If you are a hardcore chocolate lover and ice cream is your favorite dessert, you have come to the right place. Today, we are making the best double dark chocolate ice cream recipe in the world.

A bowl of homemade double chocolate ice cream recipe garnished with pistachios.

I get it. It is a big statement to call this chocolate ice cream “The Best.” However, having made this recipe over 20 times in the last few years, I have had family and friends confirm that this is the best homemade chocolate ice cream they have ever had.

Intrigued? Let’s break it down.

Ingredients for Double Dark Chocolate Ice Cream Recipe:

If you make ice cream at home on a regular basis, you probably already have all the ingredients in your pantry.

We are using the usual homemade ice cream ingredients like whole milk, heavy cream, sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder, vanilla bean, eggs, egg yolks, dark chocolate, and salt.

A Few Helpful Notes For The Ingredients Used:

Vanilla Beans: If you have ever used vanilla beans in your recipes you know how magical they are. This is especially true in ice cream recipes. However, let’s face it, vanilla beans are very expensive. If you don’t want to spend extra $$$ on it or don’t have them on hand, this recipe would work without vanilla beans. Simply omit it.
Dark Chocolate: You can use any baking chocolate here. I used 70% Valhrona chocolate as that is my favorite brand, but any other baking chocolate would also work.
Pistachios (Optional topping): I am a huge fan of chocolate and pistachios combination so I topped my ice cream with lightly salted pistachios. However, any of your favorite nuts would work as a topping.

Homemade Dark Chocolate Ice Cream topped off with pistachios

How To Make Homemade Dark Chocolate Ice Cream:

This chocolate ice cream recipe has a few simple steps:

Prep the cream mixture: Cook the heavy cream, whole milk, 1/2 cup sugar, vanilla bean seeds, and vanilla bean in a saucepan over medium heat. Stirring occasionally, let it come to 175 °F degrees for 13-17 minutes. Remove it from the heat.
Prep the egg and egg yolk mixture: Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, egg yolks, 1/2 cup sugar, salt, and cocoa in a bowl until they are smooth.
Temper the egg mixture: Measure 1 cup of the hot milk and cream mixture. Slowly mix 1 cup of the hot mixture with the egg and sugar mixture. Be sure to mix it constantly to prevent turning eggs into scrambled eggs.
Return mixture into the pan, add the chopped chocolate, and cook in medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until it resembles a pudding-like texture and measures 180 °F degrees. This takes between 15-17 minutes.
Let It Cool: Pour the mixture into a heatproof glass bowl and stir in the vanilla extract. Cover it with stretch film directly on the surface of the chocolate mixture. Let it cool for 15 minutes and place it in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Strain: When ready, strain the custard through a fine-mesh strainer. Transfer it into the bowl of your ice cream maker.
Let your ice cream machine do the rest of the work: Churn it in an ice cream maker for 20-25 minutes or until it reaches 21°F degrees.
Let it freeze in the freezer: Transfer it to an airtight container. Press it firmly to remove any air pockets. Place it in the freezer and freeze it until it is firm at least 2 hours.
Serve: Remove it from the freezer to soften 15 minutes before serving.

A Word On Tempering Eggs:

One thing that can go wrong with making ice cream at home is tempering. If you are not familiar, temperating is a fancy name for slowly whisking eggs into the hot heavy cream and milk mixture.

Eggs and egg yolks are the reason why the texture of ice cream is nice and creamy. However, if it is added to hot ingredients all at once they will curdle. To prevent that from happening, we gradually add the hot liquid into the eggs while constantly whisking it. This way eggs won’t turn into scrambled eggs and cook at a safe temperature.

A Few Helpful Tips for The Best Chocolate Ice Cream:

My favorite Ice Cream Maker: People always ask me for my favorite ice cream maker. If you are in the market, this is the brand (affiliate link) I own for years and it was one of the best investments I have ever made.
Sadly, this recipe will not work if you do not have an ice cream maker.
If you are a regular ice cream maker, you know measuring the temperature throughout the process is an important step for getting the most creamy texture. If you need a reliable thermometer, this inexpensive one is the one I own and use.
How many servings does this recipe yield? This recipe makes 1-quart ice cream that serves 4-6 people.

Other Ice Cream Recipes You Might Also Like:

Coconut Milk Popsicles
Coconut Cashew Ice Cream
Avocado Ice Cream with Coconut Milk
Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream
See all ice cream recipes
Check out all my other Easy Chocolate Recipes for more chocolate goodness.

This post was originally published in October 2013. It has been updated in June 2020 with more detailed information with no changes to the original recipe.