Milk Chocolate Ice Cream with Brownie Bits

I have tried to make ice cream in the past on occasion, and it only ever turned out okay.  I saw a recipe for chocolate ice cream with brownies and thought I would make another attempt.  Boy, am I glad that I did!  My husband claimed this to be some of the best ice cream he's ever eaten, and I would have to agree.  I was surprised when he said that, because he is not one to like rich desserts.  This decadent ice cream almost has a whipped cream or mousse consistency, and it pairs well with the dense brownies.

Here is your ingredient line-up:

For the brownies:

Melt the butter in a saucepan.  Whisk in the chopped chocolate.  You only want to stir until the chocolate is just melted.

Remove the chocolate from the heat.  Whisk in sugar, eggs, and vanilla

Stir in the flour and salt.

Fold in some semisweet chocolate chips.

Line an 8x8 in. pan with foil and lightly grease with cooking spray.  Spread the batter in the baking dish.  Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes.

For the ice cream:

Combine the milk chocolate and heavy cream in a heatproof bowl.  Place over a pan of simmering water. 

Stir until chocolate is melted.

In a medium saucepan, combine whole milk, sugar, and salt.  Stir until sugar is dissolved.

In a medium bowl, whisk together four egg yolks (I saved the egg whites and scrambled them up for hubby's breakfast).  Slowly add the warm milk mixture to the egg yolks whisking constantly, so the eggs do not cook.

 

Return the milk mixture to the saucepan and heat, stirring constantly.  The mixture will get thick and should reach about 170 F on an instant read thermometer.

The mixture should slightly coat the spoon or rubber scraper. 

Pour custard through a strainer into the milk chocolate mixture.  Then cover and chill mixture in the refrigerator for two or three hours.

In the meantime, cut the brownies into small bits.  Only use half of the batch (I froze the other half).

Freeze batter in the ice cream maker.  Once frozen, transfer to an airtight container and fold in the brownie bits with a spoon.  Freeze.

Enjoy!

 My husband bought me these cute ice cream bowls one year for my birthday.  We have ice cream in them every Tuesday night while watching The Biggest Loser (kind of weird, I know), but we sure do love our ice cream!

Tyler likes his ice cream plain, but I always end up putting gobs of chocolate in mine...kind of embarrassing, but true.  You can't even see my ice cream!  This ice cream doesn't need anything extra, because it is so good on it's own.

Here is the recipe:

Milk Chocolate Ice Cream with Brownie Bits

Ingredients:

For the brownies:

8 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into pieces

4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1¼ cups sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

½ cup all-purpose flour

Pinch of salt

½ cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

For the ice cream:

8 oz. milk chocolate, finely chopped

1½ cups heavy cream

1½ cups whole milk

¾ cup sugar

Pinch of salt

4 large egg yolks

Directions:

To make the brownies, preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line an 8 x 8-inch baking pan with aluminum foil. Lightly grease the foil with nonstick spray.

Add the butter to a small saucepan and melt.  Whisk in the chopped chocolate and stir just until melted. Remove from the heat and whisk in the sugar, eggs and vanilla.  Stir in the flour and salt.  Fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula.  Smooth the batter into the prepared baking dish.  Bake for 30 minutes, until the center feels just set.  Remove from the oven and let cool completely.  Cut into small bits to be mixed into the ice cream.  (Only half of the brownies are needed for the ice cream.  The remainder can be eaten whole or frozen for later use.)

To make the ice cream, combine the milk chocolate and heavy cream in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water.  Heat, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and set a mesh sieve over the top of the bowl.

In a medium saucepan, combine the milk, sugar and salt.  Heat until the sugar is dissolved.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks.  When the milk mixture is warm, slowly add to the bowl with the beaten egg yolks, whisking constantly.  Return the mixture to the saucepan and continue to heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens just slightly and coats the back of a spoon (170-175˚ F on an instant-read thermometer).  Remove from the heat and pour the custard through the strainer into the milk chocolate mixture.  

Cover and chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator.  Freeze the batter in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.  Once frozen, fold in the brownie bits with a spatula. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze until ready to serve.

Source: Annie's Eats, originally from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz