Hey guys! So summer is definitely winding down and while I am bummed I realize I’m totally part of the problem. The other day I made a pasta dish with pumpkin. Pumpkin! I’m really not serving my make-summer-last case here. I definitely am still in love with summer but I can feel my focus shifting. I’m starting to look forward to fall. The chill in the air, the cozy dinners, the vats of mulled wine. But I know wishing for these things prematurely will be regrettable come February. So, instead of sharing the creamy pumpkin pasta I made the other day (don’t worry, it will make an appearance soon) I’m going to squeeze one last ice cream recipe out of this summer. Say hello to this Mint Chip Brownie Sundae.
Do you know what’s strange? I know an alarming amount of people who hold mint chocolate chip ice cream in high esteem. Friends, former lovers, family members, everyone I know is all about the mint chocolate chip. And I have to admit, I don’t really get it. I mean, I definitely don’t dislike the ice cream because, hello, it’s ice cream. But it’s never been my favorite. In fact, it’s probably one of the last flavors I would pick for myself. Shocking, I know.
The mint-chocolate-match-up has always been a contentious one for me. Not as fraught as orange and chocolate, which, for the record, I simply loathe, but the mint/chocolate combo is definitely an on-again-off-again kind of thing. Take the peppermint patty for instance. Now, this candy is by far my favorite member of the Choco Mint family tree but it’s still a very rare craving and my interest in the sweet evaporates very quickly.
There’s something about the mint flavor that upsets the indulgence of the chocolate. I know this is not a popular viewpoint but I’m just calling it as I sees it. If a peppermint patty were filled with, say, caramel I would be capable of downing four or five before I even realized what I was doing. Maybe it’s because I associate the flavor of mint with brushing my teeth or avoiding breath-related embarassment in a job interview, but to me, the mint flavor is just no fun.
At this point, you’re probably wondering why in the hell I would make something like this Mint Chip Brownie Sundae. The answer is simple: I’m trying to teach myself. I don’t like not understanding the appeal of something people genuinely love…except orange and chocolate – I don’t care to understand what anyone sees in that flavor pairing. So, I figured the only way to understand how mint and chocolate make people go gaga was to put the flavors in my absolute favorite dessert of all time. E voila! The Mint Chip Brownie Sundae was born.
Yes, that’s right! I’m as basic as they come. I love me a brownie sundae more than anything. Seriously, if I had to choose one dessert to eat for the rest of my life it would be a hot brownie topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. To me, no dessert no matter how fancy, classy or expensive, will top the sensory experience of cold, melting ice cream against a cakey, warm brownie. And yes, I did say cakey because I think cakey brownies are the right brownies for sundae duty.
Was that a controversial statement? I know people like to file themselves under two categories when it comes to brownies: Team Fudgy or Team Cakey. That’s cool but I am affiliated with neither. In fact, you could say, I swing both ways. The texture I look for in my brownie all depends on the context of said brownie. If I’m simply making a pan of brownies because someone yelled at me, you better believe they’re fudgy. If I’m going to top those brownies with ice cream because I’m having an existential crisis, they’re definitely cakey. You may have discerned from this hypothetical that brownies are my therapy dessert… don’t judge me.
The reason I prefer my sundae brownies cakey is they absorb the ice cream much more readily. You want a brownie sponge in a sundae. If the brownie is fudgy it just winds up fighting with the hot fudge you’re inevitably going to add. It’s all about contrast, people. You want gooey, hot fudge, followed by cool, creamy ice cream, followed by warm, airy cake. That, my friends, is the dessert holy trinity. And that trinity is definitely present in this Mint Chip Brownie Sundae.
To really hammer home the whole mint chip theme, I added chopped up peppermint patties to the brownies. They definitely made the brownies a little gooier than I would’ve liked, but they also made them more better. What? Why can’t that be proper English? The brownies are still cakey but they have melty chocolate bits too. It’s not really a problem and if it is it’s probably one of those good problems.
So, in the end, eating a Mint Chip Brownie Sundae didn’t instantly transform me into a mint chip fan per se. But it did bring me closer to understanding what y’all are on about. I’m sure seconds will only further usher me down the path of mint chip acceptance. So, if you’ll excuse me, I have a sundae to eat.
Enjoy!
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Mint Chip Brownie Sundae
Ingredients
Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves tightly packed
- 4 egg yolks
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons peppermint extract
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips
Peppermint Brownies
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 cup Greek yogurt
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips melted
- 12 peppermint patties quartered
Instructions
For the Ice Cream
- Pour the milk into a saucepan and add the mint. Place the pan over medium heat and bring to a low simmer. Immediately remove the pan from the heat and cover. Let sit for 15 minutes.
- While the cream is steeping, place the egg yolks and sugar in a medium-sized bowl. Whisk the two together until pale yellow in color.
- Ladle some of the milk into the egg mixture and whisk to temper the eggs. Pour the egg mixture into the saucepan and return the pan to a medium heat.
- Cook the egg/milk mixture until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove the pan from the heat.
- Place a mixing bowl inside a larger mixing bowl lined with ice. Pour the ice cream mixture into the smaller mixing bowl through a fine mesh strainer. Discard the solids.
- Whisk the heavy cream and peppermint extract into ice cream mixture. Whisk until lightly chilled, about 15 minutes.
- Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and process for 30 minutes or until it resembles soft serve. Start adding the chocolate chips to the ice cream a little at a time. Continue until you run out of chocolate chips and they are evenly dispersed throughout the ice cream.
- Scoop the finished ice cream out of the ice cream maker into a chilled loaf pan. Using the back of spoon, smooth the ice cream to create an even surface. Wrap the ice cream with plastic wrap and transfer to the freezer. Let set for 4 hours.
For the Brownies
- Preheat the oven to 325°F.
- Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
- Place the butter and sugar in a large stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs one at a time to the butter/sugar mixture, waiting for each egg to be fully integrated before adding the next one. Once all the eggs are integrated, add the vanilla extract.
- Add half of the flour mixture to the butter/egg mixture. Wait until the batter is uniform, then add half of the yogurt. Add the remaining half of the flour mixture, followed by the last of the yogurt.
- Turn off the mixer and remove the mixing bowl. Using a rubber spatula, fold the melted chocolate into the batter. Add the peppermint patty pieces and stir until even dispersed.
- Pour the batter into an 8x8 inch greased baking pan lined with parchment paper. Transfer the brownies to the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
- Let the brownies sit in the pan for 10 minutes before attempting to remove them.
- Using the edges of the parchment sling, transfer the brownies to a cooling wrack and let cool for 10 minutes more.
- Cut the brownies into 9 pieces while still warm.
To Assemble
- Place a warm brownie on a plate or in a bowl. Top the brownie with a scoop of Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream and drown them both in hot fudge sauce. You can use homemade or store bought. I used {Smitten Kitchen's recipe|https://smittenkitchen.com/2017/06/best-hot-fudge-sauce/}.
4 Comments
These brownies look so delicious! I love mint and chocolate together!
Thank you, Natalie! I’m learning to love the combo. Not a natural born fan but these sundaes are definitely getting me there. Thanks for stopping by!
What can be substitute of eggs .. because I don’t eat eggs
Hmm, eggs are pretty central to this dish, especially where the ice cream is concerned. You could try a Philadelphia style ice cream (The Kitchn has a recipe) it only uses cream, sugar, and flavoring. I would suggest tracking down an egg-free brownie (I’m sure there are tons on the Internet) and simply stir in the peppermint patties into them. I don’t feel like I can really advise you because I am not an expert on egg-free baking.