quinn's place

or: what to do what you have a ruddy old carton of ice cream that’s been 85% eaten but is still lurking in the freezer.

or: what to do when you have a plain ol’ ice cream flavor in your freezer that definitely needs a dose of chocolate.

you will probably never catch me eating a bowl of plain vanilla ice cream. nuh uhhhhh.

did costco really do away with the chocolate soft serve at the hot dog shack? they just have vanilla and acai now?? hogwash.

my best friend katie and i would frequent the walk-up dairy queen in high school and just sit in the parking lot eating blizzards and watch people to see what they ordered...(super fun small town activity in 2004 when you have your driver’s license and that’s about it).

she and i are both chocolate lovvahhhhs and would always get some sorta chocolatey chocked full (chunks-o-shit as we call it - give us all the chocolatey chunks o shit) chocolate extrEme maximo mayhem blizzard. with marshmallow sauce.

i laugh now thinking about kt giving the other punkass high schooler DQ employee her sweetest eyes and telling them to “lay on the mallow sauce” as if she was asking a HUGE favor of them. that’s all we wanted out of life, man.

it is truly shocking to observe how many people at dairy queen order PLAIN VANILLA CONES. what? have you seen the DQ menu, people? it’s brimming with hot eats & cool treats.

lots of dilly bars ordered, too. that’s funny to me. kt & i would just hang our heads in shame watching old person after old person walking away from the window licking their whhhhiiiite plain vanilla cones.

[my friend whitney will see this and yes whitney i’ve noticed your love of plain vanilla cones……. interesting life choice. 😂🍦]

SO GUESS WHAT.

i do love mint chocolate chip ice cream. but i wish it was more chocolatey, of course. we had a tub of it leftover from NYE and i wanted to make something with it.

enter these mini chocolate-covered mint chocolate chip ice cream bites.

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can we assume that “mint chocolate chip” is green with chips, and “chocolate chip mint” is white with chips? this always confuses me.

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i would definitely make these with vanilla ice cream since any plain vanilla ice cream that makes it into my house just burns in a sad ice shard covered, dented cardboard mess in the back of the freezer for ages.

strawberry ice cream would be YUMMO in a chocolate covered cup. i have a soft spot for strawberry ice cream even tho chocolate anything is my regular go-to.

these are so easy to make. the intervals of freezer wait time are the “hardest” part.

i usually make these rocky road bars at christmas time (whoa. classic recipe, but those photos need work, lol), but i didn’t get around to it this year. so i had some hershey bars in the freezer free for the using!

you can obviously use whatever type of chocolate you prefer, there’s something about classic hershey bars that just hit the spot for me in a nostalgic way.

the maldon sea salt flakes on top are SO delightful and really round out the flavors of the cup as a whole unit. and they look pretty, too.

the possibilities and combinations are endless here. put those sad old corners of your ice cream tubs to good use!

Chocolate Covered Ice Cream Cups

Makes 12 mini cups

Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

4-5 regular sized Hershey bars or chocolate bar of choice
1 TB coconut oil
ice cream of choice
maldon flaked sea salt

Instructions-

In a simmering double-boiler (I use a strong glass bowl over a small pot of simmering water), melt the coconut oil and break up the chocolate bars. Heat and stir frequently with a spatula until the chocolate is melted (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

Line a mini muffin tin with mini cupcake/muffin liners and spray with cooking spray. Spoon a little melted chocolate into the bottom of the liners and brush the chocolate up the sides. Freeze for about 15 minutes.

After the bottom layer of chocolate is frozen, spoon a little scoop of ice cream on top and press down in the cup using the back of the spoon. Freeze again for 10 minutes.

Top the ice cream with another small layer of melted chocolate, spreading it to the edges and swirling it around with the back of a spoon. Top with Maldon sea salt flakes and freeze at least 30 minutes before eating.

Store in an airtight container in the freezer.

hi!

i am so excited to announce that i will be a new food & recipe contributor for coco kelley!

if you know her site, you know it is brimming with stunning inspiration for interiors, entertaining, design, and do-it-yourself projects. cassandra's site has been around for 10 years now, essentially since the beginning of blogging! ha! she has sooo much beautiful content available over there and i am thrilled to be able to be a part of it.

my first recipe for coco kelley is this fresh champagne mango ice cream!

i was just talking about all the funny mini batches of ice cream i'd been concocting recently (when these pb s'mores ice cream bites were born), and this was the purpose for all that testing!

i'm super proud of how this recipe turned out. i finally mastered a creamy ice cream base, and the fresh champagne mangos with a spot of fresh lemon juice make for SUCH a refreshing and yummy summer ice cream!

peter even LOVED it and he is truly my toughest food critic.

my nerves are at an all-time high when he goes to taste something i made (he really should moonlight as a food critic - his feedback is always interesting and on point. if you don't toast this guy's bread or bun, you are dead to him). but anyhoo i was surrounded by mangoes and melons and "frozen yogurt" tests and containers of cream and milk and this and that everywhere and it was 90 degrees and i was hot & bothered waiting for his opinion practically with my hands over my eyes. and he said.....

"YUM." a capitol YUM with wide eyes which means 'YES, great job quinn this has my seal of approval and don't change a thing.' .....i don't think i could have handled whatever critique he may have had in that moment after making like 6 batches of ice cream that week hahaha.

it's really good. and champagne mangoes are typically ALL perfectly ripe which is insane/amazing! have you tried these? i've seen a lot of them available at produce stands and grocery stores in this last stretch of summer. they are a bit sweeter and more tender than a regular mango. and all of them are ripe and ready to eat as soon as you buy them which is fabulous.