You know I couldn’t make just one, didn’t you?! Here’s ANOTHER really, really good Philadelphia Style ice cream. Philadelphia Style ice cream is, without a doubt, my choice for ice cream. It tastes lighter and it’s sooooo much simpler to make. I have fond memories of Andes Mint Chip Ice Cream. I have only know of one place that made it, and it went out of business years ago. When I was pregnant with Hannah, 26 years ago, I used to take a walk to this ice cream shop…, on a regular basis…, the cool Andes mint and the cold ice cream just seemed RIGHT! How exciting that I can make this at home now and I don’t have to be pregnant to enjoy it!

I found this recipe, and only modified it a little bit, at serving-ice-cream.com

Andes Mint Chip Ice Cream

1 ¼ cups cold whole milk (or 2%, 1%, or non-fat…remembering that each step down in fat content will affect the creaminess/iciness of the finished product)
2 ½ cups cold heavy whipping cream (or half-and-half)
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoons peppermint extract (don’t even think of increasing this.  I did a few times and the ice cream base got bitter)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
few drops of green food coloring, optional
1 box (4.67 oz.) Andes mints, coarsely chopped
½ cup mini chocolate chips OR ½ cup of chopped milk, dark, or mint chocolate

Stir milk, cream and sugar together, using a wire whisk or hand mixer, until sugar has dissolved. Stir in peppermint extract and optional green food coloring. Pour mixture into an electric ice cream maker. Process for about 15-20 minutes, or until mixture is very thick and slushy. Stir in all of the chopped mints and chocolate. Process for an additional 5 minutes. Remove ice cream to a freezer safe container and freeze until hard, two to four hours (if you can wait that long).

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today.  Have fun making ice cream.  I have been making homemade ice cream for so long that I really can just walk by all that processed stuff in the freezer section. It just doesn’t taste REAL.  It tastes sweet, yes, and cold, and sometimes there’s something gooey running through it, and, on the whole, store bought ice cream  has good mouth feel and texture and creaminess, but no TASTE.