Caramel Chocolate Crunch Ice Cream

This past weekend was spent hanging out with my kids. It was father’s day weekend, and I wanted to do something special with them. I always think what I can do with them in the kitchen, whether it is making pizza dough, or helping out mixing something for a special recipe. So with my recent purchase of an ice cream maker, I thought that I would bring in one of the kids and ask what they wanted for ice cream. The result was a chocolate ice cream with chocolate chips, marshmallows, and a caramel crunch. A perfect treat for all of my sweet tooth’s!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of cold chocolate milk
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 2 cups of heavy cream
• 1 cup of Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Morsels
• 1 cup of mini marshmallows
• Homemade Caramel (see below)

Begin by freezing the ice cream bowl, as it is very important that it is completely frozen. Begin by adding the milk and sugar to a mixing bowl, and do just that, mix with a whisk until all of the sugar dissolves. Add in the heavy cream. Assemble your ice cream maker, and turn it on, adding in your mixture.

During this time make the caramel.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup of water

Begin by getting a large, heavy saucepan on the stove, adding the sugar and 1/4 cup of the water. Bring this to a boil on medium heat. You will notice about after five minutes, the sugar will begin to turn color. During this time, us the remaining water, and with a cooking brush, brush down the sides of the pot.

Keep on eye on the caramel, and swirl your pot a bit to even things out and prevent the caramel from burning.

Next, I add the caramel mixture into the ice cream mixer. Why? Because it hardens in like one second. Quickly remove the block of caramel and let the chocolate mixture continue to spin. Add the hardened caramel into a ziploc bag and with a mallet, crush it, then add back into the ice cream mixture. Add in the chocolate chips and marshmallows. Give a good stir.

Remove, and place the bowl back in the freezer for up to two hours. Scoop and enjoy!