Make a refreshing batch of this rich and chocolaty Gluten Free Basic Chocolate Ice Cream. Dress it up with your favorite toppings and mix-ins.
Must. Stay. AWAKE!
Seriously, I’m fading fast here. I’m actually typing with my eyes shut and my jaw hanging open. Forgive all the typos that you might see.
I think I have the flu. Not the one where you are barfing your guts out. That kind is absolutely terrible. However, I think I have the cold/flu where your body aches, you have the chills, and all you want to do is sleep FOREVER!!!
Okay, well I wrote that a few hours ago. I seriously didn’t even have the time or energy to finish. I had to pick up Braelyn from school, manage her homework, shuffle her to art class, oversee more homework, and make dinner. The girls are finally going to bed and I am B-E-A-T!
What’s that saying??? “I’m done. Put a fork in me.” Or wait, is that backwards??? Whatever, you know what I mean. All I know is that about sums up how I feel right now.
I love how everyone just tells you to go rest and take a nap when you are sick. Like who really has the time or resources or cooperation from outside sources (aka children) to just throw their hands in the air and think, “Sure, I’ve got time for that!”??? I really want to know.
Do you snap your fingers and the house magically picks up after itself? Or do your kids all of the sudden transform into perfect little angels that are entirely self sufficient and your spouse kicks into daddy overdrive to make sure that you can get a few undisturbed ZZZ’s???
Well, lo and behold that actually did happen today! Everything but the house cleaning up after itself. We’re still working on that kink in the plan.
But seriously, around 4:30 this afternoon when my body was literally begging to lay down (I taught preschool today on top of all the other running around), I handed Emry her tablet, asked Braelyn to do her 20 minutes of reading, and I lay back on the couch. My children were absolute perfect angels. They didn’t make a peep. I think I may have slept for about 15 minutes.
The next thing I know, I hear Ben coming in the door a little after 5:00. He saw me “sleeping” on the couch and immediately assumed super dad mode. I was too tired to talk or do anything, so I just pretended to keep on sleeping and was filled with gratitude listening to everything that Ben did to make sure I was comfortable.
He kept the girls away from the couch by continuously whispering, “Mommy doesn’t feel good. Let her rest.” Once he was settled from coming home, he showered the girls, confirmed with Braelyn that she had finished her homework, and asked Emry all about her preschool day. He kept them entertained until I decided to “wake up”.
He even offered to take the girls out to eat so I could continue laying on the couch. I would have taken him up on the offer, but I was actually really hungry and a warm runny egg sandwich sounded perfect. So I made dinner for the family, we played a few games, and then Ben shuffled the kids off to bed.
Don’t I have the BEST husband??? I forget how lucky I am. Really, I married up in this relationship for sure.
There are many times when I wonder why the heck he married me. I can be stubborn, mean, pushy, moody, uptight, you name it…and yet he sticks with me. Ben does so much for our family from earning an honest living, enhancing our spirituality, teaching our girls important values, helping me keep the house in order, along with many, many, MANY other things.
Sometimes I feel like the best way I can repay him is with food. He LOVES food. I think it’s his favorite thing about me; the fact that I cook/bake for him. It keeps him a much happier man.
Besides having warm meals on the table every night for dinner, I usually have a stock of one or two homemade treats. However, we have had a bit of a treat shortage lately. I just haven’t been baking quite as much. Every night Ben would walk over to the fridge/freezer and ask if there was anything sweet he could eat. The closest thing I had to a treat was banana bread, which was fabulous, but not quite what he was looking for.
But tonight, when he walks over to the freezer looking for a treat, I can actually say yes with a big old smile. Not only does Ben enjoy dessert, but he LOVES chocolate. And you know what is hiding in an old sour cream container in the freezer??? This fabulous and ultra chocolaty Gluten Free Basic Chocolate Ice Cream!
I’m not quite sure why I titled this “basic” because it ain’t basic at all. It’s divine! And with all the yummy mix-ins and toppings you can add…it takes it to a whole other level of yum. I folded in chocolate coconut zucchini bread pieces into my batch, which actually tastes like chunks of fudgy brownies are stirred in.
And because kids are kids and love candy, Emry insists on topping her scoops with mini M&M’s and melted fudge. Who can blame her???
This chocolate ice cream is so easy to make. As long as you have some whipping cream and evaporated milk on hand, you’re good to go. You could probably even use 1 1/2 cups of whole milk in place of the evaporated milk, but I just used what I had. I knew the evaporated milk would yield a creamier product than the 1% milk in my fridge.
This ice cream has double duty chocolate. Not only do you melt semi-sweet chocolate into the, but you also add some rich dutch processed cocoa powder to the mixture. So so soooooooo good!
You can eat this ice cream as soon as it’s done churning, but it will most likely be pretty soft. I enjoy my ice cream firm, so I make sure to freeze it for at least 6 hours after churning for more of that store bought ice cream consistency.
The only irritating thing about this ice cream is all that waiting. After heating the milk and melting the chocolate, it is important to let that cool in the fridge. And then after mixing in the whipping cream, you have to let it completely chill in the fridge before churning. Otherwise, the mixture will not get cold enough in the ice cream maker and you will end up with chocolate soup rather than chocolate ice cream. Trust me. I’ve had that flop before.
So get crazy with this “basic” chocolate ice cream and add some fun flare with your mix-ins. I don’t doubt you can get pretty creative with your flavor combos.
As for me, I’m going to bed. Peace out and sayonara!
What do you like to mix into your ice cream?
- 1 can evaporated milk (or 1½ cups whole milk)
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ cup dutch processed cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- dash of salt
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup desired mix-ins, plus more for toppings
- In a microwave safe bowl or on the stove top, heat evaporated milk to boiling (2 mins in microwave). Remove from heat and whisk in sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla, and dash of salt until dissolved. Pour in chocolate chips and stir until smooth. Cover and chill in fridge for 30 minutes.
- Remove chocolate mixture from fridge and pour into a large mixing bowl. Add 2 cups heavy cream and whisk until combined. Cover and chill an additional 1-2 hours or until cold.*
- Pour mixture into quart sized ice cream maker and church according to pack age directions. Add desired mix-ins 3 minutes before it's done churning.
- Serve soft immediately or scoop ice cream into plastic container and chill for 4-6 hours in the freezer or until firm (I prefer this method for harder ice cream). Top with additional mix-ins.
- Store leftover ice cream in airtight container for up to 1 month in freezer.
