After reading an article in the New York Times about chocolate chip ice cream's decline in popularity, I started craving the kind we used to buy at Baskin Robbins. I hadn't thought about it much, so I figured I'd make some chocolate chip ice cream for old times' sake. That, plus I wanted to try out a new egg-free vanilla ice cream base. It turned out so good I've made it about 5 times since! Part of that is because it's fairly quick and I hate having to wait overnight for a custard to cool before churning.
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No Cooking Required Ice Cream
This recipe is pretty easy. It doesn't contain eggs, which means you don't have to worry about making a custard or taking the time to let it cool. You basically just mix everything in a bowl and churn. However, the mixing technique is important because you have to dissolve xanthan gum. The xanthan gum along with a couple of other magic ingredients does the work of the eggs.
Three Magic Ingredients
- Xanthan Gum --Don't be intimidated by this ingredient. It's easy to find and just a tiny bit helps prevent ice crystals from getting too large, keeping the ice cream smooth and creamy. You can also use it in smoothies.
- Karo Light Corn Syrup or Lyle's Golden Syrup -- This also helps keep the ice cream smooth. I use light corn syrup or Lyle's depending on my mood. Sometimes I mix the two. The Lyle's adds a little pop of caramel flavor which is good in somethings, but which you wouldn't want too much of in chocolate chip ice cream.
- Bob's Red Mill Non-Fat Dry Milk Powder - The milk powder improves the texture and flavor. Without the eggs, you get a very clean taste of milk. It's important to use a good tasting milk powder because not all brands are. I always use Bob's Red Mill brand now. I just love how it adds that extra depth of milkiness to ice cream.
- Nielsen Massey Vanilla Paste -- This is my favorite brand of vanilla paste. It's worth buying, but if you don't have any you can use another brand or just plain vanilla extract.
Chocolate Chips or Chunks for Ice Cream
Tiny miniature chips work well, but don't even bother using regular size chocolate chips because they'll feel like rocks in your mouth. The overall best kind of chocolate chips for ice cream are homemade chunks. To make your own melt-in-the-mouth chunks, mix chocolate chips or chocolate with coconut oil, spread on parchment, freeze and chop. Any brand of chocolate works, but I think the Hershey's Extra Dark in bar or chip form tastes the most like the old-school Baskin Robbins chip. I use ⅔ cup of chips (114 grams) to about 2 teaspoons (8 grams) of coconut oil.
Mint Chocolate Chunk Version
If there's a mint lover in your life, you can make a mint version of this. Just add 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract (not mint, but peppermint) and some chopped Andes mints or the dark chocolate chunks from above. A little Creme de Menthe for extra flavor and color doesn't hurt either. If you'd like to make only half mint flavored, after making the base, before adding the vanilla, measure out 14.4 oz by weight. Flavor the half batch with ½ teaspoon of mint and slightly less vanilla.
Recipe
Easy Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
Ingredients
- ½ cup sugar (100 grams)
- 4 ½ tablespoons nonfat dry milk powder (40 grams)
- ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup whole milk, cold
- ¼ cup light corn syrup (or golden syrup) (70 grams)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- 2 cups heavy cream, cold (450 grams)
Chocolate Chunks
- ⅔ cup Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate Chips
- 2 ½ teaspoons coconut oil
Instructions
- The xanthan gum needs to be mixed with the dry ingredients, so to start, mix the sugar, milk powder, xanthan gum and salt together in a mixing bowl.
- To your sugar mixture, add 1 cup of milk and whisk for about 2 minutes, scraping the side of the bowl to get any xanthan that may have gummed up. The goal is to hydrate the xanthan gum and dissolve the milk powder. The mixture should thicken just slightly.
- Whisk in the corn syrup, vanilla, and heavy cream.
- Pour into your ice cream maker and churn as the manufacturer directs. Towards the end of the churn, add the chocolate chips or chunks.
- Scrape into containers and freeze until firm.
Chocolate Chunks
- To make the chocolate chunks or chips, toss ⅔ cup dark chocolate chips or 114 grams of chopped dark chocolate with 2 teaspoons of coconut oil. Heat on high in the microwave for 30 seconds. Stir well and continue heating at 15 or 30 second intervals until chocolate is melted.
- Spread chocolate on a small plate or tray lined with parchment. Put in the freezer for about 10 minutes or just until soft set. Score while it is soft-set, then freeze until hard. Break or cut into chunks.
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