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Oh. My. Goodness. I know that I post a lot of ice cream recipes (I think 9 others so far, and many more to come!), but this one truly is my favorite so far! I have always been obsessed with ANYTHING peppermint related, so Christmas is truly the best time of year. Peppermint ice cream is hands down my favorite dessert to begin with, so homemaking Healthy Peppermint Ice Cream is always a dream come true.
I’ve actually been making my own peppermint ice cream for my family for the last several years, but I would always use coconut sugar as the sweetener, so I never got a good photograph of it (because let’s be real, coconut sugar kinda of makes a brown ice cream), so when I decided to use maple syrup as the sweetener this time around, I knew I would be set for the best healthy peppermint ice cream recipe. It’s more of a cream/white color, it has the classic peppermint flavor (literally the best, let’s be real), and it is just so Christmas-y. It’s the perfect Healthy Peppermint Ice Cream recipe!
Some reasons why you’ll love this Healthy Peppermint Ice Cream:
- No refined sugar
- No artificial or natural flavors
- Zero gums or thickeners
- No dyes
- Just real ingredients.
Nutritional benefits of Healthy Peppermint Ice Cream
- Peppermint extract is great for digestion and has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial properties. It contains menthol, which can relieve symptoms like bloating and pain, and helps relax digestive tract muscles to support nutrient absorption. The extract also has immune-supporting qualities and may offer benefits for nausea, headaches, and menstrual pain.
- I always recommend buying grass-fed milk and cream. This ensures you are getting a healthier product (from healthier cows) and you are supporting a more regenerative farm. I love buying from a local farmer or from healthy brands like Kalona Supernatural or Mill-King that are low-heat pasteurized instead of ultra-pasteurized. The lower temps helps preserve many of the enzymes in the milk, which makes it easier to digest.
- Maple syrup is a natural sweetener (from the sap of maple trees) so it’s healthy and also rich in antioxidants and minerals such as manganese, riboflavin, and copper.
- Egg yolks are a good source of fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, E, and K, as well as B vitamins and choline, which is important for brain health. They also contain antioxidants like lutein and zeaxanthin, which are beneficial for eye health.
Ingredients for Healthy Peppermint Ice Cream
Grass-fed heavy cream
Grass-fed whole milk
Pure maple syrup
Peppermint extract – buy a pure extract, not “flavoring”.
Vanilla extract
Egg yolks – this makes the ice cream extra creamy – but you can omit if you want.
Salt
For the chocolate: Chocolate chips and avocado oil – you’ll melt them together then pour into the ice cream as it churns and it hardens into perfect little chunks throughout the ice cream.
How to make Healthy Peppermint Ice Cream
- Pre-freeze: ***Make sure your ice cream bowl has been frozen for at least 24 hours (this is for the Cuisinart ICE-70 Series).
- Making the ice cream: In a large saucepan, mix together the milk and cream. Heat over medium heat, stirring with a whisk often, until barely steaming. Do NOT allow it to simmer or boil.
- In a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks with the maple syrup, vanilla extract, peppermint extract, and salt until it lightens in color.
- Once the cream/milk mixture is hot or barely steaming: Start beating the maple syrup mixture again and very slowly pour 1/3 of the steaming milk/cream into the bowl. Beat for a few seconds. Then, while continuing to beat, slowly pour another 1/3 into the bowl. Then, pour everything back into the saucepan and place over LOW heat on the stove. Stir constantly on low heat for 2 minutes. Do NOT let it simmer or boil or the eggs will overcook.
- Strain: Remove from heat and pour the mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a large bowl.
Chilling and churning
- Let it cool: Let it cool at room temperature for an hour. Then place in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours or overnight to fully chill.
- Churn it: On the ice cream maker, press Ice Cream and then Start/Stop. Pour the mixture through the spout and then cover with the cap. Let mix 25-30 minutes until thickened (or according to your ice cream maker).
- Gently melt the chocolate and avocado oil together (either in a double boiler or in 15 second increments in the microwave). In the last few minutes of churning, pour the melted chocolate mixture into the ice cream as it churns – the chocolate will harden and break up throughout the ice cream as it churns.
- To serve: You can serve as soft-serve, or transfer the ice cream to an ice cream container and place in the freezer for 3-5 hours to harden before serving.
Tools needed for homemade Peppermint Ice Cream
An ice cream maker – I use the Ice-70 by Cuisinart. I love it!
A large bowl – I prefer using one with a spout on the side to make it easier to pour.
An electric mixer with a whisk attachment
A handheld whisk
An ice cream container for storage. This helps significantly to keep the ice cream the proper texture. You can use a regular freezer-friendly Tupperware, but the ice cream may harden more.
Is making ice cream difficult?
Not at all! It may seem daunting at first, but it’s way easier than you think. Most of the time for the ice cream is just chilling it, so you are only spending about 35-45 minutes actively working on it.
Modifications and variations
- Substitute coconut sugar in place of the maple syrup if that’s what you prefer! Coconut sugar gives more of a “golden” brown sugar flavor, and it makes the ice cream more of a taupe/brown color instead of cream. It’s absolutely delicious! I do find that coconut sugar is slightly less sweet than maple syrup, so you can increase it to 3/4-1 cup if desired!
- For a lighter ice cream, you can use 2 cups heavy cream and 1 1/2 cups whole milk. Keep in mind it won’t be as creamy.
- If you want to omit the egg yolks, then feel free to. Keep in mind that omitting the egg yolks will make the ice cream less creamy and rich.
- Use mini chocolate chips in place of the melted chocolate mixture if desired.
What’s the difference between “mint” and “peppermint”?
It seems that some people get confused on the flavor differences between mint and peppermint – so “mint chip” ice cream is the green (or sometimes white) ice cream you would usually buy from the store or ice cream shops and it’s in season year-round. On the other hand, “peppermint” ice cream is the pink ice cream you would buy that’s more of a Christmas flavor (think of the flavor of candy canes). Classic mint ice cream is made from sweet mint leaves or sometimes spearmint (whether using the actual leaves or using the extract), whereas peppermint ice cream is made from peppermint leaves (whether the actual leaves or the extract).
So this ice cream is a classic Christmas season ‘candy cane’ peppermint flavor. If you would rather have normal mint ice cream, then check out this Mint Chip Ice Cream instead!
Other ice cream recipes you’ll love
Maple Cinnamon Apple Ice Cream
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream
I hope you love this Healthy Peppermint Ice Cream! Please be sure to leave a comment and a rating if you give this recipe a try. I would love to know how it turned out for you!
PrintHealthy Peppermint Ice Cream (naturally sweetened, no dyes!)
Peppermint Ice Cream – aka the classic Christmas flavor (think of candy canes!) is my favorite dessert for Christmas season! This ice cream tastes like the classic peppermint we all know and love, but it’s made healthy by using maple syrup as the sweetener and skipping the food dye. It’s truly the ice cream that will impress any guests. And since it’s only available seasonally, this recipe will come in very handy if you like to enjoy it year-around.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 4-8 hours, read instructions
- Category: dessert, winter, Christmas
- Method: ice cream maker
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups grass-fed heavy cream (20oz)
1 cup grass-fed whole milk (8oz)
4 egg yolks
2/3 cup pure maple syrup (230g)
2 tsp vanilla extract (4g / 10 mL)
1 tsp peppermint extract (2g / 5 mL)
1/4 tsp salt (2g)
Chocolate:
1/3 cup chocolate chips
1 tsp avocado oil (5 mL)
Instructions
Time references: The ice cream takes about 30-40 minutes for initial prep, then 3 hours for chilling (1 hour at room temp, at least 2 hours in fridge). Then it takes 25 minutes to churn for soft-serve consistency. If you desire it to be classic ice cream texture, then give time for it to harden in the freezer for 3-5 hours after churning.
- Pre-freeze: ***Make sure your ice cream bowl has been frozen for at least 24 hours (this is for the Cuisinart ICE-70 Series).
- Making the ice cream: In a large saucepan, mix together the milk and cream. Heat over medium heat, stirring with a whisk often, until barely steaming. Do NOT allow it to boil.
- In a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks with the maple syrup, vanilla extract, peppermint extract, and salt until it lightens in color.
- Once the cream/milk mixture is hot or barely steaming: Start beating the maple syrup mixture again and very slowly pour 1/3 of the steaming cream/milk into the bowl. Beat for a few seconds. Then, while continuing to beat, slowly pour another 1/3 into the bowl. Then, pour everything back into the saucepan and place over LOW heat on the stove. Stir constantly on low heat for 2 minutes. Do NOT let it simmer or boil or the eggs will overcook.
- Strain: Remove from heat and pour the mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a large bowl.
- Let it cool: Let it cool at room temperature for an hour. Then place in the refrigerator for at least 2-3 hours or overnight to fully chill.
For churning:
- Churn it: On the ice cream maker, press Ice Cream and then Start/Stop. Whisk together the ice cream mixture then pour the mixture through the spout and then cover with the cap. Let mix 25-30 minutes until thickened (or according to your ice cream maker).
- Gently melt the chocolate and avocado oil together (either in a double boiler or in 15 second increments in the microwave). In the last few minutes of churning, pour the melted chocolate mixture into the ice cream as it churns – the chocolate will harden and break up throughout the ice cream as it churns.
- To serve: You can serve as soft-serve, or transfer the ice cream to an ice cream container and place in the freezer for 3-5 hours to harden before serving.
Modifications and variations:
- Substitute coconut sugar in place of the maple syrup if that’s what you prefer! Coconut sugar gives more of a “golden” brown sugar flavor, and it makes the ice cream more of a taupe/brown color instead of cream. It’s absolutely delicious! I do find that coconut sugar is slightly less sweet than maple syrup, so you can increase it to 3/4-1 cup if desired!
- For a lighter ice cream, you can use 2 cups heavy cream and 1 1/2 cups whole milk. Keep in mind it won’t be as creamy.
- If you want to omit the egg yolks, then feel free to. Keep in mind that omitting the egg yolks will make the ice cream less creamy and rich.
- Use mini chocolate chips in place of the melted chocolate mixture if desired.
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