One Healthy Nut: Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Friday, May 4, 2012

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Makes 1 huge serving)

1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
scant 1/16 tsp salt (don’t omit)
sweetener (such as 1 stevia packet or 1tbsp sugar)
1 cup milk of choice (I used Silk unsweetened almondmilk. See directions below for other types that work.)
1-2 tbsp chocolate chips (or a big piece of your favorite chocolate bar), plus a few to mix in–post-blending–if desired
3 drops pure peppermint extract
optional: I like to add 1 tsp cocoa powder (I also added a little green food coloring for the photo shoot. But when I make this to eat, I leave it out.)

Mix the ingredients together in 1 or 2 shallow plastic containers. Freeze. (You could also use an ice cube tray.) Once frozen, pop the blocks out of the container (I thaw for 30 seconds in the microwave first) and blend in your Vita-Mix. (If you don’t have a vita-mix, you’ll probably have to thaw longer, but you can still get a yummy ice milk. Or try this in your ice-cream maker.) Feel free to add more chocolate chips, post-blending. But be sure to add the 1-2 tbsp before blending!
Calories and Nutrition Info
This ice cream—when made with almond milk—has a very light texture (perfect for summer). For a creamier texture that’s more like real ice cream, try using at least 1/2 c canned coconut milk (or maybe even non-dairy creamer?). You can, of course, also sub other non-dairy milks for the almond. But if you do this, play around with the amount of vanilla extract, sweetener, and add-ins. (For example, an already-sweetened milk will probably need less added sweetener.) To make it look like real ice cream, scoop out with an ice-cream scoop.