Mint Chocolate Chip No Churn Ice Cream
My favorite ice cream flavor is mint chocolate chip. Followed closely by chocolate malted crunch (Thrifty brand ONLY). So it’s no surprise that once I figured out how to make no-churn ice cream, I quickly made some, au naturale.
Ingredients
2 cups mint leaves (or 1 cup tightly packed)
2 cups heavy whipping cream, separated
14oz can sweetened condensed milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, roughly chopped
Recipe
In a medium saucepan, slowly heat 1 cup of the heavy cream with the mint leaves. Bring it to a light simmer, stirring occasionally. After a few minutes (when you notice the cream has turned a pale green), remove from heat and cover. Let sit for 20 minutes. Then strain the mint-infused milk into a heatproof container and place in the fridge for a 5+ hours (preferably overnight).
The next day…
Pour the sweetened condensed milk into a medium size bowl. Stir the vanilla extract into it.
Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, beat the chilled MINT heavy cream and remaining 1 cup heavy cream into soft peaks that hold their form but are not too thick nor stiff. Please reference this video (or the gif to the side) for the texture!
Now pour the sweetened condensed milk (+ vanilla) into the whipped cream, and fold until little to no streaks remain (depending on how you want the ice cream to look).
The key here is to fold the two components together so as to prevent deflation of the whipped cream. Ice cream is not quite frozen milk/cream, and it is not frozen mousse-whipped-cream. It’s an in-between sweet spot.Once the mixture is homogeneous/fully incorporated, fold in the chocolate chips.
Pour the ice cream into a 9x5 loaf pan (mine is glass but metal works just fine). Try to pour it slowly and side to side to avoid creating air bubbles. You can use a spoon/spatula to smooth it out while or after pouring.
Garnish with any toppings (extra chocolate chips) and then seal the top of the pan with a snug/taut layer of plastic wrap. Sealing it well prevents ice crystals.
Freeze for at least 8 hours to make sure the whole pan (top to bottom) is frozen through. Less time frozen will result in “soft serve” textured ice cream rather than hard ice cream. I recommend freezing for a full 24 hours.
Before serving, you can pop the pan into the fridge for 5-10 minutes to allow the ice cream to soften up (for scooping) without melting.
