Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream

Are you ready to bid farewell to summer?  Where did the time go!  I'm sure we're all a bit reluctant to see Labor Day popping up on our calendars but there's also much to look forward to.  I figure we'll just embrace the next season and all the new patterns and adventures that come with it.  

Before summer '15 unofficially closes out, I thought I'd sneak in another ice cream post.  I really put my little ice cream maker to work this summer!  And while I definitely eat, and make, ice cream all year round, it won't be "ice cream season" anymore soon and the "activity" of going out for ice cream will no longer be such a given.  So let's toast the summer with a few more scoops of ice cream - chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, to be exact!

I made this batch of ice cream for my husband (though the little guy probably ate more than his dad).  It dawned on me recently that as much as my husband likes cookie dough ice cream, I hadn't tried my hand at making it for him yet.  And since I really wanted to, it was time to get cranking!

So I started with the chocolate chip cookie dough, following David Lebovitz's recipe from The Perfect Scoop (though I was a little less generous on the portion).  Melted butter, brown sugar, a little bit of flour and lots of chocolate chips make for a dark dough studded with chocolate that you cut up into bite size pieces once it firms up. Are you a raw cookie dough eater?  As much as I love to bake and eat cookies, I've never been tempted by cookie dough or cake/brownie batter!  I guess that might explain why I hadn't made this ice cream flavor before.

As for the base, I used Ciao Bella's gelato recipe.  It's a creamy custard base that calls for 4 egg yolks, 2 cups of whole milk, and 1 cup of cream.  After cooking, I stirred in some vanilla extract in this case.  This base recipe is one I use often; it's not too rich or heavy, and it's a great foundation on which to feature other add-ins and flavors.  I had some particularly bright orange egg yolks in this batch of ice cream so the base turned out quite yellow!

Honestly, it's amazing (and a little scary) how quickly these batches of homemade ice cream have been vanishing from the freezer this summer!  This one was no exception and my hubby thoroughly appreciated it.  I think I'm going to have to stop this ice cream frenzy soon but even as I write this, I have to confess that I'm taking the remaining cup of cream in my pint to make a batch of cookies 'n cream tomorrow!