I love the NYT Master Ice Cream Recipe. It’s awesome. Not at all good for you, but incredibly delicious. 

I discovered, though, that I don’t care much for spearmint ice cream. Maybe I’ll try it again sometime when I know what I’m getting into (especially now that I have all that spearmint growing by the porch). But it seems that for me, “mint chocolate chip” ice cream screams for peppermint. Good luck finding fresh peppermint in the market — I sure couldn’t. Back when I had the 250 sq ft garden, I grew some peppermint, but it’s long gone.

I also noticed that no matter how excellent the chocolate chips I used were, they were hard & flavorless. Then I read a trick online that made all the difference!

Speaking of tricks, you can buy all sorts of gadgets & gizmos for separating egg yolks. My favorite, though, is always at the end of my arm. Yes, it’s a bit messy to do by hand, but I break fewer yolks and get far less white mixed in, so it’s worth it. Plus, it’s kinda fun. In a weird way. 

Here’s my adaptation of the NYT recipe, for peppermint chocolate chip ice cream. You’ll find a printer-friendly version of the recipe at the bottom of this page.

Ingredients:

4-6 ounces of dark or semi-sweet chocolate (I like the Lindt 70% from the candy aisle better than the ones I usually find in the baking aisle.)

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup whole milk

⅔ cup sugar

⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt

6 large egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla extract*

1 tsp peppermint extract

Preparation:

1.) Make sure to freeze your ice cream maker bowl at least a day or two ahead of time.

2.)  Mix the cream, milk, sugar and salt in a small pot over medium-low heat. Bring just barely to a simmer, & stir frequently until the sugar is dissolved. This only takes a few minutes. Remove from heat.

3.) Whisk the egg yolks together in a medium bowl. While whisking constantly, slowly pour about a third of the hot cream mixture into the yolks. When you have it well blended, pour it back into the pot with the cream. Return the pot to medium-low heat and gently cook until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (about 170 degrees on an instant-read thermometer). If you swipe your finger along the spoon, the mixture should be thick enough to not try to run in & fill the gap you made.

4.) Stir in the vanilla & peppermint extracts. If you like your minty ice cream pink or green, now’s the time to add a little food coloring. I prefer mine without (note that since this is actually a frozen custard, it’s naturally a little yellowish, which may alter your results with coloring.)

5.) Strain into a clean medium bowl. You can see in the second photo why you shouldn’t skip this step. No matter how well you separate your yolks, there’s always still a little egg white that gets into your mix. After it cooks, it’s easy to strain out.

Allow it to cool at room temperature, uncovered, for about a half hour. Cover, and refrigerate until cold (at least 4 hours.)

6.) Melt the chocolate in a double boiler, then spread it in a thin layer on a parchment- or foil-lined baking sheet. Pop it in the freezer. Once it’s frozen, chop it up into pieces. Just those few extra steps give you chocolate chips that melt into flavorful, velvety wonderfulness in your mouth.

7.) Churn the ice cream mixture in your ice cream machine. Mine calls for 30-35 minutes of churning; yours may differ. Add the chocolate chips towards the end of the churning. Serve now if you like it soft, or pop it in the freezer for a few hours.

*Do not, I repeat NOT, use that cheap imitation vanilla from the grocery store. Some things are worth spending a little more on, and vanilla is one of them. I’ve tried many different kinds, some expensive & some not so much, but I think the very best is Baldwin’s Vanilla (& other) extract  Yes, it’s even worth the shipping. My peppermint is from there, too. Sometimes I get lucky & Trip or Jake is passing through West Stockbridge, MA & can pick some up for me.

Nope, I’m not including nutrition information. If you have to ask, you probably shouldn’t be eating it  😉