Guinness Ice Cream

Don’t just drink your beer – eat it for dessert with this fudgy Guinness Ice Cream packed with chocolate covered pretzels and caramel sauce! Recipe makes 1 pint ice cream (but can also be doubled).

It’s been awhile since I used my ice cream maker.

It’s not that I stopped eating ice cream in the winter but rather haven’t been motivated to make any.

It’s hard to be motivated to make something ice cold when you look outside and shiver at the sight of 6 inches of snow covering your car, knowing you have to spend 5-10 minutes digging out while bracing the below-zero wind chill. Then when the wind blows the snow back into your face, it’s over.

However, a lot of local ice cream stands are still closed for the winter. Sure, I could buy a pint at the grocery store, but the flavors are very limited.

And with St. Patrick’s Day coming, I wanted to make Guinness Ice Cream.

It’s a decadent chocolate ice cream made with malty stout beer, salty chocolate covered pretzels, and a buttery homemade caramel sauce.

Based on the success of my Guinness brownies, I knew the combination of chocolate and stout beer would make a killer ice cream, especially since I always make my chocolate ice cream on the fudgy side.

Then I wanted some crunch in every bite, and since beer and pretzels go hand in hand, I opted for chocolate covered pretzels.

The salt of the pretzels balances out the sweetness from the chocolate and caramel as well as enhances the bitterness of the stout, which also helps balance the sweetness.

To finish it off, I added a generous helping of caramel sauce, just because I can.

Why You’ll Love This Guinness Ice Cream Recipe

• Makes one pint! Most ice cream recipes make at least a quart. My small batch ice cream makes only a pint for a reasonable dessert for two.
• No soggy pretzels! Most pretzel ice cream recipes end up soggy since they absorb all that moisture. By using chocolate covered pretzels, they remain crunchy.
• Pairs well with other desserts! In addition to eating it with a spoon, it pairs well with chocolate stout cake and mini chocolate Guinness cake.

Ingredients For Guinness Ice Cream

To make your beer ice cream, you’ll need the following ingredients:

• Heavy whipping cream: Fat is your friend! Not only does it create the creamy, smooth texture you expect, fat carries flavor better and freezes better with minimal ice crystals.
• Cocoa Powder: Adds a deep chocolate flavor you cannot accomplish with baking chocolate alone.
• Semisweet chocolate: Adds richness and a creamier chocolate texture
• Whole milk: Because using all heavy cream would make the ice cream too rich, you’ll want to balance it with whole milk. Please do not use low fat or skim milk or you’ll end up with an icier, lackluster product.
• Sugar: Not only does it sweeten your base, sugar lowers the freezing point, which means it’ll remain semi-soft and scoopable instead of hard and icy
• Salt: No bland ice cream here!
• Egg yolks: Yolks are needed to make your custard base creamy. When you’re done, check out what to do with egg whites.
• Stout beer: Guinness is the most common brand, but you can use any stout beer you’d like
• Vanilla extract: Makes the chocolate taste more chocolatey
• Chocolate covered pretzels: Using chocolate covered helps ensure the pretzels stay crunchy after mixing them in because the chocolate prevents the pretzels from absorbing moisture. The last thing you want is to bite into a soggy pretzel!
• Caramel sauce: Use homemade or store bought

What To Do With Leftover Beer

Since you’ll have extra beer, here are some Guinness recipes you can make:

• Chocolate Guinness Mousse
• Guinness Shepherd’s Pie
• Guinness Beef Stew
• Spicy Beer Shrimp

How To Make Guinness Ice Cream

Here’s how to make your Guinness stout ice cream:

1. Warm up half the cream and cocoa powder then stir in the baking chocolate until melted.
2. Heat the milk, sugar, and salt.
3. Temper the egg yolks by whisking in some of the warm milk mixture then add back to the saucepan. Bring to a boil.
4. Cook until thickened, whisking often so you don’t curdle the egg. Remove from the heat.
5. Whisk it into the chocolate mixture along with the beer and vanilla.
6. Chill in an ice bath then refrigerate until cold.
7. Churn according to machine directions.
8. Stir in chocolate covered pretzels and caramel sauce during the last few minutes of churning.
9. Freeze until firm, at least 4 hours or overnight.

Freeze homemade ice cream for up to 1 month. I use these small round freezer-proof plastic containers that perfectly hold 1 pint.

Because alcohol doesn’t freeze, this chocolate stout ice cream will be softer than normal, but you’ll still be able to scoop it.

On the plus side, that means you can eat it straight from the freezer and not wait for it to thaw for a few minutes like traditional homemade ice cream.

Bonus recipe: Add a few scoops to a blender, pour in some leftover beer, and enjoy your boozy milkshake.

More Homemade Ice Cream Recipes

Enjoyed this beer ice cream recipe? Check out my other small batch ice cream recipes you can make:

• Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
• German Chocolate Ice Cream
• Peanut Butter Ice Cream
• Nutella Ice Cream
• Strawberry Ice Cream
• Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
• Peach Ice Cream

First published March 8, 2016