Dismembered Spider

Directions

• For the Spider Bodies
• Blend the Oreos until they are fine crumbs.
• Add the softened cream cheese and either blend, or move to a bowl and stir. Continue stirring/blending until the crumbs come together and the mixture is all the same color without white steaks. (If the mixture is too wet, add more Oreo crumbs. If it is too dry, add a little bit more cream cheese.)
• Pinch off little bits of the Oreo mixture and roll them into small balls, a little smaller than a marble. Keep rolling until all of the Oreo mixture is used.
• Move the balls into the freezer for about 10-15 minutes while you prepare the dipping chocolate.
• Melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring between each time in the microwave. Once it is smooth, it is ready to go.
• Once the balls have had a chance to harden and freeze a little in the freezer, dip the balls in the chocolate. I used a spoon to make sure they were fully coated. Move them onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
• Once they are all dipped, move the cookie sheet to the freezer until you are ready to add them to the ice cream.
• For the Spider Legs
• I just used the leftover chocolate from the spider bodies. If you don’t have anymore, melt the chocolate and coconut oil in the microwave just like you did for the spider bodies, until smooth.
• Dip the pretzel sticks into the chocolate, covering as much of the pretzel as possible. Add the pretzels to the cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (I used the same one) and place them in the freezer.
• Just before you add them to the ice cream, chop them into halves or thirds. You want the chunks to be small enough that you can eat them, but big enough that they still kind of look like spider legs.
• For the Spider Eyes
• Melt the white chocolate and coconut oil together the same way you did the dark chocolate, stirring every 30 seconds.
• Have a cookie sheet with parchment paper ready. When it is melted, move it to a baggie, and snip a tiny bit off the corner. (At this point, you might want it to cool a few minutes, just to thicken a tiny bit.) Squeeze small circles of white chocolate onto the parchment paper. Try to make them as uniform as possible, but they will probably come out all different shapes and sizes, but that’s okay.
• Move any leftover dark chocolate to a baggie and snip off an even tinier corner of it. On the still glossy white chocolate eyes, add a tiny little dot of dark chocolate in the center or each.
• Move the eyes to the freezer until ready to use.
• For the Salted Chocolate Base
• Crush the pretzels until small pieces remain. Move them to a bowl and pour the whole milk over it. Allow it to sit for 2 minutes.
• After it sits, pour (or spoon if it is really thick) the mixture into a fine mesh strainer or nut milk bag. Squeeze out as much milk as possible. If you don’t have a full cup left, top it off so that you have 1 cup.
• Melt the 4 oz chocolate in a double broiler. Once completely melted, slowly add the milk you just prepared in small amounts, whisking each time you add cream until color is uniform. Set it aside while you make the rest of the ice cream base.
• Heat the 1 cup heavy whipping cream on low in a medium saucepan until it reaches 140° F, stirring occasionally. While the custard heats, using an electric mixer to whisk the 2 large eggs in a medium mixing bowl until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
• While the cream is still heating, slowly add the sugar into the eggs, whisking thoroughly to make sure the mixture doesn’t become grainy.
  After the cream reaches the target temperature, gradually pour it into the egg and sugar mixture, again whisking each time the cream is added to avoid cooking the eggs.
• Pour the entire mixture back into the medium saucepan and heat it to 170° F.
• Now pour the mixture back into the mixing bowl and add the vanilla extract and the salt. Add the chocolate mix and whisk until combined and uniform. Add the black food coloring, if desired.
• Cover and chill for 1 hour or up to 3 hours.
• When ready, make in your ice cream maker based on the maker’s instructions.
• During the last 5 minutes in the ice cream maker (the ice cream should basically have the consistency of soft-serve ice cream), add in the eyes, legs, and bodies. Don’t add it all in! Add handfuls at a time until you get your desired chunkiness.
• Freeze until hardened (at least 4 hours).