Peppermint Crunch Ice Cream with Chocolate Cocoa Nibs

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My co-worker, Celsa, is a creative genius. She always comes up with the best gifts to give during the holidays. I get excited every year to see what she is giving out. Well, this year I got in on the action early. She asked for my help, yahoo!

Celsa designed the most amazing ice cream containers, the only problem? She doesn’t make ice cream! She knew we had the Cuisinart dream machine so she asked for our assistance. She came over last week and we churned up three batches of peppermint ice cream. We added in peppermint candy and cocoa nibs.

The ice cream was really good, but the container makes it even better. I still can’t believe she designed and created all of these little containers. They are too cute!

On a side note, we are headed to Illinois tonight. That is where I grew up, so we are going home for the holidays! We are so excited!! We will be there for 10 days! We will do our best to blog while we are away. My family loves to be in the kitchen so I am sure we will have new recipes to share! And don’t worry I have a few posts already scheduled, so come back and visit us soon:)





Peppermint Crunch Ice Cream with Cocoa Nibs

Adapted from Simply Recipes

2 ½ cups heavy cream
1 ½ cups whole milk
8 large egg yolks
¾ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons peppermint extract
½ cup crushed candy canes or hard peppermint candy
½ cup chocolate covered cocoa nibs

Warm the milk, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan. Make sure the sugar and salt completely dissolve. Pour the cream into a metal bowl set in a larger bowl of ice and set a medium-mesh sieve on top.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm milk into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan. Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a wooden or heatproof rubber spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula, about 5-7 minutes.

Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the cream. Then stir until cool over the ice bath. Chill mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator. One the mixture is thoroughly chilled, add peppermint extract, a ¼ teaspoon at a time, tasting the mixture after each addition, until you reach the desired level of peppermintiness. Once chilled, freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Once the ice cream has been formed in the ice cream maker, it will be fairly soft. Fold in the crushed peppermint candy and cocoa nibs. Put in an airtight plastic container and place in the freezer for several hours.

Makes 1 ½ quarts.


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Maria

I'm Maria and my husband is Josh. We share a love of cooking, baking, and entertaining. We enjoy creating recipes that are simple, fresh, and family friendly. We love sitting around the table with good food, good conversation, and good friends and family! Our kitchen is always open!
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  1. WOW! I am so jealous! What a cool present! The container is awesome and the ice cream sounds sooo good! Have fun on your trip! Enjoy yourself!

  2. P.S. Travel safe and enjoy your family time! I’m actually flying to Indianapolis the day after Christmas!! So we will be close!

  3. That’s a great ice cream and you are very lucky to have those containers. You could go into the ice cream business with these.

  4. That’s pretty impressive, I thought it was an actual brand for a second. I was thinking, why haven’t I heard of this flavor before?!

    -MC
    Shibooya.com

  5. What a great idea! Now that’s a gift that people will remember, better watch out they’ll be putting re-orders in with you!

  6. So cute!!!

    Were those containers ordered online somewhere or did your friend do them all herself? I have been looking for containers like that forever! 🙂 Any help would be great!

    Hope you have a wonderful time in Illinois!!!

  7. WOWWWWWWW! you guys are really professional…. homemade icecream and homemade container!!!! That’s toooooooo much!!!!
    hahaha……. great job! 😀

  8. That has got to be one of the most creative things I’ve seen in a long time. Super neat!!! Have a good and safe trip and a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

  9. Very clever of your friend. It’s such a great idea! I thought it was Hagen Daz at first!

    Happy Holidays to you and your family!

  10. Wow — you guys are a great team! The ice cream and the containers both look terrific. Have a safe and wonderful trip to Illinois! And thank you for thinking of your fans and scheduling some posts while you are away 🙂

  11. Have a Merry Christmas! The containers are really a great idea and the two of you may have a future in the designer ice cream market. Hugs…Mary

  12. Absolutely delicious Ice cream, peppermint, and cocoa nibs are good combination. Have a wonderful season and safe trip!
    Cheers,
    Elra

  13. That’s so funny that Celsa designs the containers but doesn’t make ice cream 🙂 They make fantastic prezzies, so maybe I should figure out how to make my own containers. I’m also nicking your recipe for my next batch of ice cream. Thanks!

    Sorry I haven’t been by in ages – love the new photo 🙂 And if I don’t stop by in time, have a fab christmas!

  14. For some reason this reminds me of the scene in Elf where he talks about the food groups: syrup, sugar, candy canes.. 🙂

  15. that’s brilliant! and if it weren’t 15 degrees outside, i could really go for some of that ice cream, perhaps on a warm brownie…