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The Munchies Ice Cream is full of all of your favorite things to munch on such as potato chips, Ritz crackers, pretzels and M & M’s.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe!
This Munchies Ice Cream is the perfect balance and combination of sweet and salty. It’s all your favorite snack foods in ice cream form!
What is The Munchies Ice Cream?
On my trip to New York we had to make a visit to Ample Hills Ice Cream. It has been voted the number ice cream in New York State after all! We had a hard time choosing which ice cream to get so we got three different flavors and shared. We tried a Ooey Gooey Butter Cake Ice Cream, a Cinnamon Cookie Ice Cream and The Munchies. Tessa and I both voted that the Munchies was our favorite flavor. Once I got home and I had a case of the munchies I decided I needed to figure out how to make my own version of The Munchies Ice Cream.
Ingredients Needed
- Milk. You will need both whole milk and heavy cream.
- Pretzels. I used the mini salted pretzels
- Sugar
- Instant Non Fat Powdered Milk. You can find this in the baking aisle.
- Eggs. We’re only using the yolks.
- Ritz crackers
- Potato Chips
- M & M’s
- Butter You can use salted or unsalted butter.
How to Make The Munchies Ice Cream
You start by making a pretzel infused milk base.
- In a large saucepan, heat the milk over medium-high heat until it starts to steam, about 5-10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the pretzels. Cover the pan and let the pretzels steep for 20 minutes.
- Pour the mixture through a wire-mesh strainer into a bowl, pressing down on the pretzels to extract as much milk as possible.
- Add the sugar and skim milk powder. Stir with a hand mixer or whisk until smooth. Stir in the cream.
- Cook until mixture reaches 110 degrees F. Use a candy or meat thermometer to check temperature. Remove pan from heat once it reaches temperature.
- Place the egg yolks in a medium bowl. While whisking, slowly pour ½ cup of the hot milk mixture into the egg yolks to temper them. Add the egg-yolk mixture back into the remaining milk mixture.
- Continue cooking the mixture, stirring often until it reaches 165ºF, 5 to 10 minutes more.
- Place your pan in a bowl full of ice and water and let it cool for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Pour the ice cream base through a wire-mesh strainer into a storage container and place in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours, or until completely cool.
How to Make Munchie’s Mix Ins
This is the best part of the ice cream! Make it while the ice cream base is cooling.
- In a large bowl, break up the crackers, pretzels, and potato chips into pieces. Don’t pulverize, just break into s maller pieces.
- Add in powdered milk and sugar, toss to combine.
- Add in butter and use your hands to bring it together, squeezing it into clumps. Almost like you are kneading bread.
- Spread the mixture evenly over a greased or parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes at 275 degrees F. Mixture should just start to toast and turn brown. Set aside to cool completely.
- Pour the cooled base into an ice cream maker and churn it according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
- After the ice cream is done processing, fold in the munchie mix in mixture and the M & M’s. Use as much of the mix-in as you want; you won’t necessarily need the whole batch.
- Serve immediately as a soft serve ice cream or harden in your freezer for 8 to 12 hours for a more scoopable ice cream.
Tips from Leigh Anne
- I add in about 1 1/2 cups of the munchie mix-in mixture and reserve the rest for sprinkling on top of the ice cream when I serve it and just for munching on!
Frequently Asked Questions
Stored in an airtight, insulated ice cream container it will last for a couple of weeks.
This homemade ice cream recipe is designed to be made in an ice cream maker and is not meant to be a no churn ice cream.
I use a Cuisinart 2 qt. ice cream maker. I then transfer the ice cream into this insulated ice cream container to let the ice cream harden up.
Try these other fun snacks!
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The Munchies Ice Cream
Ingredients
For the Pretzel Ice Cream:
- 3 cups whole milk
- 1½ cups mini salted pretzels
- ¾ cup organic cane sugar
- ½ cup skim milk powder
- 1? cups heavy cream
- 2 egg yolks
For the Munchies Mix-In:
- 1 cup Ritz crackers
- 1 cup salted mini pretzels
- 1 cup salted potato chips
- ½ cup skim milk powder
- 1 cup organic cane sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted
- 8 ounces M&Ms chopped
Instructions
- Make the pretzel ice cream: Prepare an ice bath in the sink or in a large heatproof bowl.
- In a large saucepan, heat the milk over medium-high heat until it starts to steam, about 5-10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the pretzels. Cover the pan and let the pretzels steep for 20 minutes.
- Pour the mixture through a wire-mesh strainer into a bowl, pressing down on the pretzels to extract as much milk as possible. Don’t worry if some of the pretzel “pulp” pushes through into the ice cream. That’s totally OK. Return the pretzel-infused milk to the saucepan.
- Add the sugar and skim milk powder. Stir with a hand mixer or whisk until smooth. Make sure the skim milk powder is wholly dissolved into the mixture and that no lumps remain (any remaining sugar granules will dissolve over the heat). Stir in the cream.
- Clip a candy thermometer to the saucepan and set the pan over medium heat. Cook, stirring often with a rubber spatula and scraping the bottom of the pan to prevent sticking and burning, until the mixture reaches 110ºF, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat.
- Place the egg yolks in a medium bowl. While whisking, slowly pour ½ cup of the hot milk mixture into the egg yolks to temper them. Continue to whisk slowly until the mixture is an even color and consistency, then whisk the egg-yolk mixture back into the remaining milk mixture.
- Return the pan to the stovetop over medium heat and continue cooking the mixture, stirring often, until it reaches 165ºF, 5 to 10 minutes more.
- Transfer the pan to the prepared ice bath and let cool for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour the ice cream base through a wire-mesh strainer into a storage container and place in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours, or until completely cool.
Munchies Mixture:
- Make the munchies mix-in: Preheat the oven to 275ºF. Butter a 12-by-18-inch baking sheet and line it with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, using your hands, break up the crackers, pretzels, and potato chips into pieces about a quarter of their original size. The goal here isn’t to pulverize them into dust (though a little dust is OK, as it will help bind everything together later on). Add the skim milk powder and sugar and toss to combine. Pour the butter over the mixture and work it together with your hands, squeezing it into clumps and breaking it apart, almost like kneading dough.
- Spread the mixture evenly over the prepared baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, until the mixture just begins to toast and turn brown. Set aside to cool completely.
- Transfer the cooled base to an ice cream maker and churn it according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
- Transfer the ice cream to a storage container, folding in the munchies mix-in and M&M’s as you do. Use as much of the mix-in as you want; you won’t necessarily need the whole batch. Serve immediately or harden in your freezer for 8 to 12 hours for a more scoopable ice cream.
Tips & Notes:
- I add in about 1 1/2 cups of the munchie mix-in mixture and reserve the rest for sprinkling on top of the ice cream when I serve it and just for munching on!
Linda says
How about adding some buttered popcorn too?
Linda says
Worth it for an extra special dessert. I am making it for a church social.
Becky R. says
That sounds good, but too much work for me!
Leigh Anne says
Becky, It is definitely more work than I usually go to for ice cream but it was totally worth it!