Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Recipe (No Churn) - One Sweet Appetite (2024)

FAQs

What kind of mint is in mint chocolate chip ice cream? ›

Mint chocolate chip is an ice cream flavor composed of mint ice cream with small chocolate chips. In some cases the liqueur crème de menthe is used to provide the mint flavor, but in most cases peppermint or spearmint flavoring is used.

Most fresh mint sold in grocery stores is spearmint, but you can also use peppermint in this ice cream recipe. In fact, many mint ice creams are made with peppermint rather than spearmint. Just keep in mind that since peppermint has a higher menthol content, you'll want to use a bit less of it.

As it turns out, most premium mint chocolate-chip ice creams are white, not minty green. And those that are green use natural colors to achieve that hue. The best are made from top-quality dairy, specialty chocolate and mint extract.

The mint touches the lighter side of your pallet, while the chocolate provides a full-bodied texture with a sweet and bitter combination to create a delectable flavor many people love.

Mint extract is a mixture of spearmint and peppermint, whereas peppermint extract is just that. Whether you prefer the subtle flavor of spearmint or the in-your-face flavor of peppermint, we have a recipe to suit your taste.

However, there are some key differences between them. Menthol: Both spearmint and peppermint contain menthol, but spearmint has 0.5 percent menthol while peppermint has forty percent menthol, giving peppermint its signature numbing flavor. Taste: Spearmint has a subtler, lighter flavor, vaguely sweet flavor.

While peppermint's menthol content is a whopping 40 per cent, spearmint contains just 0.5 per cent. Therefore peppermint is especially pungent and even spicy, hence the 'pepper' in its name. Spearmint, on the other hand, contains a compound called carvone, which gives it a much subtler, sweeter flavour.

Because of the difference in menthol concentration, they are not ideal substitutes for one another despite having similar properties. As a result, spearmint is more commonly used in sweet and savory applications, while peppermint is more often found in sweet desserts, especially around the holidays.

Use spearmint for all of our recipes that call for mint as a fresh herb. If you see the word “peppermint” in a test-kitchen recipe, it refers to either peppermint extract or candies for baking—and not the fresh herb.

In the chocolate chip category, the clear winner was Häagen-Dazs Vanilla Chocolate Chip.

What type of people like mint chocolate chip ice cream? ›

The average demographic of those who love mint chocolate chip “is a middle-age white female living in the northeast in a domestic partnership earning over $80K,” per The Guardian.

Ice cream can take on a grainy texture if it melts and then refreezes. When this happens, the small ice crystals melt, refreeze, and form large ice crystals. Large ice crystals can also form because of evaporation when moisture is lost and then recrystallizes inside the container.

Mint chocolate chip and butter pecan challenge vanilla and chocolate for favorite flavor (9% and 8%, respectively) even though neither is liked by more than 35% of Americans.

A fun fact – mint chocolate chip ice cream was invented in 1973 by culinary student Marilyn Ricketts while studying at South Devon College in England. She entered a competition to provide an ice cream dessert for Princess Anne's wedding to Captain Mark Phillips at Westminster Abby.

In 2020, YouGov surveyed almost 20,000 Americans to determine the most popular ice cream flavors. Behind chocolate and vanilla, mint chocolate chip ice cream tied for third, along with strawberry, butter pecan, and "other." It's safe to say, we the people love our mint chip.

What Kind of Mint To Use. Plain mint extract uses spearmint, which is much milder than peppermint. Peppermint extract contains significantly more menthol, which gives it a more intense flavor. For this reason, mint chocolate chip ice cream is traditionally made with plain mint extract.

Cream, Skim Milk, Milk, Sugar, Coconut Oil, Cocoa (processed with alkali), Peanut Oil, Pasteurized Egg Yolks, Cocoa, Natural Peppermint Flavor, Natural Flavor, Tara Gum, Guar Gum, Soy Lecithin .

Fresh spearmint is used more frequently in cooking, because it does not contain menthol, the oil that produces that distinctive “cooling” sensation (peppermint contains menthol in abundance). In general, look for fresh mint with perky leaves and stems, with no black or dried spots or wilted parts.

Green Mint Chip - Hershey's® Ice Cream.