Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
You are going to love this delicious recipe for homemade Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, made in your ice cream maker!
Homemade Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream uses fresh ingredients and the perfect amount of mint extract. This ice cream has a creamy, French-style custard base to hold plenty of sweet mini chocolate chips.
This homemade chocolate chip mint ice cream recipe is naturally gluten-free and nut-free.
I like all minty desserts, like Peppermint Stick Ice Cream, and Mint Chocolate Chip Milkshakes too. This Andes Mint Ice Cream Recipe is a reader favorite too.
Adding the flavor of mint to a cold dessert like homemade ice cream does this magical thing where it makes the ice cream feel colder. This makes the texture of a chocolate chip mint ice cream unlike anything else, and that’s why it’s so good.
If you love chocolate chips in ice cream, you’ll want to try chocolate chocolate chip ice cream next.
Why You’re Going to Love this Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Recipe
- Creamy Custard Base: This is a classic French ice cream recipe that starts with a custard made from gently cooked egg yolks and milk. It’s the creamiest ice cream base, and easy to make if you follow this simple recipe.
- With or without food coloring: To make this homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream recipe similar to what you might buy, we’re adding a small amount of green food coloring. Since it’s your ice cream, you can leave it out if you like. It still tastes just as great.
- More Options: Chocolate chips are just the beginning of the list of delicious things you can add to a homemade mint ice cream base. Keep reading for more variations on this classic combination.
Get ready to learn how to make this easy ice cream recipe, and make your own homemade mint chocolate ice cream!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Egg Yolks – These create the base for our ice cream custard. We’ll gently heat the egg yolks to pasteurize them, but you can also purchase pasteurized eggs if you prefer. Save the egg whites for an omelet or some other recipe.
- Granulated Sugar – For sweetness and texture, plain, white, granulated sugar is the perfect choice.
- Whole Milk – The first of our dairy products, whole milk is cooked with the egg yolks.
- Salt – Just a pinch enhances the other flavors in this recipe.
- Heavy Cream – A mix of both heavy cream and whole milk is what gives us the super creamy texture that we want.
- Peppermint Extract – This is what makes this a mint ice cream! Choose peppermint extract instead of mint extract.
- Vanilla Extract – Vanilla extract works with the peppermint extract in a beautiful way.
- Green Food Coloring – This is optional of course, but green is the typical color of mint ice cream, so adding it will make your ice cream look more familiar.
- Mini Chocolate Chips – I choose miniature chips over the regular sized ones in my ice cream recipes so that they are easier to eat. Check out my vanilla Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Recipe too!
How to Make Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream from Scratch
- Chill the ice cream bowl for at least 24 hours or until solid. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and granulated sugar until smooth and pale yellow in color.
- Add the milk and salt to a saucepan over medium heat. Bring the milk to a simmer and then remove from the heat. Be sure not to boil. Add about ½ cup of the hot milk to the egg and sugar mixture and whisk constantly until combined. Then, add the tempered egg mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining hot milk.
- Heat the saucepan on low. Stirring constantly, heat until the base has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. This should take a few minutes.
- Strain the mixture into a bowl to remove any pieces of egg that may have cooked. Add the heavy cream peppermint extract, and vanilla extract and stir to combine.
- If you’re using green food coloring, add that in as well, a few drops at a time until you get the color you like. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap making sure to have the plastic wrap touching the surface of the ice cream base. This will help keep it from forming a skin while chilling. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
- Churn the ice cream mixture in the bowl of your ice cream machine according to your manufacturer’s instructions (mine took about 20 minutes), until it is thick and the consistency of soft-serve ice cream. In the last two minutes, add the mini chocolate chips and churn until evenly distributed.
- Spoon the mint chocolate chip ice cream into a shallow container or a loaf pan. Press plastic wrap or wax paper to the surface of the ice cream. Freeze for at least 4 hours, or until solid.
- Let sit at room temperature for about 5 minutes before serving.
These numbered steps match the numbered photos above and are for illustration purposes. For the complete list of ingredients and instructions, please see the recipe below.
How to Store Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
Store homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream in the freezer in an airtight container (we really like these reusable ice cream containers) with a piece of parchment paper or waxed paper pressed on the surface of the ice cream. It will stay fresh this way for up to one month.
Tips for making this Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Recipe
- Food Coloring is Optional – If you’re using food coloring, you can use either a liquid type or a gel food coloring. You’ll need a small amount of gel food coloring compared to the liquid type. I suggest starting with just a drop or two and adding more until you get the desired shade.
- For Extra Mint Flavor – Just add a bit more peppermint extract! Don’t add more than 2 teaspoons of mint to this recipe though, it will be overpowering and artificial-tasting.
No Churn Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Directions
Chill a shallow container or a loaf pan in the freezer while you mix the ice cream ingredients. Pour the ice cream mixture into the prepared pan and freeze for 3-4 hours. Stir the ice cream every 30 minutes for the first 2 hours to help add air. This will help create a creamy, smooth texture.
Mint Ice Cream Add Ins
Chocolate chip mint ice cream is so good, but I bet we can make it even better with some creative additions! Try these to create new ice cream flavors:
- Other chocolate candies, such as Andes Mints, white chocolate chunks, Junior Mints, or mint chips.
- Crushed cookies. Oreos are particularly good in mint ice cream, as are girl scout Thin Mints or similar mint chocolate cookies.
- More Chocolate in the form of chocolate shavings, a drizzle of fudge sauce, or pieces of brownies mixed in.
Why Does Mint Make Your Mouth Feel Cold?
Earlier I said that mint does a magical thing that makes ice cream feel extra cold in our mouths, but really it’s not magic – it’s science! All varieties of mint have a chemical in them called menthol. Our taste receptors react with menthol and our body perceives a cold sensation. (read more science if you like!)
It’s pretty cool stuff! If you’re wondering, the other natural compound that can trick our taste buds in this way is capsaicin, found in peppers. That chemical makes our mouth feel heat.
What Kind of Mint is in Mint Ice Cream?
There are different mint flavors, and some of them work better in ice cream than others.
Peppermint – We’re adding peppermint extract to mint chocolate chip ice cream. This type of mint flavor is what most mint ice creams have in them. It’s strong and minty, but not overly “green” or herb-y.
Spearmint – If you stopped at the grocery store and picked up “mint extract” it would be made primarily from spearmint. This flavor can be used in baking and ice cream recipes, but it is a bit milder and tastes more like mint leaves. Some might say that it’s more of a toothpaste flavor than a candy cane flavor.
More Easy Homemade Ice Cream Recipes
These are our favorite tools for making ice cream in an ice cream maker:
- Cuisinart 2QT Ice Cream Maker – Works with ice cream, sorbets, and frozen yogurt.
- Ice Cream Scoop – Make sure you have a good ice cream scoop. This is one of our favorites.
- Ice Cream Containers – We love keeping a couple of ice cream containers on hand for when we make homemade ice cream.
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Did you make this Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Recipe? Leave a comment below letting is know what you thought and if you added any additional add-ins!
Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 4 large egg yolks
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ cups whole milk
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- ½ tablespoon peppermint extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon green food coloring optional
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Chill the ice cream bowl for at least 24 hours or until solid. You should not hear any water sloshing around when you shake the bowl. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and granulated sugar until smooth and pale yellow in color.
- Add the milk and salt to a saucepan over medium heat. Bring the milk to a simmer and then remove from the heat. Be sure not to boil. Add about 1/2 cup of the hot milk to the egg and sugar mixture and whisk constantly until combined.
- Then, add the tempered egg mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining hot milk.
- Heat the saucepan on low. Stirring constantly, heat until the base has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. This should take a few minutes.
- Strain the mixture into a bowl to remove any pieces of egg that may have cooked. Add the heavy cream, peppermint extract, vanilla extract and stir to combine. Add the green food coloring, if using, and stir to combine. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap making sure to have the plastic wrap touching the surface of the ice cream base. This will help keep it from forming a skin while chilling. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
- Churn the ice cream mixture in the bowl of your ice cream machine according to your manufacturer’s instructions (mine took about 20 minutes), until it is thick and the consistency of soft-serve ice cream.
- In the last two minutes, add the mini chocolate chips and churn until evenly distributed.
- Spoon the ice cream into a shallow container or a loaf pan. Press plastic wrap or wax paper to the surface of the ice cream. Freeze for at least 4 hours, or until solid. Let sit at room temperature for about 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Plan ahead by making sure that your ice cream maker bowl is in the freezer at least 24 hours before you're going to make ice cream.
- For Extra Mint Flavor – Just add a bit more peppermint extract! Don't add more than 2 teaspoons of mint to this recipe though, it will be overpowering and artificial-tasting.
- Food Coloring is Optional – If you're using food coloring, you can use either a liquid type or a gel food coloring. You'll need a small amount of gel food coloring compared to the liquid type. I suggest starting with just a drop or two and adding more until you get the desired shade.
- Homemade ice cream can be stored in the freezer for up to one month. Keep it in an airtight container with a piece of plastic wrap or wax paper pressed to the surface of the ice cream to keep ice crystals from developing.
- Homemade ice cream should be easy to scoop if you let it soften at room temperature for 5 minutes after removing it from the freezer.
