Chocolate Chip is such a simple yet classic flavor. This homemade chocolate chip ice cream recipe let's you easily make your own sweet creamy ice cream loaded with bits of chocolate.

Unlike other homemade ice cream recipes, this ice cream uses an vanilla base ice cream that does not have egg yolks. Egg yolk based or custard based ice creams require the extra step of cooking a custard.

Custard based ice creams are French style ice creams. Here, we are making a Philadelphia style ice cream. All you need for the base is milk, cream, sugar and vanilla.

Ingredients for Making Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

• Heavy Cream: Heavy cream is what give this ice cream it’s richness without using egg yolks. Be sure to use heavy cream and not light cream or half and half or whipping cream. 
• Milk: Again, use full fat whole milk for the richest vanilla ice cream base! Avoid skim milk and reduced fat milk.
• Sugar: Use granulated white sugar.
• Vanilla: You can use a vanilla bean, vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract here. Vanilla beans give excellent flavor, show off those beautiful specks in the ice cream but they are also very expensive. If you still want the specks and want to spend less, go for the vanilla bean paste. Finally, vanilla extract can still give you great flavor without the speckles and is the least expensive. Just be sure to use pure vanilla extract and not imitation flavor.
• Salt: Anything sweet always needs a pinch of salt to keep the flavors balanced. 
• Mini Chocolate Chips: I can’t emphasize the word “mini” here enough. Regular chocolate chips will become too hard in the freezer and will make for a very unpleasant bite. Find the smallest mini chocolate chips you can find. I used Ghirardelli mini semi-sweet chocolate chips. As an alternative you can use  finely chopped chocolate bars too.
  

How to Make Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

To begin, pour the milk and cream into a saucepan, then add the sugar and salt. If you're using a vanilla bean, split it open, scrape out the seeds, and add both the seeds and the pod to the pot.

Give everything a gentle stir and bring the mixture to just boiling. Once it reaches that point, remove the saucepan from the heat, cover it, and let it steep for 10 minutes to infuse the flavor.

If you're using vanilla bean paste or extract instead, skip the vanilla for now. Instead of boiling, gently heat the milk, cream, sugar, and salt over low to medium heat, stirring constantly until the sugar fully dissolves.

Next, strain the mixture in to a large bowl to remove the vanilla pod, if used. If you're working with vanilla bean paste or extract, now is the time to stir it in—just be sure to remove the mixture from the heat first. Once combined, cover and chill the base thoroughly for at least one hour, or overnight if you have the time.

When you're ready to make the ice cream, pour the chilled mixture into your ice cream maker. If you notice that any vanilla specks have settled at the bottom of the bowl, scrape them up and mix them back in to ensure that rich vanilla flavor is evenly distributed.

Churn it according to the manufacturer’s instructions. To give you an idea of timing, I used this Cuisinart ice cream machine and churned it for about 20-25 minutes total.

During the final 10 minutes of churning, slowly add in the chocolate chips and let them mix throughout. Once the ice cream is ready, transfer it to a container or pan. You can enjoy it right away as a soft serve, or freeze it overnight for a firmer consistency.

How to Store

Transfer the finished ice cream to an airtight container and keep in the freezer for up to one month. Placing wax paper or plastic wrap over the top of the ice cream can help prevent freezer burn.

Variations

This creamy vanilla ice cream recipe actually makes a beautiful base for many types of ice cream. You can mix in chopped bits of almost anything if you don’t want chocolate chips. Try adding crushed chocolate cookies, fruit chopped in small pieces, nuts or go for a sweet and salty combination of chocolate chips and pretzel. 

To make mint chocolate chip ice cream, add 1.5 teaspoons of peppermint extract to the ice cream mixture before you chill it.