Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Did you know that July is National Ice Cream month? July brings my birthday and Noah’s the day after so I didn’t think it could get any better but it totally just did. Although, pretty much every month is National Ice Cream month in my mind! So to honor this special month, I will be bringing lots of ice cream recipes to help you cool off this summer.

Mint chocolate chip is my absolute favorite flavor of ice cream. My favorite brand has always been Breyers but it always bothered me that it was white instead of green. It just seems wrong. Does anybody else feel the same way or am I just a little odd? Maybe you shouldn’t answer that….

Well anyway, this ice cream is super creamy and rich with loads of chocolate chips throughout the mix. And it’s lots of fun to make with sweet little helpers! My nieces were super excited to help make and eat this ice cream during our visit over Memorial Day weekend. They loved watching it churn, churn, churn.

I will be bringing Joel’s favorite ice cream flavor to you later this month which they also helped me make. They are just too darn cute! And they loved chowing down on the ice cream!

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
recipe from The Ultimate Ice Cream Book

3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 cups half and half
1 cup heavy cream
2 tsp. peppermint extract
6 drops green food coloring (optional)
1 cup mini chocolate chips or chopped chocolate

1. In a medium mixing bowl, beat the sugar into the eggs until thickened and pale yellow. Beat in the cornstarch and set aside.

2. Bring the half and half to a simmer in a heavy medium saucepan. Slowly beat the hot half and half into the eggs and sugar. Pour the entire mixture back into the pan and place over low heat. Stir constantly with a whisk or wooden spoon until the custard thickens slightly. Be careful not to let the mixture boil or the eggs will scramble. Remove from the heat and pour the hot custard through a strainer into a large, clean bowl. Allow the custard to cool slightly, then stir in the cream, peppermint extract and food coloring. Cover and refirgerate until cold or overnight.

3. Stir the chilled custard, then freeze in 1 or 2 batches in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions. When ice cream is semi-frozen, dump in the chocolate chips and allow to mix into the ice cream. When finished, the ice cream will be soft but ready to eat. For firmer ice cream, transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze at least 2 hours.

Chocolate Cake with Mint Chocolate Chip Frosting {Crazy Cooking Challenge}

When Tina from Mom’s Crazy Cooking informed us that this month’s challenge was chocolate cake, I was a tad concerned. This will be shocking and slightly disheartening to many of you but I am not a chocolate cake fan. Please hold back your judgement, disgust and gasps. It’s just too rich for me. But I didn’t want to miss out on the fun so I decided to bite the bullet and see if I could find a chocolate cake that we would truly enjoy. I thought the frosting could really make a difference for us so I went for one that I knew we would love.

After lots of searching, I came across this chocolate cake made by Aimee at Shugary Sweets and I knew I had found it! After reading that the frosting tasted like mint chocolate chip ice cream I thought I might die. That’s my favorite flavor so it had to find out for myself…and she is totally right. The frosting was amazing and so was the chocolate cake. The coffee in the cake batter really enhanced the richness of the chocolate.

Although I don’t make layered cakes too often, I have learned a few tips when it comes to icing them. The first is to place strips of wax paper under the first cake layer on the cake stand/plate so that you don’t get any frosting on it. After frosting the cake, all you have to do is pull out the wax paper and you have a perfectly clean cake stand.

Another tip I have learned is placing the top cake layer upside down so that the bottom of the cake will be the top of the cake. This provides a nice, flat surface on the top of the cake to frost.

I passed along some of the cake to friends and also got rave reviews from them so you definitely need to give this a try!

Make sure to check out Aimee’s other amazing eats and treats here…umm, Pumpkin Pound Cake with Caramel Walnut Sauce? Sign me up!

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Chocolate Cake with Mint Chocolate Chip Frosting
recipe from Shugary Sweets

FOR THE CAKE:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup flour
9 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup brewed coffee, cooled
1/2 cup milk

FOR THE FROSTING:

1 cup butter, softened
8 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
1/2 cup milk plus 2 Tbsp
11 oz dark chocolate chunks (62%cacao) or mini chocolate chips
1/8 tsp green food coloring gel

FOR THE GANACHE:

3/4 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate morsels
1/4 tsp peppermint extract

1. In medium bowl, sift cocoa with flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Set aside. In measuring cup, mix coffee and milk together. Set aside.

2. In mixer, beat butter and sugar for about 5 minutes until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time. Slowly add in dry ingredients alternating with the coffee/milk blend (about 3 additions of each).

3. Pour cake batter into two prepared pans (two 9inch cake pans lined with parchment paper and then greased and floured). Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes. Remove and allow to cool about 10 minutes before removing from pans. Cool completely before frosting.

4. For frosting, in food processor, pulse dark chocolate until small bits (not powder)! Set aside.

5. In mixer, beat butter, powdered sugar and milk (slowly add the milk, you may not need it all) for 3-5 minutes, until smooth and creamy. Add in extract and food coloring gel. Mix until fully blended. Add more milk if necessary to desired consistency. Fold in chopped dark chocolate or chocolate chips.

6. Frost first layer of cake, then top it with second layer. Completely frost sides and top of cake.

7. For the ganache, heat 3/4 cup heavy cream in saucepan. Bring just to a boil and remove from heat. Place chocolate chips in a bowl then slowly add in hot cream and extract. Stir until smooth and completely combined. Allow ganache to cool then pour over chocolate cake.

Recipe linked to Mangia Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Totally Tasty Tuesday and These Chicks Cooked.

Mint Brownie Crinkles {12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies}

It’s week 2 of the 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies and I am bringing you Mint Brownie Crinkles today. We aren’t big chocolate fans in our house but a big exception is brownies. I’ve heard of making cookies from a brownie mix or brownie recipe but had never actually tried it until now.

Mint and chocolate is a classic flavor combination that is one of my favorites. When I saw this recipe I knew it would be a great Christmas cookie because for some reason, mint makes me think of the holidays…maybe it’s the candycanes. I know that some people prefer crispy cookies and some like soft cookies. These are the combination of both with a soft middle and crispy edges so they are sure to please the whole crowd. I used mini baking peppermint patties which you couldn’t see in the finished product. I love the surprise of mint when you bite into them.

I made these for a bake sale at Joel’s work and they were a huge hit. Don’t they look so cute all packaged and wrapped up?

Just think about all the Christmas packaging potential!

Mint Brownie Crinkles
recipe from Recipe Roundup

1 recipe for brownies (below)
1 cup Andes Baking Chips or mini baking Peppermint Patties
Powdered Sugar, for rolling

OR

1 box fudge brownie mix
1 C all-purpose flour
1 egg
1/2 C water
1/4 C canola oil
1 cup Andes Baking Chips or mini baking Peppermint Patties
Powdered Sugar, for rolling

1. Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl beat the brownie mix, flour, egg, water and oil until well blended. Mix in mint chips/patties. Place powdered sugar into a 8-9 inch pie plate.
2. Drop by tablespoonfuls into the powdered sugar and gently roll, shaping into a ball. Place 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes or until set. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.   Yields: approx 4 dozen.

One-Pot Brownies

3/4 cup cocoa
3/4 cup shortening (I use butter flavored Crisco)
2 1/4 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt

Melt shortening over low heat then stir in cocoa. Remove from heat. Mix in sugar, eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt. Mix in mint chips/patties. Then skip to step 2 in the instructions above.

Recipe linked to these wonderful linky parties:
Mangia Monday
Manic Monday
Totally Tasty Tuesday
Tasty Tuesday
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
Crazy Sweet Tuessday
Cast Party Wednesday
These Chicks Cooked
Two Maids a Baking
What I Whipped Up Wednesday
Bake With Bizzy
Sweet Treats Thursday
Full Plate Thursday
Fat Camp Friday
Seasonal Inspiration
Sweets This Week
Sweets for a Saturday
Strut Your Stuff Saturday
Everyday Sisters
Holiday Sweet Swap