Monday, 28 May 2012

mint chocolate chip ice cream

matt bought me an ice cream maker. need i say more?

i quite like ice cream, but like many things in life, i find it too sweet, and too full of ALL THE LACTOSE. problem: solved!



mint chocolate chip was the first ice creamy experiment i did, and it turned out just perfect. i happened to have mint essential oil in the house, and not mint extract, so i used that... i'm not sure how much mint extract you would use, but i'm sure you can figure it out!!

one thing i will note is that i have mostly made and eaten my ice creams fresh - i have found that ice cream made with almond milk freezes too hard. you do have options though: a: let it sit on the counter for a bit to soften before serving, or b: freeze into popsicle molds!

this recipe makes 4 servings!

ingredients:

2 c vanilla unsweetened almond milk
1/4 c brown sugar
2 drops mint essential oil
dash salt
2 t vanilla
1/2 t xanthan gum
1/4 c mini chocolate chips

to make:

mix almond milk, sugar, essential oil, salt, vanilla and xanthan gum. i used my magic bullet, but a regular blender or even a good shake would work. make sure it's mixed well!

pour into your ice cream maker. i had mine on high for about 15 minutes, then on low for about 25. you'll know it's ready when it looks like ice cream.
add chocolate chips just before turning the machine off. just give it enough time to mix well.
ENJOY!
freeze the leftovers - if there are any!

4 comments:

  1. Hey Gersh, another suggestion for making ice cream not freeze as hard: add liquor. A tablespoon or 2 of vodka will lower the freezing temperature a bit. :)

    I went and looked for xanthan gum today, but my big Loblaws didn't have it in the gluten-free section. :(

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    1. ooh, good call! i will try adding mint liquor to this next time i make it instead of mint extract - i have some of that stuff from cuba!!

      weird that you couldn't find it there, i think it's bob's redmill brand that i buy. also try an organic grocery store, i can't imagine they wouldn't have it!

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  2. I have this thing, you think this recipe would still work?
    http://www.icecreamrevolution.com/

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    Replies
    1. i have never tried one of those, but i don't see why it wouldn't work, as long as you still blended the ingredients beforehand (that ball looks to me like it might make you think you don't need to blend things first). the thing with the xanthan gum is that it stops little ice crystals from forming (or makes them smaller), so you need to make sure it's well-distributed throughout the mix. it can clump up if it's not blended well because it's a thickener (like cornstarch will do if it's not stirred into a sauce).

      try it out and let me know how it turns out!

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