This easy chocolate ice cream recipe is so rich and creamy, and it’s full of deep chocolate flavor with only a few simple ingredients. There’s no custard or cooking here, just whisking up some pantry ingredients you most likely have on hand and then freezing in your home ice cream machine. It’s one of my favorite ice cream recipes to make in the summer time and kind of tastes like a frosty or chocolate blizzard fresh out of the machine! Freeze it to solidify and it will be scoopable for your favorite cone. (Looking for Vanilla? It’s just as easy, and you’ll find it right here!)
Ingredients Needed for Chocolate Ice Cream
- Heavy Cream
- Whole Milk
- Brown Sugar
- White Sugar
- Cocoa Powder – This recipe uses cocoa powder for ease! You can use standard natural cocoa powder, Dutch processed cocoa powder, or my favorite- dark chocolate cocoa powder, like Hershey’s Special Dark. See below for more info.
- Salt
- Vanilla
How to Make Easy Chocolate Ice Cream
This is just a quick run-through so you can get a feel for the recipe. Keep scrolling for the full printable recipe!
- Combine brown sugar, white sugar, and cocoa powder and salt in a mixing bowl. This is my favorite bowl for recipes like this because it’s a bowl, a measuring cup, and a pouring pitcher. Tip: I like to sift the cocoa powder since it’s prone to clumping. Just place a fine mesh sieve over your bowl and run the cocoa through.
- Pour in your wet ingredients: cream, milk, and vanilla.
- Use a whisk and stir this mixture well until it’s smooth and clump-free and sugar is dissolved.
- Keep chilled if you aren’t going to process right away, otherwise, pour mixture into your home ice cream machine and churn according to machine instructions.
- When homemade ice cream is finished churning, it’s usually the consistency of soft serve. It’s delicious as-is, but quick to melt! For best results and a scoop-able consistency, immediately transfer your ice cream to a freezer save container (these are my favorites, a standard loaf pan also works great!) and freeze for at least 4-6 hours.
Pro Tip: Bloom Your Cocoa
If you have the time, blooming your cocoa powder can enhance the chocolate flavor. When cocoa powder is mixed with a hot liquid (this process is referred to as blooming), it releases flavor compounds and can make things taste more chocolate-y. Personally I do feel like it gives this ice cream a more enhanced chocolate flavor- but I will say when I had my family taste-test the batches side by side (one bloomed, one not) nearly every person chose the un-bloomed as their favorite and only 1 of 5 noticed a difference in the level of chocolate flavor. So take that for what it’s worth haha.
If you’d like to try this method, do the following:
- Heat the 1 cup of milk in the recipe either on the stove top, or even in the microwave. It should be hot, but not boiling! Little bubbles around the edge are great, but not a full simmer. Think hot coffee temperature.
- Turn heat off and add your cocoa powder, and I recommend shaking it through a fine mesh sieve as it goes in in order to weed out clumps. Whisk until cocoa is completely dissolved.
- Add sugars and salt and stir until dissolved. Note: At this point I like to pour my hot mixture into my glass measuring up with a spout to help cool down the mixture.
- Add cream and vanilla and stir. Your ice cream base is now ready BUT it’s not going to be super chilled because of the warm milk. For best results, pop the mixture in the fridge for a few hours before processing.
What cocoa powder should I use?
The great thing about this recipe is that you can really use any cocoa powder! Natural is standard and works great, Dutch process also works well and will give you a slightly richer flavor, and if you like dark chocolate, using a dark chocolate cocoa powder, like Hershey’s Special Dark, results in a dark colored ice cream with intense flavor. Below are 2 batches side by side with Natural cocoa on the left, and dark cocoa powder on the right.
Tip: I recommend shaking your cocoa powder through a fine mesh sieve to get rid of lumps, since it’s prone to clumping.
Storage and Other Tips
- Homemade ice cream is delicious right out of the machine, but it will be a quick-melting soft serve. To turn it into scoopable goodness, you’ll need to immediately get it into a container and freeze. These are my favorite containers to use for homemade ice cream. A loaf pan also works really well, if you’re planning on consuming shortly after. For long term storage, you’ll want something with a tight fitting lid.
- Feel free to include add-ins at the end, either directly in the ice cream machine, or stirred in by hand. Try crushed cookies, shaved chocolate, or even fresh fruit like cherries or raspberries.
- Note that egg-free ice cream such as this will be super creamy and delicious, but after freezing it can crystallize a little quicker and have a somewhat icy texture when super frozen. It helps to let it sit at room temp before scooping.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes feel free to use natural or Dutch processed cocoa. Dutch processed is a little more prone to clumping, so I recommend sifting it as you add it in.
I’ve never attempted this dairy free, but if I did, I’d use full fat coconut milk for the heavy cream, and a plant milk of your choice for the whole milk. You could also play around with non-dairy creamers in place of the milk.
Not long if others know it’s there haha. For best results eat within 1-2 weeks.
Ice Cream Machines
If you’re in the market for an ice cream machine, here are 4 I’ve owned and recommend.
- KitchenAid Ice Cream Attachment: If you already have a Kitchenaid Mixer, you can purchase an ice cream attachment. It’s a bowl you pre-freeze and then a special paddle.
- Cuisinart 1.5 quart: This entry level Cuisinart is a tried and true favorite. At under $100 it’s an affordable, reliable option that churns out great ice cream.
- Cuisinart 2 quart: This is a step up from #2. With a few more options and a larger capacity, you can make larger batches of ice cream, which is nice.
- Breville Compressor: This pricy machine won’t be the best choice for everyone, but it’s the one I use the most. While the canister is the smallest capacity of all these options, it’s a compressor so there is never a need to pre-freeze the container. It can instantly super cool ice cream for quick ice cream on the fly. It’s a large and heavy machine, but if you have a place to store it and you want to be able to make ice cream on a moments notice, it might be a good option for you.
Easy Chocolate Ice Cream
Ingredients
- ¼ cup sugar
- ¼ cup packed brown sugar
- 1 pinch fine salt but any salt will do
- ⅔ cup cocoa powder
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Have your ice cream machine prepped and ready, but keep frozen until ready to churn.
- In a mixing bowl (preferably one with a spout) combine sugar, brown sugar, cocoa powder and salt. Tip: not required, but if you have a fine mesh sieve I like to place it over my bowl and use it to sift in the cocoa powder since it has a tendency to clump. Use a whisk to combine these ingredients well and work out any clumps in your cocoa.
- Add cream, milk, and vanilla and whisk well until sugars are dissolved.
- Transfer mixture into prepared home ice cream maker and churn according to ice cream maker instructions. Once finished, transfer to a freezer safe container and chill for at least 4-6 hours, longer if possible.
Notes
- Heat the 1 cup of milk in the recipe either on the stove top, or even in the microwave. It should be hot, but not boiling! Little bubbles around the edge are great, but not a full simmer. Think hot coffee temperature.
- Turn heat off and add your cocoa powder, and I recommend shaking it through a fine mesh sieve as it goes in in order to weed out clumps. Whisk until cocoa is completely dissolved.
- Add sugars and salt and stir until dissolved. Note: At this point I like to pour my hot mixture into my glass measuring up with a spout to help cool down the mixture.
- Add cream and vanilla and stir. Your ice cream base is now ready BUT it’s not going to be super chilled because of the warm milk. For best results, pop the mixture in the fridge for a few hours before processing.
Questions & Reviews
We’ve made this twice in one week. Rich chocolaty flavor that’s quick and easy
This chocolate ice cream is so easy and rich I tried it last weekend and it tasted like a chocolate shake right out of the machine I added a few chocolate chips and it turned out amazing While I enjoyed my bowl my dog got his own frozen treat with Frostreats dog ice cream It was a fun way for both of us to stay cool Thanks for the recipe