Croissant Coffee Ice Cream

29 ***If you're ice cream machine has a bowl that needs to be frozen, place it in the freezer now! 
Baked Croissants Pieces
3 Preheat oven to 350℉ (180℃). Line a baking pan with parchment paper. 
2 Slice baked croissants into 1/2-inch chunks and place them into a mixing bowl. 
4 Toss croissant pieces with the melted butter and sugar. Spread them in an even layer on the baking pan. 
5 Bake for 20-30 minutes, tossing halfway until golden brown and crunchy. Careful not to over-bake. Cool and set aside until ready to assemble ice cream.
Roast Coffee Beans 
6 Place coffee beans on a baking tray and roast for 3 minutes at 350℉ (180℃). Let cool, then slightly mash or grind them into large broken pieces. 
Steep the Cream with Coffee Beans
8 Place the cream and coffee beans in a medium saucepan. Stir together and heat on medium until steaming almost a simmer. Remove from the heat. 
9 Cover the pot with a piece of plastic wrap to trap in the steam and let steep at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour to infuse the dairy with coffee notes.
11 Strain out the beans and re-measure the cream. The coffee beans will absorb some of the cream and we'll need all of it for the ice cream base. 
31 Replace any lost volume of cream to the pot, then stir in the milk and espresso powder.
Coffee Ice Cream Base
19 **Set a large bowl fitted with a metal sieve next to the stovetop.
13 Place the saucepan back over a medium heat. Whisk in the skim milk powder, honey, and salt. 
32 Meanwhile whisk together the egg yolks and sugar in a separate large bowl until pale and frothy. 
14 Heat the milk and cream mixture until it reads 113℉ (45℃) on instant thermometer, stirring occasionally. 
33 Pour a third of the warm liquid into the egg yolks while constantly whisking to temper the eggs. Then pour the entire mixture back into the saucepan.
16 Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to cook the base until it reaches between 180-185℉ (82-85℃) on the thermometer. Stir continuously with a whisk to prevent over-cooking the custard at the bottom of the saucepan. 
17 The ice cream base is cooked when it reaches desired temperature, when it coats the back of a spoon and you can easily draw a line through the custard with your finger tip. 
18 Immediately remove from heat and pour the custard through the mesh sieve into the large bowl.
20 Stir in the vanilla. Cool the base to room temperature, occasionally stirring to prevent a skin from forming. 
22 Once cooled, place a layer of plastic wrap directly onto the custard and refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours or overnight. This "aging" step is important to create a cold ice cream base for churning.
Churn and Freeze
24 Remove the cold ice cream base from the fridge. Blend with a handheld immersion blender for smoothness. Pour into your ice cream machine. Churn as directed for your machine, usually 28-30 minutes.
25 The ice cream should look like soft serve when it's done. 
26 Spoon 1/3 of the ice cream into a chilled freezer safe storage container. Sprinkle with the baked croissant pieces and stir gently to mix them in. 
27 Repeat with remaining ice cream and croissant chunks.
28 Cover container with lid or plastic wrap and freeze for about 3-4 hours before scooping.