Dairy and Egg Free Mint and Carob Chip "ice Cream"

I have young children with food allergies to milk, eggs, and chocolate who wanted mint chocolate chip ice cream. I credit a recipe posted by LonghornMama from Cooking Light magazine for ice cream using tofu. I altered it quite a bit, playing around with the flavors, and I turned it into an allergy free treat. Thanks to LonghornMama for the start to this recipe!

• Ready In: 1 hr 50 mins
• Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 1 (12 1/3ounce) package  mori-nu firm silken tofu (this company supports use of their product in uncooked recipes)
• 1  cup soymilk
• 1  teaspoon vanilla
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 cup sugar
• 3⁄4 teaspoon  alcohol free  peppermint extract (we got ours from the local health foods store)
• 3 -4  drops  green food coloring (optional)
• 1 1⁄2 cups  thawed  whipped topping (Hip Whip is a vegan alternative if you want to go milk protein free)
• 1⁄4 cup  vegan carob chips

Directions

1. Combine tofu, soy milk, vanilla, salt, sugar, peppermint flavoring, and food coloring in the blender and blend until smooth and creamy.
2. Fold in the thawed whipped topping.
3. Pour into the ice cream maker (we use the Rival brand with the freezer canister, so there's no ice or salt mess to deal with).
4. Freeze according to ice cream maker directions (with our Rival brand we freeze for at least 30 minutes).
5. Add carob chips during the last 5 minutes.
6. Spoon into an airtight container and put into the refrigerator freezer for an additional hour to finish firming up.
7. Serve and enjoy!
8. Variations for other flavors:
9. Omit the peppermint flavoring and carob chips and use the following instead: Add approximately 1/4 cup strawberry ice cream topping to the blended mixture, and then add fresh strawberries (amount determined by your preference) at the end. OR, Cookies and cream variation: Add crushed iced oatmeal cookies (check package for the ones that are dairy and egg free) to the final stage of the freezing process.