Our family loves ice cream in just about every flavor, but when it comes to mint we’re picky. Hands down, the best mint ice cream is home made and this is the recipe I use when I take the time to make it.
This recipe is adapted from the only ice cream book I own (and love), The Ultimate Ice Cream Book: Over 500 Ice Creams, Sorbets, Granitas, Drinks, And More
Tonight’s batch was particularly good because instead of using plain chocolate, I used a combination of grated dark chocolate and finely chopped mint UFOs from Trader Joe’s. UFO fans, you know what I’m talking about! They’re the best chocolate mints ever, and I’m generally not a mint fan.
So anyway, this is a good mint ice cream recipe and I hope you try it. Just make sure to use a really good chocolate that will melt in your mouth with the ice cream and grate it or finally chop it.
Mint Chocolate Ice Cream
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
2 cups heavy cream (divided use)
1 3/4 teaspoons peppermint extract (not mint — make sure it says peppermint)
1/8 teaspoon vanilla
3 oz (or to taste) grated dark chocolate OR chocolate UFOs from Trader Joe’sWhisk the sugar, cornstarch and eggs together in a mixing bowl until light.
In a heavy saucepan set over medium heat, bring the 1 cup of milk and 1 cup of the cream to a simmer. Pour the simmering cream mixture into the egg mixture whisking constantly, then return the mixture to the saucepan. Reduce heat to about medium low and whisk or stir constantly until the mixture thickens – it should not come to a complete boil, but rather thicken just to the consistency of thick gravy and it usually takes 7 minutes or so. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Pour the remaining 1 cup of cream into the mixture, then stir in the peppermint extract and vanilla. Chill for a few hours or overnight until very cold.
Following the ice cream maker’s directions, mix the ice cream until thick. During last 5 minutes of ice cream mixing, add the grated chocolate. Spoon into a lidded container and let sit in the freezer to ripen until you are ready to serve it.
Makes about 4 cups
{ 25 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Anna,
What kind of ice cream freezer do you recommend? I would love to buy one, but I’d hate to invest in something super expensive. I do have a 20 year old KA mixer. Have you heard anything about the adapter for that?
I Love your site! Thanks for all the good advice!
wow, does it get green! is there food coloring included in the extract? this looks delicious, and the UFO tip is great
Perfect timing! I ordered an ice cream maker recently and it should be here any day. I can’t wait to try this recipe out as mint chip is our favourite. And I’m curious too, did you add food colouring and if so, how much? It’s just a perfect colour of green.
Brenda and C, I did use some food coloring. It’s optional, but I like it to have a very light green hue to it. It only takes a few drops.
Sue, mine is very old and very simple. It’s basically a platform with a motor in it, a freezer container, stirrer and cover. You pour the custard mixture in and ice cream is done in about 30 minutes. Mine’s a Cuisinart, but I’m sure there are lots of great brands out there now.
She made ice cream!!!
One of our favorite flavors, too. I’ve made mint cc a few times, now I’ll have to make your favorite. Maybe even today.
And I like that it doesn’t have like 8 egg yolks. I never make those recipes.
Sue, I purchased the ice cream maker attachment for the Kitchen Aid as a gift for my husband last year. It works very, very well. We’ve enjoyed it more than we should if you know what I mean!!
We’ve never made mint!! I wonder why!? I’ll have to show this recipe to my hubby and see if it interests him. For the most part I leave the ice cream making to him.
I LOVE using grated chocolate or shaved chocolate in ice cream it just melts in the mouth better you know?
Sue, I have the KA ice cream maker attachment. We LOVE it. It works really well and is so convenient!
I just made the custard. It’s cooling slightly. Mine came to temp(about 175 degrees F)/thickened in only about 3 1/2 minutes. I used a thermometer. But it thickened quickly, so I did the back of the wooden spoon trick (finger left a track).
I only have imitation peppermint and real mint extract. Would you suggest one over the other?
Hi Katrina,
I’m so happy to hear you made it! Also, the custard is not too thick. I’ve been making a lot of cream pies lately and forgot how thin the custard for ice cream can be, but generally this type thickens up as it sits in the refrigerator.
For the extract I’d go with the one that says peppermint. I’ve had really bad experiences with plain mint. It also tastes like spearmint. I’m sure there are brands of plain mint that are actually more like peppermint or at least less like spearmint, but you can’t go wrong with peppermint.
Well, good. Before waiting for your reply, I went with the peppermint. It’s not super thick, but just like you said, was like gravy. I thought it turned to a perfect consistency. It’s chillin’.
(whistle…..noo ne noo noo noo.)
Amaaazing! I want some! This looks great.
I can’t wait to try this. I’ve made ice cream several times this summer, and the family had just suggested I try to make mint chocolate chip. I was going to adapt my favorite base (which it looks like this recipe uses too), but now I can use yours!
Claudia, I hope you like it. I can’t remember how many different base recipes there are in The Ultimate Ice Cream book, but I like this one because it uses the whole egg and not just the yolks.
Sally, hello in Ireland! You probably have great mint flavorings there, so use whatever you like. Here in Texas, most of the major grocery stores sell one brand’s mint extract which is actually a blend of spearmint and peppermint. I used it in ice cream once and it reminded me of mint chewing gum or toothpaste. You should be able to tell just by smelling whether or not you’ll like it in ice cream.
Also, I once saw a lady order a big green spearmint sno-cone at the sno-cone stand. She thoroughly enjoyed it, so maybe it’s just a matter of personal preference. Go with what you like.
The ice cream is great! Everyone loved it for their snack tonight. I just finished a post about it!
mmmm Mint Chip is the BEST!!!!!!!!
Hello Anna,
I to am a huge mint choc. chip ice cream fan. This looks wonderful and I will give it a try. I have been making Ben & Jerrys, which is wonderful, and no cooking involved! Always a good thing! (if your interested in it, I will be happy to send it to you) To Sue, I use my kitchenaid ice cream attachment and couldn’t be happier. Amazon had them for 50% off recently.
Shelly, I think our library has the Ben & Jerry’s book and I believe I checked it out a long time ago. If I recall, most of the recipes are the uncooked type. I’ll have to re-check the book again or order it.
Anna,
Tht is correct, most of them are uncooked. But the chocolate ones require cooking (obviously). I am going to purchase the Ulimate Ice cream book based on your recommendation. It has ALOT more recipes than the Ben & Jerrys book does. Tally ho!
Sue,
I have the ice cream attachment for kitchen aid and love it. It is simple to use and clean.
Yes! That’s the same recipe I use. It is SOOOO good.
Anna,
You played an important part (twice!) in my kids’ first day back to school today. I used your sour cream muffin recipe this morning to make a special back-to-school treat. I made a half batch, added fresh raspberries, and baked them into 6 jumbo muffins. They were a hit. Then, I made your mint chocolate ice cream as a special after school surprise, and everyone loved it too. Thanks!
I’m kind of picky about my mint chocolate chip ice cream too! I don’t mind if it’s not homemade, but it HAS to be green!
Hi Anna: I got a Christmas gift card and splurged on a Cuisinart Ice Cream maker. I came right to your blog, as I recalled seeing some great looking recipes for ice cream. This was the first recipe we tried and it is so good… very rich. We added mini-Oreos. Thanks for the recipe.