Delicious Low-Sugar Chocolate Mint Ice Cream

Some might consider ice cream an odd dessert to make in the middle of winter, but the kids and I always enjoy this cold and delicious treat. I usually eat my ice cream as a bedtime snack; the kids usually eat their ice cream right away after breakfast, before they brush their teeth.

I like to make my desserts as low-sugar as possible, while still retaining the right texture and flavor. You can reduce the sugar in most recipes by at least half–and sometimes more! I’ve noticed over the years that you cannot reduce the sugar in blondies, cakes, caramels, or frostings. Sometimes when I reduce the sugar in recipes, I add more of something else that will improve the flavor. I replace some of the sugar with coconut when I make No-Bake Oatmeal cookies, and I add cinnamon to no-sugar pancakes. In the following recipe, the vanilla and mint add some flavor to the ice cream that might have been lost otherwise. Using brown sugar instead of white sugar also improves the flavor. The dark chocolate bar adds texture and crunch. I like to top my ice cream with whipped cream and walnuts.

Delicious Low-Sugar Chocolate Mint Ice Cream

Ingredients:

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cups milk (we use 1%)
1 1/2 cups half and half
2 cups heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons mint extract*
Dark chocolate bars, broken into pieces**

Directions:

First, mix together in a large bowl the cocoa powder and brown sugar. (I use a wire whisk). Add the milk and whisk with the sugar and cocoa powder until the sugar dissolves. The cocoa powder will form into little balls–just keep mixing, and they’ll disappear.

Then, add the half and half, heavy cream, vanilla and mint. Whisk until you incorporate the ingredients. Make the ice cream according to the directions on your ice cream maker. (We use this model. Note: no one is paying me to promote this model.) Most ice cream makers recommend adding any additives, like the dark chocolate bar, at the end of the mixing cycle. This prevents them from falling to the bottom. I keep my ice cream in the ice cream maker for about 25 minutes.

Finally, you can eat your ice cream right out of the ice cream maker for soft-serve, or freeze for at least a couple hours to eat later. Enjoy!

If you make this recipe, will you let me know in the comments?

*I like to use mint extract because it contains both spearmint and peppermint. You can use peppermint extract, too–it just depends on which flavor you like better. Coconut extract is a fun variation.

**You can decide how much extra chocolate you’d like in your ice cream. I add about 1/2 cup broken into fairly large pieces (about the size of two chocolate chips). You can be creative with this part of the recipe, too. White chocolate could be tasty. You can make your ice cream extra minty by adding crushed up candy canes instead of chocolate.