This mint choc chip ice cream uses fresh garden mint and melt-in-your-mouth chocolate chips for a creamy, minty ice cream that's impossible to resist!
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There are a lot of versions of this mint chocolate chip ice cream around. This is my version and IMO the best of course! I use fresh garden mint, blitzed and infused in cold milk for several hours in the fridge. A lot of recipes briefly immerse the mint in hot milk for under an hour and that's it. In my experience, this doesn't produce an ice cream that tastes minty enough. If I am eating homemade ice cream I want the mint flavor to shine. I want to leave in no doubt its mint ice cream I'm eating but at the same time not whacking my tastebuds so hard with mint esters they can't taste the chocolate chips.
This brings me to the second part of this fabulous green mint ice cream, the chocolate chips. Chocolate chips were invented by Ruth Wakefield, specifically so that they would not melt when baking. Excellent for chocolate chip cookies, but not so good when frozen in ice cream. A lot of chocolate can take on an unpleasant waxy taste when frozen into ice cream. The very thing that makes chocolate chips great for cookies makes them bad for ice cream. The solution is to lower the melting point of your chocolate chips by mixing melted chocolate with refined coconut oil, then allowing it to set before breaking it back up into chips. More work, yes. Worth it in my opinion? Definitely. You can of course skip this setup and just add your whole chocolate chips to the mint ice cream.
In the mood for more delectable ice creams? Check out my full collection of Cuisinart ice cream maker recipes (that work well in other brands ice cream makers too!).
🥘 Ingredients and substitutions
Mint - I use garden mint, sometimes also called cottage mint, spearmint or common mint. You could experiment with different types of mint such as peppermint, or apple mint, or go all out with chocolate mint or even Vietnamese mint (which is not a true mint of course)!
Cream - in Australia I use thickened cream. The key thing is it needs to have a fat content of around 35%.
Milk - gotta be the full cream stuff, so around 4% fat. Anything less is going to make your ice cream icy.
Tapioca starch - also known as arrowroot powder. This helps thicken and stabilize the ice cream and stops it from becoming as icy in the freezer. You can substitute with corn starch, but corn starch doesn't survive freezing as well.
Chocolate - I use traditional dark chocolate chips here and I add coconut oil too. You can skip this step and add the chocolate chips straight into the nearly churned ice cream. You can also use a different chocolate, either a bar cut up into small pieces or a crumbled-up dark Flake bar. Remember anything other than dark chocolate will be sweeter and give overall sweeter ice cream.
Optional extras
Glucose syrup - also called confectioner's glucose. It's available from some supermarkets or specialty baking stores. A small amount of glucose syrup helps lower the freezer point of ice cream and improves the texture and scoopability of the ice cream. If you can't get glucose syrup you can substitute it with the same amount of light corn syrup or powdered dextrose, commonly available from brewing. Do not add too much or your ice cream will melt in a red-hot minute!
Refined coconut oil - sometimes also called expeller-pressed coconut oil. Using refined coconut oil is important because the refining process removed the coconut flavor and smell, resulting in neutral oil. Unrefined coconut oil has a much stronger coconut taste a smell. I love a good coconut ice cream, but in this case, it will overwhelm the delicate mint flavor we're trying so hard to preserve. Best to stick to the refined coconut oil this time.
🔪 How to make the mint choc chip ice cream
Wash the mint well. Roughly break them up or chop and add them to the chopping bowl of an immersion blender or food processor with the milk. Blend well. Transfer to a covered container and chill in the fridge for at least four hours, ideally overnight. While the mint is immersing make the rest of the base.
Add the tapioca starch and a few tablespoons of cream to a small bowl and mix well to form a slurry.
Add the cream, sugar and glucose syrup if using to a small pot. Heat on medium until the mix just starts to bubble then turn it down to low, stirring well until the sugars dissolve. Add tapioca starch slurry and mix well. Remove from heat and chill well in the fridge for at least four hours, ideally overnight. While the mix is chilling make chocolate chips if doing so.
How to make the chocolate chips
Line a tray with greaseproof paper. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl in the microwave or a double boiler. Add coconut oil and mix well. Spread chocolate out thinly on greaseproof paper and allow to set. Break up into small chocolate chip-sized pieces and set aside until needed.
Hot tip: you can skip this step if you prefer, and just add the whole chocolate chips to the ice cream towards the end of churning.
How to assemble the ice cream
Strain the mint milk mix, pressing down on the mint to extract as much minty milk as possible. Add mint milk to the rest of the ice cream base and mix well. You can add a few drops of green food color at this stage to pump up the mint color if you want.
Put your ice cream storage container in the freezer to chill. If using a self-churning machine, turn it on about ten minutes before you churn your ice cream. Otherwise take the churning bowl out of the freezer right before churning.
Churn the ice cream. Just before the ice cream is done churning and while it is still flowing in the machine add the chocolate chips. It will be the consistency of soft serve when done.
Transfer to a chilled storage container and freeze overnight until firm.
🥣 How to serve
Remove from freezer, scoop and enjoy! Its fabulous on its own, or sundae style with some whipped cream, a drizzle of chocolate sauce and some lolly mint leaves. Delicious!
Looking for more fresh flavors? Why not make my easy matcha ice cream or lemon ice team popsicles.
Have you made this recipe? Tell me how it went in the comments below and tag me on instagram or Facebook so I can see your delicious creations! #KCAEIC
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📋 Recipe
Mint choc chip ice cream
Equipment
- ice cream churner
- immersion blender
- chopping bowl attachment for immersion blender or food processor
Ingredients
- 2 cups (500ml) thickened cream
- ¾ cup (185ml) full cream milk
- ½ cup (110 gms) white sugar
- ½ flat tablespoon (15gms) glucose syrup
- 1 bunch (1 cup or 45gms) garden mint
- 2 flat teaspoons (5 gms total) tapioca starch *also called arrowroot
- ¾ cup (140gms) dark chocolate or chocolate chips
- 2 flat teaspoons (8gms) refined coconut oil
- several drops green food colour
Instructions
- Wash the mint.
- Roughly chop into a couple of sections, then add to the chopping bowl of an immersion blender with milk. Blend well. Cover and refrigerate for at least four hours, ideally overnight.
- In a small bowl add tapioca starch and tablespoon or two of cream and mix well, enough to form a smooth slurry.
- Add cream, sugar and glucose syrup if using to a small pot. Heat on a medium heat until mix just starts to bubble, then turn down low and still until all sugar dissolves. All cream and tapioca starch slurry and mix in well. Remove from heat and chill for at least four hours, ideally overnight.
- If you want less waxy, more melt in your mouth chocolate chips follow the chocolate chip instructions below, otherwise continue on.
- Strain mint and milk mix, pressing down on the mint to get all the flavoured milk out. Discard mint and add flavoured milk to chilled cream mix. Mix in well. If you want a brighter green you can add a few drops of green food colour at this stage.
- Put your ice cream storage container in the freezer to chill.
- If using a self churning machine turn it on about ten minutes before churning the ice cream, otherwise take the bowl out of the freezer immediately before churning.
- Towards the end of churning when the ice cream is thick but still flowing, add chocolate chips.
- Once ice cream is churned it will be the consistency of soft serve. Transfer to chilled container and freeze until firm
- Scoop and enjoy!
More melty, less waxy chocolate chips
- Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper
- Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl, either in the microwave on 30 second bursts or in a double boiler. Add coconut oil and mix well.
- Spread chocolate out thinly on greaseproof paper with a heatproof spatular.
- Allow to set then break up into small chip sized pieces.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate based on an online database. The nutritional content of ingredients may vary by brand. If you require accurate nutritional information, you should calculate this based on the specific brands and products you are using.
Alexandra says
mint and chocolate - a combination I love very much! This looks very delicious!
Sylvie says
I had never tried choc chip mint ice cream until a few years ago but its now one of my favourite! Cant wait to try to make some at home this summer
Robyn says
This was my favourite ice cream flavour as a kid but Ive never recreated it as didn't want to use peppermint essence. Thankyou for sharing a recipe with fresh mint so now I can make it for my son!
Jaimie says
Mint choc chip is my FAVOURITE ice cream in the world but I've never tried to make it myself. I love that you've used real mint - I can't wait to give this a go without that artificial flavour essence brings. Thank you so much for sharing... bring on summer!
Scarlet says
This mint chocolate chip ice cream sounds absolutely wonderful. I am pinning it to try soon!
Lee-Ann says
Hi Sarah! Mint choc chip brings back childhood memories for me, but never as fancy as making your own choc chips! Very impressive!
Sarah Brooks says
Hi Lee-Ann, thank-you! You can use regular choc chips to if you want, it'll still taste good 🙂
Archana says
Wow I need to try this delicious mint chocohip ice cream! Not that I am a vegan or anything just because it is amazing.
Shilpi & Etienne says
Ooooh! Mint-choco chip ice cream is my favourite!!! We don't have an ice cream churner otherwise would have loved to give this recipe a go! Definitely an appliance worth considering since summer will be soon here!