This festive peppermint candy cane ice cream will no doubt put you in the holiday spirit! Homemade ice cream is blended with crushed peppermint candy canes for a delicious peppermint-y treat!
Mint chocolate chip is my number one favorite ice cream. Always has been and always will be.
However this peppermint candy cane ice cream is numero uno during the holidays.
I mean this ice cream is just so pretty! A pale pink with a little specks of red and white throughout. And tastes slightly vanilla-y until the peppermint swoops in and takes over. And let’s not forget the little pieces of peppermint candy cane for crunch.
Last weekend was another girls weekend, Pat took our dog Seamus and went up to the cabin to hunt. Haileigh, Malloree and I resumed our Friends binging and also caught up on This Is Us… and it carried over to the next day when we watched A Christmas Carol and The Holiday and more Friends episodes.
We finished the peppermint candy can ice cream by Monday. Oops.
Don’t worry, I made more. 😀
The ingredients are simple; 2 cups heavy whipping cream, 2 cups half & half, vanilla, sea salt and peppermint candy canes.
First, start by adding a cup of sugar to a large bowl. Pour in the heavy cream and half & half.
Then add in the vanilla extract and sea salt.
Side note: my sea salt is a little brown because it’s smoked sea salt. That’s all I had and I couldn’t even tell. Just in case you were wondering. 🙂
Now just whisk until the sugar and sea salt is completely dissolved. Then cover tightly and let it chill in the fridge for 1 to 2 hours.
Then pour the ice cream base into your ice cream maker and blend until thick and creamy, following your manufacturer’s directions. I have a Kitchen Aid attachment [affiliate] and using it, it takes about 15 to 20 minutes on the lowest speed.
Boom.
Lastly, stir in a 1/2 cup of crushed peppermint candy canes, saving the remaining crushed pieces to sprinkle over the top before serving, that is if you want more. Which um hello? Who wouldn’t?
Lastly pour the ice cream into a freezer safe container and freeze over night. I use my loaf pan [affiliate] and it works like a charm.
Right before serving, I sprinkle some of the remaining crushed candy canes on top and scoope and serve.
Luxuriously creamy and so much BETTER than store bought.
Oooh! I just had a thought. How delicious would a warm, just out-of-the-oven brownie with a scoop (or two) of this peppermint candy cane ice cream on top? Heavenly right?
I’m so doing it.
Enjoy!
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Peppermint Candy Cane Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 2 cups half & half, see notes
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 pinch sea salt
- 1/2 cup crushed peppermint candy canes, plus more for serving
Equipment
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, heavy cream, half & half and the vanilla and salt until the sugar is dissolved completely.
- Cover and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours.
- Once chilled, pour the ice cream base into your ice cream maker and blend until thick following the manufacturer's instructions.
- Stir in the 1/2 cup of crushed peppermint candy canes, by hand and using a rubber spatula to mix. Transfer ice cream to a freezer-safe container and freeze for 4 hours or overnight.
- Serve with extra crushed candy canes over top, if desired.
Notes
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Our family has always had peppermint ice-cream as a Christmas tradition. I have always used sweetened condensed milk in the recipe. I’m going to switch to your recipe. 🙂
L
Hi Loril! I love your Christmas tradition! Enjoy!
This recipe is awesome! I made it for my kids and they love it.
I’m so happy to hear it! Thanks for taking the time to make the recipe and leave a comment!
Fantastic Candy Cane Ice Cream!
I just got an ice-cream maker, and I’m going to try that. Nice article.
Enjoy, George!
Quick question, is it 2 candy canes or 1/2 cup? When I crushed 2 fill size vast candy canes it only made less than a quarter cup.
I’m not sure why it only reads 2 in the recipe card. I’ve updated it to reflect the accurate amount. Thanks for kindly pointing that out, Sharyn!
This recipe has become a family tradition on Christmas Eve. It is absolutely delicious, we agree it’s better than store bought, plus the color is the most delightful pink if you throw your candy canes in too early. Love it, thank you for sharing!
First off, I love all things peppermint. Second off, I made it your way and then decided to amp up the peppermint flavor by adding 1/4 tsp of peppermint flavoring. *chefs kiss*.
Lastly, I’m not a huge fan of eggy ice creams so this is my go to base for all my ice creams. Thanks for posting it!
Okay, I’m late as all get out to this game, but since I have stolen/borrowed your recipe (but given attribution). I have to tell you that I am pushing 80 and my grandmother always made certain to have peppermint chip ice cream on hand when I was a kid… that and Blue Moon from the Park Dairy in Ludington, MI. I am in a small town in the Midwest and not one single store in my area carries peppermint chip ice cream. Sure, that green chocolate chip abortion is carried by many “Dairies” but no pepper mint chip. So, I’ll be making your version for my grandchildren, so I can show them the proper way to make “Christmas Ice Cream Sandwiches”. I was on a volunteer project several years back and we were all confined to the lodging provided, due to the nature of the project, so morning and evening meals were taken together with meals prepared by each of us taking turns. One night , was declared “dessert night” and each of us -except the day’s cook- provided a dessert to be shared. I made a Key Lime Pie (using some Nellie & Joe’s Key Lime Juice I’d brought from home and also had some 5″ soft chocolate chip cookies. We had quite an array of desserts, but one of our crew had brought in peppermint chip ice cream, so I ran to my “cookie stash, grabbed a bag of chocolate chip cookies, added a scoop of that ice cream to one and ‘smooshed’ it down with another one and pronounced it to be the king of all ice cream sandwiches. So… perhaps some of your fans will want to try this, or maybe not. Anyway, thank you for the recipe!
Hi Laurie
Can we make this ice cream no churn?