Homemade Peppermint Ice Cream is some of the creamiest ice cream I have ever made and for the record, it is worlds away from the mint-flavored ice creams you can find in a store.
Pure peppermint deliciousness from start to finish without even a hint of a chemical or mass-produced flavor.
Peppermint Ice Cream is surprisingly light, sweet, and minty. I think I dipped a spoon into the freezer container about 15 times the first time I made this and I’m not even a huge fan of peppermint!
This is a spectacular combination of winter flavors and summer refreshment. I’ve been making this ice cream year-round for over ten years now.
Peppermint Ice Cream
I’m trying, I really am, but there aren’t even words to describe how fantastic this ice cream is. It’s incredibly creamy and loaded with peppermint candy cane flavor.
If you hang out with me on Instagram, you may remember that this ice cream blew my mind the first time I made it. I’m still so impressed with this ice cream, I’ve made countless batches just to share my excitement with friends.
The most popular question I get is whether it’s possible to make ice cream without a machine. The answer is YES. You can make ice cream without a machine. Find the full directions here!
Peppermint Ice Cream Recipe
- Place the candy and milk in a food processor or blender and pulse until the candy is broken down and mostly dissolved into the milk.
- Whisk together the cream, sugar, vanilla, peppermint extract, and salt. Pour into your ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
- Serve immediately for soft serve ice cream or transfer to an airtight container and freeze until firm.
Cooking Tip: Learn from my mistake and be careful to use PURE Peppermint Extract, read the ingredients, and make sure you have only peppermint in the extract.
I accidentally bought a Pure “Mint” Extract once and it wound up being a blend of spearmint and peppermint. Lovely fragrance, but unfortunately, it left my chocolate bark tasting like a pack of chewing gum.
With over 70 ice cream recipes here to choose from, there’s sure to be an ice cream for everyone! If you’re new to making ice cream, the best and easiest vanilla ice cream is a great place to start.
These are my favorite inexpensive containers for storing ice cream. They’re perfect for gifting (who doesn’t love homemade ice cream?) storage, re-using, etc. I write the flavors on the lids with a sharpie and it washes off with dish soap.
I have more ice cream scoops than I can keep track of at this point and I definitely play favorites. This ice cream scoop does the best job ever of cutting through firm ice cream and still delivers a pretty scoop. It gets bonus points for being one of the least expensive scoops I own as well.
Don’t miss our Ice Cream Maker Review for all the information you need to find the BEST Ice Cream Maker for your needs! Spoiler alert – our top-rated machine under $50 just might surprise you. It sure surprised me!
Peppermint Stick Ice Cream
Creamy candy cane ice cream sprinkled throughout with candy cane pieces is perfect with a brownie or topped with chocolate.
Peppermint mocha ice cream is another great way to enjoy your favorite Christmas flavors in a cold and creamy bowl of ice cream. As evidenced by the different variations of peppermint ice cream, we love peppermint in many different combinations.
Creamy dark chocolate peppermint fudge is topped with crushed candy canes for a wonderful Christmas treat. For a showstopper of a dessert, this is an intense chocolate cake with a hint of peppermint flavor in each bite. Drizzled with a light peppermint glaze and sprinkled with crushed candy canes, I love how festive this chocolate candy cane cake looks with barely any effort.
Peppermint Ice Cream
Ingredients
- ¾ cup very finely crushed candy canes about 30 Starlight candies or miniature candy canes, alternatively 6 full size candy canes
- 1½ cups milk
- 1½ cups heavy cream
- ⅔ cups sugar
- 1-3 teaspoons vanilla extract (adjust to taste)
- ¾ teaspoons peppermint extract
- ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
- Optional: additional crushed candy canes for topping
Instructions
- Place the candy and milk in a food processor or blender and pulse until the candy is broken down and mostly dissolved into the milk.
- Whisk together the cream, sugar, vanilla, peppermint extract, and salt. Pour into your ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer's instructions.
- Serve immediately for soft serve ice cream or transfer to an airtight container and freeze until firm.
Notes
Nutrition
{originally published 12/10/14 – recipe notes and photos updated 2/3/23}
Sue/the view from great island says
This would be incredible on a brownie or a slice of flourless chocolate cake!
Lita says
I can't wait for Christmas and peppermint anything, but this tops the list. Sounds yummy and it is so pretty. Hope you can share it at Holiday Best with Tumbleweed Contessa because it is one of the best desserts yet!
Amanda says
This looks delicious and it's so pretty!!!
Anonymous says
I favorite in our family for birthdays! We also make it in my preschool class for the letter "I".
Liz says
What kind of milk? 2%, whole?
Mary says
I use whole milk.
Lisa says
This recipe doesn’t need eggs?
Mary says
No eggs are needed. Enjoy!
Heather says
Does this recipe make 2 quarts? I want to buy a cuisinart 2 quart ice cream gelato and sorbet
maker and this recipe has to make two quarts
Of ice cream in order for me to make this.
Please let me know by e-mailing me soon
at the email address I will be listing below this comment box .
Karen says
I didn’t have any candy canes on hand, so I upped the peppermint extract to 1 .5 tsp and it turned out so delicious!
Erin Chase says
How much does this make my mother and me would like to know can you please give me a hand?
Julie says
How much does this recipe make? 1 quart? 2 quarts? Thanks!
Dennis says
Wow! That’s some delicious ice cream.
This is better than the store bought that only comes around during Christmas time.
Beth says
I tried this recipe with my Kitchen aid mixer and it never froze? I didn’t have heavy cream so I used whipping cream. The liquid turned dark pink, not light like yours… The liquid was delicious, it just didn’t freeze…
Mary says
I’ve never used the frozen bowl on the Kitchenaid mixer, so I can’t speak to how well that would work. The whipping cream vs heavy cream shouldn’t have affected it that much. It still should’ve thickened nicely.
Stacie says
Mine didn’t freeze either. I use 2% milk but nothing else was different.
Melissa says
I made this for my family’s Christmas dessert, and it was a smashing success! Followed the directions and made it in my ice cream maker one day in advance. Come Christmas evening, the ice cream was a perfect consistency — smooth and easy to scoop — and tasted light and pepperminty. I love that it was not a heavy custard base. I’ll be visiting your site again for these lovely non-custard ice creams!!
Ann Marie says
Just made this for Christmas today and it was delicious! It froze up just fine in my ice cream maker. My kiddo REALLY enjoyed it! He says he loves it better than Braum’s peppermint ice cream.
Mark Dossey says
Just made last night for Christmas dinner today… never froze… it tasted great but never got firm. It was a bummer