No Churn Mocha Marshmallow Chip Ice Cream

One of my favorite uses for sweetened condensed milk is no churn ice cream. Since the sweetened condensed milk is both thick and creamy, it makes a wonderful ice cream base that will save you a lot of time (and ensure you don’t need any fancy equipment) when you’re in the mood for ice cream. This Mocha Marshmallow Chip Ice Cream combines some of my favorite flavors into one decadent dessert: coffee, chocolate, marshmallows and more chocolate.

I used the chocolate sweetened condensed milk to start off my ice cream. It’s a limited edition flavor that I found next to my usual sweetened condensed milk and I was surprised to find out just how tasty the chocolate was! It really streamlines the process of making this ice cream and provides a nice foundation for the rest of the flavors in it. To the chocolate sweetened condensed milk, I added instant espresso powder (dissolved in a small amount of water) and vanilla. Instant espresso powder has a stronger coffee flavor than instant coffee and will yield better results here. If you only have instant coffee, double the amount that you are using. Whipped cream is folded into the chocolate mixture, followed by mini marshmallows and finely chopped dark chocolate.

If you don’t have – or can’t find – the chocolate sweetened condensed milk, that is ok. You can use regular sweetened condensed milk and add melted unsweetened chocolate to it. Unsweetened chocolate works well because the sweetened condensed milk has so much sugar in it. A very dark chocolate could also be used. The ice cream will only take a few minutes longer to prepare (while you melt the chocolate), but it will be just as delicious. I’ve given a substitution in the recipe below.

The finished ice cream only takes a couple of hours to set up in the freezer before you can scoop and serve it. It has a great blend of chocolate and coffee, and the fluffy marshmallows and crunchy chocolate chips create a nice combination of textures in that backdrop. It’s delicious on its own and makes an excellent sundae when topped with even more chocolate or hot chocolate sauce.

No-Churn Mocha Marshmallow Chip Ice Cream
1 1/2 tsp instant espresso powder
1 tbsp hot water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 14-oz can chocolate sweetened condensed milk
or 1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk + 4 oz melted unsweetened chocolate*
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup chopped dark chocolate
1 cup mini marshmallows

In a medium bowl, whisk together instant espresso powder, hot water and vanilla extract until instant espresso powder is dissolved. Stir in chocolate sweetened condensed milk.
In a large bowl, whip heavy cream to stiff peaks with a hand mixer. Add in chocolate mixture and fold until no streaks of plain whipped cream remain visible. Fold in chopped chocolate and marshmallows, then pour mixture into a freezer-safe container and freeze until firm, at least 4 hours.

Serves 6.

*To melt the unsweetened chocolate, finely chop it and put it in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat it in 30-35 second intervals until the chocolate starts to melt. Stir regularly to prevent it from burning, then add it to room temperature sweetened condensed milk.