I try to avoid. Instead I used this very simple sauce and thought it was fantastic.

This ice cream received RAVE reviews from every member of my family - and Grant, who often times would just as soon eat store bought ice cream as homemade, couldn't stop talking about how awesome it was. Then a friend who stopped by for dinner loved it so much that he declared that I should go into business selling it - that he would pay $30 a gallon for it. I call that a WIN!

Note: You will NOT use all the brownies that the recipe makes in the ice cream itself. You can easily cut the recipe in half if you don't want as much  left over and bake it in a 8 or 9" square pan. Or you could freeze the leftovers. OR you could make brownies from a box if you want. But these brownies are super delicious and definitely worth trying, just on their own. Crackly on top, dense, rich, and fudgy, you won't regret making them.  

Mint Fudge Ice Cream with Brownie Pieces
from Rebekah's Family, Food, and Fun

Ice cream: 
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 cup sugar
3 cups heavy cream
1 bunch fresh mint
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract  

Fudge Sauce: 
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup (half stick) butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract 

Brownies: 
10 ounces dark chocolate, chopped (I used chocolate chips)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 teaspoon instant coffee granules
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons cocoa powder


To make Ice cream: 

Combine milk, sugar, and cream in a saucepan. Add mint leaves and heat/steep on low, stirring occasionally, for 30-40 minutes. Do not let come to a boil. Remove from heat and pour through a fine sieve to remove the leaves. Stir in vanilla and pour mixture into a bowl to chill, preferably overnight.

To make Fudge Sauce:

Combine all ingredients except vanilla in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute, then remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Pour into a jar and refrigerate until cool. You won't need all of it for the ice cream - but you can always pour extra on individual servings if desired. It will last in the fridge for several weeks. Sauce will thicken up and can be made pourable by microwaving for 15-25 seconds.

To make Brownies:

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Grease a 13x9" pan with butter. Set aside.
Using a double boiler, or a bowl set over a pan of simmering water, melt the butter, chocolate, and coffee powder. Stir often. Once thoroughly melted, remove from heat. Stir in sugar and brown sugar and whisk to combine. In a small bowl, whisk eggs together until well beaten. Add to chocolate and sugar mixture along with the vanilla and stir well.
Switch to a rubber spatula and fold in the flour, salt, and cocoa powder. Stir just into combined.
Pour into greased pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out with a little bit of batter.
Cool completely.
Cut some of the brownies into small chunks, place on a wax paper lined dish, and freeze until ready to stir into the ice cream. You won't use all the brownies - probably only 1/4-1/3 of them. That's okay. The brownies are completely awesome on their own. :)

To put it all together: 
Churn ice cream according to your manufacturer's direction.
Fold in the brownie chunks until evenly distributed.
Spread about a third of the ice cream into a container, drizzle with fudge sauce, Repeat with the second and third layers. Freeze until firm.

Source: adapted from Pale Yellow

An InLinkz Link-up

Peach Cheesecake Ice Cream

We're fortunate to have a local peach orchard not too far away and I recently picked up half a bushel of my favorite late summer fruit.  That worked out to be 22 pounds, in case you're wondering.  (yes, I did haul out my kitchen scale to weigh them.....I just had to know.)

That's a lot of peaches.

I stuck at least half of them in our extra fridge in the garage so they wouldn't ripen too fast and left the rest on the counter.  My constantly hungry kiddos would make fast work of them, I was sure.

I had every intention of making peach freezer jam, and even bought the pectin for it.....but when I saw that the recipe called for a cup and a half more sugar than peaches, I just couldn't bring myself to make it.
Should have bought that less-sugar required pectin.

Also on my list of things to make was Peach Cobbler Scones.  Those I made on Saturday - the recipe will be coming soon.  Delish.

But above all else, I wanted to make peach ice cream.
But not just plain peach ice cream - peach cheesecake ice cream!
I couldn't get the idea out of my head.

So what I basically did was take the basic vanilla ice cream that I usually make and added a bunch of pureed peaches, with a block of cream cheese replacing one of the cups of cream.  I toyed with the idea of swirling in crumbled homemade ginger snaps or something of the like, but ended up just deciding to sprinkle individual servings with crushed graham crackers.

It was so. good.

Grant (aka Mr.Chocolate) was admittedly skeptical of it.  He was convinced that he wouldn't really care for it.  But after one spoonful, he was SOLD.  

In my opinion, nothing you buy at the store can hold a candle to homemade ice cream.  It's so rich, satisfying, and free of weird ingredients. (carrageenan, anyone??)  And this version, with so many sweet, juicy peaches in it, must have a full serving of fruit per scoop.  What store-bought ice cream can boast that?

Peach Cheesecake Ice Cream
Makes a generous 2 quarts
(a Rebekah original)

1-1/2 pounds fresh peaches, peeled, pitted, and sliced
1 8 (oz) package cheese, room temperature
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1 1/4 cups sugar (I used organic evaporated cane juice sugar)
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
2 cups heavy cream
Graham crackers for garnish (optional)

1. Place peach slices and cream cheese (cut into small pieces) into a blender or food processor.  Puree until smooth.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, combine the milk and sugar and mix for a few minutes on medium speed, until sugar is completely dissolved and mixture is smooth. I test it by rubbing a small amount of mixture between my fingers to make sure there's no grittiness left.
3. Add the peach cream cheese mixture to the milk and stir to combine.  Add the vanilla and cream and stir gently.
4. Pour into your ice cream maker and proceed according to your manufacturer's directions.

Mine nearly overflowed my Cuisinart 2-quart ice cream maker - so if yours is smaller, reduce the recipe in half or only freeze part of it at a time. 

Chocolate Fudge Swirl Peanut Butter Ice Cream

Between preparing for a visit from Grant's parents (they're here until the 26th) and gearing up for the VA. Home Educator's Convention last weekend, things have been just a little crazy around here.

But that's okay.  Everything is good and we had a fabulous time at the convention, and of course spent more money than we anticipated, and now we totally need new bookcases more than ever before. 

I am such a sucker for books.  Only good ones, you know.  None of those ridiculous "Captain Underpants" waste-of-paper books, or any other such nonsense.   

One of my favorite finds at the Used Curriculum Sale was The Five Little Peppers and How they Grew.
I'm looking forward to reading that aloud to my family once we finish the book we're currently reading (The Prodigal Cat).

Anyways, I made this ice cream a couple of weeks ago and to be honest, once I tasted it, I just wanted to hide it in the freezer and make something else for the kids so I could eat it all myself. 

A deep chocolate peanut butter ice cream, a dark fudgy ribbon throughout, and chunks of peanut butter patties speckled here and there, it's a dream come true for the die-hard chocolate peanut butter fan.  (which I am, as evidenced by my birthday dessert earlier this year).

If you have a favorite chocolate ice cream base already, feel free to substitute it.  I used one with egg yolks, but only because I had some extra ones in the fridge that I needed to use up.  While I certainly do love ice cream made with eggs, it usually requires cooking and I don't always want to wait the extra time needed for the mixture to cool before freezing it. 

The fudge sauce makes quite a bit....I didn't end up using it all for the ice cream.  But that was okay; it stores well in the fridge and I added a drizzle to a cup of coffee with some milk later in the week and found it to be a fantastic mocha!  (and I don't even like coffee.)

The peanut butter patties - amazing.  They totally take the ice cream to a whole 'nother level, so don't leave them out!

Chocolate Fudge Swirl Peanut Butter Ice Cream 
(adapted from Brown Eyed Baker)
Yield: 2 quarts

Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream Base:

1 cup and 2 tablespoons sugar

1-1/2 cups milk

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

5 egg yolks, lightly beaten

3 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped finely (I used Bakers Semi-sweet Chocolate)

1/2 cup peanut butter

3 cups heavy cream

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Combine sugar, milk, salt, and cocoa powder in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly. Heat to about 150°, very hot but not bubbling yet.  Place the egg yolks into a small bowl. Gradually stir in about 1/2 cup of the hot liquid. and return to the saucepan. Heat until thickened (175-180°), but do not boil. Remove from the heat, and stir in the chopped chocolate until chocolate is melted. Add peanut butter and stir well.  Pour into a chilled bowl, and refrigerate for about two hours until cold, stirring every so often.  You can also refrigerate overnight.

Fudge Ripple:
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup water
6 T. unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey's Dark)
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Whisk together the sugar, corn syrup, water, and cocoa powder in a medium saucepan. (you can just use the same one you made the ice cream base in if you want).  Heat over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture begins to bubble at the edges.  Continue to whisk until it just comes to a low boil.  Cook for 1 minute, whisking frequently.  Remove from the heat, stir in the vanilla, and let it cool.  Chill in the refrigerator before using.  (Fudge Ripple can be stored for up to 2 weeks, covered, in the refrigerator.)

Peanut Butter Patties: (I recommend making extra of these!)
6 Tbs. peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)
3-6 Tbs. powdered sugar (amount may vary depending on the type of peanut butter you use)

Mix together the peanut butter and powdered sugar in a small bowl.  Get the consistency that you can pinch off balls of it without it sticking to your fingers much.  Line a dinner plate with plastic wrap or wax paper.  Pinch off small pieces of the mixture and place on the plate.  Freeze until you add them to the ice cream.

To Make the Ice Cream:

After base has chilled thoroughly, freeze it in your ice cream maker (2 quart) according to the manufacturer's directions.  Fold in the Peanut Butter Patties when it has finished churning.  Just before you remove the ice cream from the machine, spoon some of the Fudge Ripple onto the bottom of the storage container.  As you remove the ice cream from the machine, layer generous spoonfuls of the sauce between layers of ice cream.  Avoid stirring the Fudge Ripple, as it will make the ice cream "muddy".



Linked to Finding Joy in my Kitchen

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream

We were having guests for dinner recently and I was contemplating what to make for dessert.  As I perused my blog for inspiration, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Squares caught my eye.

I couldn't stop thinking about how fabulous those are, but I just didn't have the time to make them. 

Then I thought, "Why not make cookie dough ice cream?"  I've made cookie dough truffles before (in my pre-blog days) that were egg-free and fantastic, so I knew it couldn't be too hard to make some cookie dough ice-cream.   This was what I came up with.

The cookie dough is really wonderful - I had a hard time keeping from eating the chunks just plain. 

Had to make sure they were suitable for the ice cream, you know.  Right.

This makes a delectable dessert, which could only be made better with the addition of a chocolate swirl.  I thought about that too, but didn't have the time to make that either.  Regardless, this is one of my favorite ice creams and everyone really enjoyed it. 

Recipe:

yields: 2 quarts

Ice Cream Base: (from Cuisinart manual)

1 cup sugar

1-1/2 cups whole milk

1 T. vanilla extract

3 cups heavy cream

Combine sugar and milk in a large mixing bowl.  Use a hand mixer or a whisk to beat until sugar dissolves completely, which can take several minutes. 

Gently stir in the extract and cream. 

Freeze in ice-cream maker as explained in your owner's manual. 

Meanwhile, make cookie dough.

Cookie Dough: (from serving-ice-cream.com)

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips

Cream butter, sugars, and vanilla until blended.
Add flour and salt.
Stir until well mixed.
Form into a long log, wrap with plastic wrap, and put in the freezer until ready to use. 
Cut off slices about 1/8" thick and cut each slice into small pieces. 
You may not need all of them in the ice cream - you can save the remaining dough in the freezer for your next batch, or just munching!

When there is about 5 minutes left before the ice cream is done, add in small chunks of cookie dough.

Ice cream will be soft-serve consistency - if you want it firmer and scoopable, put in a plastic container and freeze until firm, at least 2 hours. 

Strawberry Ice Cream

Homemade ice cream is so much fun! 

Regular vanilla?  Awesome.

Vanilla with added Andes mints chips?  Delicious.

After I made the Very Chocolate Ice Cream, Grant and I were convinced it was really unbeatable.

And then Annika asked for strawberry ice cream for her birthday and I combined a couple of simple recipes and made this.  

Chocolate lovers that we are, I couldn't have been more surprised than when Grant declared that this strawberry ice cream was better than the chocolate.  And he should know, he had just cleaned out the container with the remaining chocolate ice cream in it to make room in the freezer for the strawberry.  

It is amazing.  

Fruity.

Creamy.

Smooth and perfect. 

I made it with fresh berries, but since strawberry season is really over, I am sure I'll be trying it out with frozen (thawed) berries at some point.  I'll be sure to update this post with the results when I do. 

Note:  This nearly overflowed my 2 quart ice cream maker, so if your maker is smaller, please reduce the quantity of ingredients to what seems appropriate or make it in 2 batches. 

Recipe: (inspired by the Cuisinart Recipe book)

1 lb. fresh strawberries, washed and hulled

1 cup milk (I use whole milk)

1-1/4 cups sugar, divided

3 cups heavy cream

1-1/2 t. vanilla extract

pinch of salt

Place berries in blender with 1/4 cup of sugar and puree until smooth.  If you prefer your ice cream to have chunks of berries, feel free to just mash them instead - but I don't know what that would do to the overall texture of the ice cream.  

In a separate bowl, combine milk and remaining 1 cup sugar.  With a hand mixer, beat on medium speed for a few minutes, until the sugar is completely dissolved.  Don't stop too early!  It will make your ice cream grainy if the sugar isn't dissolved.  Add cream, vanilla, salt, and strawberry puree.  Stir to combine.  

Pour into prepared ice cream maker and freeze as directed in your manual.  

Serve immediately as soft serve, or put in a freezer-safe container and freeze until hardened, a couple of hours at least.  

No, it's obviously not low calorie.  

Or low fat.

But it is worth every bite.  I promise!  

Very Chocolate Ice Cream

We just got an ice cream maker last week!!! It's a Cuisinart 2-quart capacity countertop variety, which is the largest size I could find that didn't require ice and rock salt for making the ice cream. 
So far I've made the vanilla recipe from their included booklet, as well as the vanilla yogurt.  The ice cream was wonderful, the yogurt tasty but not nearly as good as the ice cream (go figure, must be the 17 less grams of fat per serving).  For having guests this weekend, I decided to make some chocolate ice cream as well.

This recipe caught my eye off of Allrecipes and with all the positive reviews, I knew I had to make it. 

In all seriousness, it is one of the best things I have ever eaten.  I'm not even kidding.   Even Grant agrees, and he's pretty picky about homemade ice cream, texturewise.  It's the perfect amount of chocolaty goodness, creamy and smooth melt-in-your mouth delectableness.  Everyone loved it.

Note:  This amount filled up my 2-quart ice cream maker to full capacity.  If you have a smaller machine, please decrease the ingredients!  The link below to Allrecipes takes you to the recipe itself, and they have an awesome feature on their site that calculates different amount of servings for you. The original recipe was for 8 servings - I changed it to 12 for our machine, which was perfect. 

Recipe (from Allrecipes)

• 1 cup and 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1-1/2 cups milk
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 5 egg yolks, lightly beaten
• 3 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped finely (I used Bakers Semi-sweet Chocolate)
• 3 cups heavy cream
• 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 
  Combine sugar, milk, salt, and cocoa powder in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly. Heat to about 150°, very hot but not bubbling yet.  Place the egg yolks into a small bowl. Gradually stir in about 1/2 cup of the hot liquid. and return to the saucepan. Heat until thickened (175-180°), but do not boil. Remove from the heat, and stir in the chopped chocolate until chocolate is melted. Pour into a chilled bowl, and refrigerate for about two hours until cold, stirring occasionally.
  
• When chocolate mixture has completely cooled, stir in the cream, and vanilla. Pour into an ice cream maker, and freeze according to manufacturer's directions.

"I" is for Ice Cream Sandwiches

(Sorry this post is late - I've been crazy busy the past few days and didn't get around to finishing it)

Ice cream seemed an obvious choice for our "I" week last week.....but we decided to take it a step further and make Ice-cream sandwiches instead. Yum!  Our recipient of the week was one of Corban's best friends, Isaiah. (and we gave some to the rest of his family, too.....cause we're nice like that). 

I considered going with chocolate chip cookies or even something a little more unique, like snickerdoodle cookies with cinnamon ice cream, but eventually settled on a simple chocolate cookie with (gasp!) storebought ice cream to imitate the treats my kids love from a box...in a slightly healthier version. 

I just used a round biscuit cutter for my cookies - but you could use any shape of cookie cutter you want.  I did find that several of the sandwiches did leak ice-cream a bit while freezing back up, so they pretty much ended up a huge mess....but certainly an edible mess that we didn't mind a bit. 

Recipe: (from Annie's Eats) - makes 10-12 sandwiches, depending on how big you cut them

4 T. unsalted butter, room temp.

1/4 cup canola oil

1 cup light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 t. vanilla extract

1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

1 half-gallon vanilla ice-cream (or your desired flavor)

In a mixer, combine the butter, oil, and brown sugar.  Beat on medium speed until combined. Blend in the eggs one at a time, and the vanilla extract until smooth.  In a separate bowl, sift the cocoa powder and combine with the flour, baking powder, and salt; whisk to blend.  With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the wet ingredients and mix just until incorporated and a soft dough forms.

Gather the dough into a disc, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 1 hour.  Dough will still be soft!

Line a 13 x 9" pan with plastic wrap.  Allow ice-cream to soften until somewhat spreadable - spread evenly in the lined pan.  (harder than it sounds).  Return pan to freezer until cookies are ready to assemble into sandwiches.

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough to about 1/4-inch thick.  Use a cookie cutter to cut out as many pieces as you can, transferring the cut outs to the prepared baking sheet.  Gather and re-roll the dough scraps as needed.  If desired, use a wooden skewer to make a dotted pattern on the cookies.  Bake 8-10 minutes (8 was perfect for me).  Let cool on the baking sheet a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Remove ice cream from freezer.  Use the plastic wrap to pull the ice cream out of the pan.  Use the same cookie cutter to cut pieces of ice cream to put between two cookies. Return sandwiches to freezer immediately.  Some of the ice cream will not be perfectly shaped because you'll have to use leftover scraps.  Just smush them together and make it work! :) 

Wrap the sandwiches individually as desired.  Keep frozen until ready to serve.

Annika with Isaiah

To see the rest of our Alphabet Service Projects, click here.

Hot Fudge Ice Cream Dessert

This is a great recipe for those times that you don't want to heat up the oven, yet want a delicious, crowd-pleasing dessert that will serve a lot of people. It is also a wonderful base recipe for you to modify to your heart's content, with different flavors of ice-cream bars, sauces, candy or nuts, whatever. But here is how I make it.

Recipe

16 oz chocolate syrup
3/4 cup peanut butter
21 ice cream sandwiches (how many depends on the brand/size of them....I used 10.5 to cover the bottom of my 13 x9 inch pan, and there are 2 layers)
12 oz whipped topping
10 miniature Butterfinger Bars, chopped

Pour chocolate syrup into a bowl and microwave for 1-2 minutes, until hot but not boiling.
Add peanut butter and stir until smooth. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
Line a 13 x 9 inch pan with ice cream sandwiches.
Spread with half of the whipped topping.
Drizzle with half the chocolate syrup.
Sprinkle with half the chopped Butterfingers.
Repeat layers.
Your dish will be too full for the lid to fit on, so just stick it in the freezer until hardened and then cover with foil and keep in the freezer. Remove for about 5 minutes before serving, to help make it easier to cut.

Enjoy!

Modification suggestions: Use butter pecan ice cream sandwiches, caramel sauce, and pecans; use above recipe but substitute chopped peanut butter cups or salted peanuts for the butterfingers; use melted raspberry preserves and chocolate chunks/shavings. Sky is the limit here, folks. Be creative!