Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream

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Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream


Image by nc_hiker
I received an ice cream maker as a gift last month, and for my first recipe with it decided to make the Chocolate Ice Cream recipe from Vegan Dad’s blog.

GOSH is this stuff good!! "Make-you-go-weak-in-the-knees-get-a-silly-smile-on-your-face" type of good!!

Ice Cream Sandwiches


Image by djwtwo
Was looking for a good summertime snack to make with the kids over the long weekend, and decided on homemade ice cream sandwiches. The kids wanted to go with a peanut butter cookie and vanilla ice cream, so that’s what we made. We left a few cookies unassembled for the kids to eat while the sandwiches set up, which also left a few servings of ice cream. Swirled some (also left over) bourbon caramel into it, and put it into the freezer where it now sits taunting me.

Shot this outside to take advantage of the light on a gorgeous morning, using some parchment paper to soften the sunlight a bit. Was a little tricky to get the shots I wanted before the heat got to the ice cream!

Ingredients

For the cookies:

2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
8 oz. unsalted butter
1 c. sugar
1 c. light brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 c. peanut butter
1 c. roasted, salted peanuts, ground in a food processor to resemble coarse sand

For the ice cream:

3 c. half and half
1 vanilla bean
3/4 c. sugar
6 egg yolks

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F and set racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or baking mats.

Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and whisk to combine.

Cream butter and sugars together in a stand mixer. Add eggs, one at a time and scraping down the sides of the mixer bowl between eggs. Add vanilla extract and peanut butter and beat until combined. Add the dry ingredients and combine by hand. Mix in the ground peanuts last.

Form cookies by taking 3-4 tbl. of dough and rolling into balls. Leave a good amount of space between the balls, as the dough will spread. Using a fork that’s been dipped in water to keep it from sticking, press down each ball in a crosshatch pattern. Bake for 12-14 minutes, rotating the cookie sheets halfway through the baking time, until the cookies are brown at the edges. Cool on the cookie sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. It helps to freeze the cookies before assembling the sandwiches.

To make the ice cream, scrape the vanilla bean into a medium saucepan with the half and half, bring to a simmer, then cover and let sit for 30 minutes. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in a mixing bowl. Bring the half and half back to a simmer, then, whisking constantly, slowly pour the hot half and half into the egg yolks. Return the whole mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon and your finger leaves a trail when dragged through the coating. Process in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Most ice cream machines will leave you with ice cream that’s a little too soft to form sandwiches with right away, so transfer into the freezer until the ice cream is set up but still malleable. Spread onto flat side of one cookie and sandwich with a second similarly-sized cookie, then transfer to the freezer to set completely. When frozen, seal in an airtight container and keep in the freezer up to a week or so (not that they last that long in my house). This made 8 sandwiches and left a few cookies and about 1 1/2 c. of ice cream.

ice cream maker in action


Image by bianca prime