Most of my One-Armed cooking recipes capitalize on the fact that cooking with children nearby and underfoot can be tricky and dangerous if a hot stove is involved. The beauty of making homemade ice cream is that there is no heat from the stove to worry about and it’s a great way to introduce kids to cooking and understanding where food comes from.
Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream is a favorite in our house and personally, I think this was the only flavor of ice cream that I ate for the first 30+ years of my life. While there are several different varieties (green or not, chips or chunks of chocolate) I don’t think I’ve ever been disappointed by a batch.
It also happens to be the one flavor all three of my kids can agree on. So, when it’s time to make ice cream, it seems natural to have them help me. Yes, I have to watch them carefully, and yes, I do all of the measuring, but they do the stirring, pouring, and of course tasting. It’s an interactive cooking event in our house, especially when it comes to “cleaning the bowl.”
Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
Ingredients:
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
3 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon mint extract
12 drops green food coloring (optional)
1/2 bag of mini chocolate chips
What’s Next:
Pour sugar into a large mixing bowl. Add milk and stir with a whisk to dissolve sugar.
Next add heavy cream, mint extract, and food coloring. Stir to fully incorporate all ingredients.
Pour mixture into the freezer bowl of your ice cream maker. Process for 20 minutes.
When the ice cream mixture is thick and just a few minutes away from being done, add the chocolate chips and continue to process for another 5 minutes.
Pour into individual containers and freeze.
Notes from my experience:
I am generally of the mindset that you can never have to many chocolate chips in ice cream. But I tried one batch where I used the entire bag of mini chocolate chips and there was just too much crunching and chewing required for my ice cream. So, trust me on this one, stick to the half of a bag.
I like this recipe because it’s not a custard-based ice cream which means it has no eggs. Since both of my boys had egg allergies, this would have been very helpful when they were younger. Any time you’re dealing with food allergies, it’s always good to know what  is in your food.
Yeah for no egg ice cream!
Another option for delicious egg-free ice cream: Puree your favorite fruit with cream or half & half and put it in the ice cream maker. I do this often with bananas that I froze because they were getting too ripe.