Peppermint Ice Cream with a Chocolate Swirl

I know that I am late on "Foto Friday," so here is my son in an outfit that his grandma got him. I love it so much and he will be wearing it on Christmas Day.

Anyways, I know this is not on the list of things that I was going to share with you this month (as far as desserts), but it is SO good and I definitely recommend making it. It requires peppermint coffee flavoring (like the stuff that Starbucks uses). If you do not have any (which you likely don't), just go to your local Starbucks with a little Tupperware and ask them to fill it up for you. Sometimes, they will give it to you for free; other times, you have to pay $0.50. If you have a place that you can buy it by the bottle, you can get an entire bottle for $3.50 (now you can see how Starbucks makes so much money).

Personally, I like this flavoring better than extracts. It NEVER has that extract-y taste and I have tried it in frostings as well and LOVE it! If you would like, you can add crushed peppermint candies (soft or hard ones) to your ice cream mixture during the last few minutes of churning to add a slight crunch.

Ingredients for the Ice Cream

2 cups heavy cream, divided

1 cup whole milk

3/4 cup sugar

Pinch of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup peppermint coffee flavoring

Chocolate Syrup (recipe follows)

Directions

1. Combine 1 cup of the cream with the sugar and salt in a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar completely is dissolved.

2. Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in the remaining 1 cup of cream, whole milk, vanilla extract and peppermint flavoring. Place in the refrigerator until mixture is cold.

3. Put into your ice cream machine and freeze according to the manufacturers instructions.

4. As you pour your ice cream into an airtight container, swirl your chocolate mixture into it. Place the ice cream into the freezer for storage.

Chocolate Syrup Ingredients
Chocolate chips
Butter, melted
Light Karo Syrup


Directions
1. Mix chocolate chips and melted butter over a warm stove until almost completely dissolved. Remove from heat and continue stirring until there are no more chocolate chunks.
2. Add a small amount of Karo Syrup to make it silkier.


Note: I do not know the exact measurement. I normally just throw in a few tablespoons of butter and a handful or two of chocolate chips. I probably use about a tablespoon of Karo Syrup. Just play around with it some.