My neighbors must think I’m crazy.  I recently discovered that the late-afternoon light in my backyard is just perfect for food photography.  I regularly scamper into the backyard with a white resin table, place-mat, dish of food and my camera and proceed to crawl around on the ground snapping pictures.  Taking this picture was a race against time, as ice cream doesn’t really appreciate 90 degree temperatures.

Onto the ice cream:  I simply love this coffee ice cream!  While I have enjoyed all of my homemade frozen confections, this is one of my favorites.  It’s smooth and creamy with the perfect punch of coffee flavor.  Mini chocolate chips  add a nice crunch and burst of chocolate.

Most coffee ice cream recipes I found involved steeping whole beans for an hour or so.  This seemed like a time-consuming and relatively expensive way to make coffee ice cream.  Homemade ice cream is certainly not a money-saving endeavor, but I figured that there had to be an easier, less pricey way to do this.  I decided to experiment with my favorite vanilla ice cream recipe and some instant coffee.  By reducing the sugar, eliminating the vanilla extract and adding 2 tablespoons of instant coffee, I was able to easily whip up the coffee ice cream I had been dreaming of.

Coffee Chip Ice Cream

1/4 cup Egg Beaters
7 oz. fat free sweetened condensed milk (1/2 can)
4 tbsp white sugar
8 oz heavy whipping cream
2 tbsp instant coffee
8 oz fat free half and half
8 oz skim milk
1/2 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips

1. Pour half and half into small saucepan and heat, stirring occasionally, until steam rises. Remove from heat.
2. In a separate bowl, use a whisk or electric mixer to beat Egg Beaters, sweetened condensed milk and sugar together. Beat in 1/2 cup of hot half and half and then stir this mixture into the saucepan with the remaining half and half.
3. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring almost constantly. Continue until the mixture reached 170-180 degrees or is slightly thickened. Do not bring the mixture to a boil.
4. Pour the mixture into a separate bowl and stir in the cream, milk, vanilla extract and salt.
5. Chill the mixture for several hours (overnight is even better). You can speed up the process by placing the bowl containing the mixture in a large bowl filled with ice and water.
6. Freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s directions.
7. Once the ice cream is done, gently fold in the cookie dough chunks and chocolate chips.