Quick Homemade Ice Cream Base

• Vanilla Ice Cream: add 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract before freezing
Chocolate: Whisk in 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate and ¼ cup additional sugar
• Coffee: Whisk in 3-4 tablespoons instant coffee (depending on how strong you like it) until it is dissolved
• Coconut: Add 2 15-ounce cans coconut cream
• Nuts: Toast the nuts, either in a 350° oven for about 10 minutes or until they smell good, or in the microwave in 1 minute intervals (up to 4 minutes). Add the cooled nuts to the ice cream at the last minute or two of freezing.
• Chocolate chips or chunks: You can add mini-chips, but regular chocolate chips are too hard when frozen. I prefer to get a bar of some really good chocolate and shave off pieces with a knife; add at the last minute.
• Fruit: Bananas don’t need added sugar because they are sweet, however, most other fruits (about a pint, or a cup of mashed fruit) need from ¼ to 1 cup sugar added to them before adding them to the base. Mash your favorite fruit, adding sugar to taste; chill well. If you want the fruit incorporated well into the ice cream, add it when you start freezing; if you want chunks, add it later.
• Candy: I love crushed Butterfinger bars in vanilla ice cream and broken toffee bars in coffee ice cream, but you can add any of your favorite candies; add candy the last minute or two of freezing. Make sure the candy is cut up in small chunks so that consumers don’t break their teeth on the frozen chunks.
• Cookies and Brownies: Crush or break your favorite cookies or brownies into small pieces, then add them at the last minute or two of freezing.
• Cookie dough: Use your favorite chocolate chip or chocolate chip oatmeal dough recipe, form it into a square, refrigerate until firm, then cut into chunks. Add the chunks at the last minute or two of freezing. Store-bought dough can also be used.