Homemade Mint Chip Ice Cream

Have you ever made homemade ice cream but were too scared of how daunting it would be? Not to worry, because my easy Homemade Mint Chip Ice Cream uses minimal ingredients and is one of the most refreshing desserts! My ice cream is made with fresh mint, dark chocolate chips, and even includes an added protein boost. This is one dessert recipe that you’ll want to make for all of your summer adventuring!

I sit here sipping my coffee, wearing a sweater (in May no less) on an un-seasonably rainy, cloudy day in California dreaming of warmer weather and being out on my kayak with my co-pilot Roxy. I can hardly believe we are already half way through spring and are nearing summer.

This past weekend my hubby and I travelled to Point Reyes and didn’t take our dogs with us. We were surprised at how much fun we had (dare I say it) without them. This is coming from the woman who travels everywhere with our pups. We had planned to go kayaking in Point Reyes, but the weather was cold and drizzly so we decided to do a day trip with just the two of instead. And it was a ton of fun! We hit up spots we don’t usually get to when we have our dogs with us and got to explore new places.

We went out to a nice lunch and it was fun spending time with just the two of us. We were able to have important conversations and spend quality time together. I can’t remember the last time Shane and I had a meal out together and it was really nice. Point Reyes is one of my favorite places in Northern California and we try and go monthly. It was nice to be together and have good, real conversations. We talked all about our travel plans for the month of May and this summer and have decided we are definitely heading to Moab and South Dakota. We’ve had Cayonland’s and Arches in our travel sights for two years now, so it’s time to stop overthinking it and just go! I don’t know about you guys, but I’m ready for a summer road trip.

And with the temps heating up what better way to celebrate than by making homemade ice cream. I promise you, it’s not nearly as hard or as complicated as you think. All you need are a few simple ingredients, some really good, fresh mint, and Nuzest Protein Powder. Yes, I’ve added a twist to my homemade mint chip ice cream. My ice cream recipe packs in a powerful 50-grams of protein powered by Nuzest Clean Lean Protein Golden Pea Protein Powder. I was excited when Nuzest asked me to create a healthy recipe for them featuring their protein powder. Did you know that their protein powder is 100% plant-based, gluten-free, soy-free, 100% vegan, low fat and low carb with no added sugar. You guys know I’m the ingredient police and I prefer my protein powders to be clean and pack the important stuff, protein.

The wonderful thing about Nuzest Protein Powder is that it mixes really into healthy desserts like homemade ice cream. All you need for my easy homemade mint chip ice cream recipe is milk, (you could also sub in coconut milk if you are dairy-free.) Fresh mint, chocolate chips, and vanilla extract. You will also need an ice cream maker. Shane bought me an ice cream maker for my birthday and I finally use it 8-months later. Better late than never right?

A few notes about the recipe. Making homemade ice cream is super simple if done correctly. My best advice is to use really cold ingredients. Make sure that your stuff sits in the fridge just up to when you are ready to use it. Also make sure that store your ice cream bath (that’s the thing that churns the ice cream) in the freezer overnight before you make your homemade ice cream. The above step is really important in having creamy homemade ice cream or one that’s riddled with ice crystals. We don’t want ice crystals with homemade ice cream. Remember the above tips and you should be good to go!

One more thing, Nuzest has kindly offered my readers 15% off anything on their website simply by entering in the code FITTY or by going straight to this link. How cool is that?

Now tell me, have you ever made homemade ice cream before? What was your experience like? Cheers to summer and all the sweet treats!

This post is sponsored by Nuzest on behalf of Fit Approach. I truly love and appreciate all of the brands that support Fitty Foodlicious and only advertise brands I use regularly.

HOMEMADE MINT CHIP ICE CREAM

BY GENEVIEVE JEROME | FITTY FOODLICIOUS

Have you ever made homemade ice cream but were too scared of how daunting it would be? Not to worry, because my easy Homemade Mint Chip Ice Cream uses minimal ingredients and is one of the most refreshing desserts! My ice cream is made with fresh mint, dark chocolate chips, and even includes an added protein boost. This is one dessert recipe that you’ll want to make for all of your summer adventuring!

Makes: 4-6 servings

Prep time: 10-mins

Cook time: 20-minutes then 2-hours in the freezerIngredients:

• 1-cup organic whole milk
• 1-cup organic heavy cream
• ½-cup organic raw sugar
• 2-scoops Vanilla Nuzest Golden Pea Protein Powder
• 1-bunch fresh organic mint, chopped
• ¼- 1-full teaspoon of organic mint extract
• 1-tablespoon organic vanilla extract
• ¼-teaspoon of Himalayan sea-salt
• 1-cup dark chocolate chips
• In a Dutch oven or large saucepan over low heat, heat the milk, cream, and sugar and combine. Only heat the mixture up until the milk starts to bubble. Once everything starts to bubble, remove from heat.
• Next add in the chopped fresh mint and Nuzest protein powder and using an immersion blender, mix in the fresh mint and the protein powder into the milk mixture.
• Next, add the mint extract, vanilla extract, and the Himalayan sea-salt and mix again using the immersion blender.
• Prep your ice cream maker according to package directions. Remove your ice bath from the freezer and set it on the ice cream maker. The ice bath is the portion of the ice cream make that stays in the freezer until it’s ready to be used.
• Turn on your ice cream maker and slowly pour the prepared ice cream mixture into the ice cream maker. Let the ice cream churn for 15-minutes. Don’t touch the ice cream maker, let it do it’s job. After the first 10-minutes your ice cream will start to get thick and creamy. After 15-minures, add in the chocolate chips and churn for another 5-minutes. Once the ice cream is thick and creamy, turn the ice cream maker off and immediately scoop the prepped ice cream into an airtight glass container and store in the freezer for a couple of hours.
• Once the ice cream is frozen, scoop the homemade mint chip ice cream into ice cream cones, garnish with more fresh mint sprigs and enjoy!