One of my go-to ice cream books is Ben & Jerry's. A majority of their ice cream recipes starts out with a sweet cream base to build flavors upon. Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey ice cream is simply creamy banana ice cream with chocolate and toasted walnuts swirled in. I have quite a bit of ripe bananas on hand so this was the perfect flavor for me to put the bananas to use!
The sweet cream ice cream base is one that involves using raw eggs. I've never had any problems with it and it certainly saves me some time from having to cook eggs and have it cool before churning (a popular method to making ice cream.) As for the texture, it's creamy and smooth with the perfect mouthfeel. I've used both soy and 2% milk in the past for similar ice cream recipes and it's made enjoying ice cream a little more guiltless but feel free to substitute the whole milk if desired.
Chunky Monkey Ice Cream
recipe adapted from Ben & Jerry's
recipe adapted from Ben & Jerry's
Sweet Cream Base:
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup vanilla soy milk
Sweet cream base:
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes.
Whisk in the 3/4 cup sugar, a little at a time, then continue whisking until completely blended, about 1 minute more. Pour in the cream and milk; whisk to blend and chill for at least 30 minutes. Once chilled, transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer's instructions.
Stir Ins:
2 large overripe bananas, mashed (black skinned bananas = overripe)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
Adding the Stir Ins:
In a large bowl, mash the bananas and lemon juice together. Stir in the nuts and chocolate chips. During the last 2 minutes of churning in your ice cream maker, slowly add the banana mixture and continue churning/processing until done.
Transfer your ice cream into a freezeable container and freeze for a few hours or overnight to allow flavors to meld.
