Easy Peppermint Stick Ice Cream
Looking for a naturally-sweet treat for an upcoming holiday gathering? With the success of our “natural” hot chocolate, we’ve been playing around with other naturally sweetened holiday treats. We were excited to find that honey works just as well as a sweetener for ice cream as it does in hot chocolate!
(Admittedly, there is a bit of sugar in the candy cane bits, but we couldn’t resist them for their festive look! Maybe some readers know of a source of natural candy canes?)
Surprisingly, honey does a great job sweetening this ice cream, without adding that distinctive honey taste.
Another good thing? Since this recipe is made only with coconut milk, it’s a breeze to throw together. Instead of having to cook a custard over the stove like a typical ice cream, you only need to mix up the coconut milk with the honey, and freeze.
While the coconut milk base tastes slightly different than a cream-based ice cream, it turned out surprisingly creamy, with a texture very similar to traditional ice cream. And it was just as satisfying – with less work (and a dairy-free dessert option, for those of you looking for one!).
It’s so easy, we’re already dreaming up new flavors to throw together. Give it a try for a holiday gathering – or use it as a base for your favorite flavor!
Easy Peppermint Stick Ice Cream
Inspired by The Nourishing Gourmet
What You Need
2 14-ounce cans full fat coconut milk
1/3 to 1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons peppermint extract
Candy canes or peppermint sticks – enough to make 1/2 cup crushed
What To Do
1 In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 cans coconut milk, 1/3 to 1/2 cup honey (depending on how sweet you’d like your ice cream), 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 2 teaspoons peppermint extract.
2 Freeze the mixture in an ice cream maker. Or, make it without the machine.
3 Meanwhile, crush the candy canes to yield 1/2 cups crushed (we crushed them with a rolling pin in cheesecloth). Add to the ice cream maker in the last 30 seconds or so.
You can eat the ice cream right away, or freeze it for a few hours for a harder texture. Enjoy!
Tags: Coconut Milk, Dariy-Free, Dessert, Easy, Entertaining, Gluten-Free, Holidays, Honey, Ice Cream, Mint, Peppermint, Vegan, Vegetarian, Winter
10 Comments
Jade
21 Dec 2011 10:12 am
Whole foods sometimes carries more natural candy canes- its still a sugar candy, so they aren’t too wholesome (they’re isn’t a whole lot you can do about that with hard sugar candies), but they don’t have artificial dyes.
Lisa
21 Dec 2011 12:12 pm
That looks so pretty in your green sherbet dish! I just about taste the peppermint ~ yum!
Merry Christmas to you both. Lisa in Indy
Mary
22 Dec 2011 09:12 am
The ice cream looks wonderful and is perfect for the season. This is my first visit to your blog, so I decided to take some time to browse through your earlier posts. I’m so glad I did that. I really like the food and recipes you share with your readers and I’ll definitely be back. I hope you have a great day. Blessings…Mary
Tiffany {A Clove of Garlic}
22 Dec 2011 11:12 pm
It sounds great. How different is the taste than regular ice cream? I can understand the texture being different (as you mentioned) but I cannot think of what the taste would be like… (other than delicious).
Nicole Krajewski
24 Dec 2011 01:12 pm
I’m trying this for Christmas day! We ‘won’ an ancient ice cream-maker at a white elephant party!… perfect timing. ( Do I need rock salt for the ice-cream maker, or do I not need to churn it?) Nicole K. in SoBro
Alex
24 Dec 2011 02:12 pm (@)
Fun! Our ice cream maker doesn't use rock salt, but if yours is old then it might need it. You do need to churn it. Merry Christmas!
NATALIE
29 Dec 2011 09:12 pm
This looks so delicious!
nicole krajewski
30 Dec 2011 10:12 am
The peppermint ice cream was a big hit at my Christmas gathering! I made another batch the next night because we had another dinner party. I left out the peppermint oil and peppermints. Instead, I added an additional 1/2 tsp of vanilla and about 3 cups of sliced strawberries….. delicious! Thanks for the recipe and inspiration!
Irene
06 Apr 2012 11:04 pm
Question: when making sans ice-cream maker, when do you put the peppermint sticks in? Thinking of serving with chocolate fondue (with peeps for dipping) tomorrow night!
Sonja
07 Apr 2012 09:04 am
Sounds wonderful! We've never tried to make ice cream without a maker. I would think you could use them as a topping or mix in at the end, or leave them out altogether (the extract has a lot of flavor!)
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