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Oh yes – two of my favorite things swirled into one: ice cream + peppermint (with a sprinkle of Christmas cheer for good measure)! Topped with some form of chocolate and maybe some peanut butter because I’m weird cool like that, this Candy Cane Ice Cream is my new favorite treat.
Possible accoutrements:
- Plain Hot Fudge Sauce (Necessary Food, pg. 413)
- Peanut Butter Hot Fudge Topping (Necessary Food, pg. 414)
- Hershey’s Sugar-Free Syrup (level:easy, found at your local grocery store and sweetened mostly with erythritol)
- 5 Ingredient Chocolate Cake (Necessary Food, pg. 262)
- Fudgy Chocolate Brownie Cake (Necessary Food, pg. 266)
- One Bowl Chocolate Cake (Necessary Food, pg. 269)
- Basic Chocolate Layer Cake (Necessary Food, pg. 271)
- Hot Fudge Cake (Necessary Food, pg. 274)
- Briana’s Ultimate Brownies (Necessary Food, pg. 323)
- Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies (Necessary Food, pg. 324)
- Peppermint Ganache Brownies (Necessary Food, pg. 325)
- Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes
And that list was just a reminder that my cookbook, Necessary Food, contains many delicious exclusive recipes and would make an excellent Christmas gift. 😛 Be sure to try a new recipe for Christmas this year! The Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies and Peppermint Ganache Brownies are special favorites of mine.
I’ve been experimenting with various ice cream techniques over the past few months and have been getting some very favorable results by combining certain ingredients and methods of preparation. Everything in this ice cream is there for a reason, so think twice before you substitute. 😉 This Candy Cane Ice Cream is my favorite ice cream recipe to date; even my DAD said it was good, and from the guy who dramatically shivers from the aftertaste every time he takes a bite of something sweetened with an alternative sweetener, that’s saying a lot! (He often enjoys my savory recipes, but he would rather do without sweets than detect any aftertaste.)
This ice cream is good right after churning, but it’s actually meant to be eaten when it’s harder, like a scooped ice cream. If you let it freeze hard in the freezer for a few hours or overnight, it will thaw to a scoopable texture at room temperature in about 10 minutes! The key is to use a shallow container so it thaws faster. The texture is amazing!
You may also enjoy:
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STARTING THM
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recipe index by fuel type/allergy/theme
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Peppermint Ice Cream Sandwiches
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Frosted Peppermint Pie
As always, check out the Notes section of the recipe for extra info. Check out the links in and below the recipe to see the products I use and recommend. Some of the links included in the recipe and blog post are affiliate links, which means that if you make purchases through these links, I make a small commission to help defray the costs of running this blog (at no extra charge to you). Thanks for your help!
Looking for Christmas gifts? Give the gift of health and buy someone a cookbook and 2018 calendar full of healthy recipes from Yours Truly!
- 2 c. half and half
- 2 c. unsweetened almond milk
- 4 egg yolks
- ⅛ tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. glucomannan
- -
- 1 c. heavy whipping cream
- ¼ c. xylitol* (or more, to taste)
- 1 T. vegetable glycerin**
- 1 tsp. each peppermint, vanilla extract
- 3/32 tsp. (3 doonks) THM Pure Stevia Extract Powder
- -
- 5-6 drops red food coloring
- Blend the first set of ingredients until smooth (I use an immersion blender) and cook in a nonstick kettle just until the mixture starts to bubble, whisking often. As soon as it starts to bubble, pull it off the heat.
- Add the cream, sweetener, glycerin, and extracts. Peppermint extracts can vary in strength, so start with less than 1 teaspoon and work your way up, tasting as you go. Blend these ingredients into the ice cream base; I use an immersion blender so I don't have to blend hot liquids in a covered blender. Let the ice cream base cool to room temperature, then refrigerate to chill completely before churning (overnight is great).
- Churn the ice cream in a 1½ - qt. automatic countertop ice cream churn according to manufacturer's directions. Transfer to a shallow sealable container and swirl 5-6 drops of red food coloring into the ice cream with a spatula for a candy cane effect. Freeze to firm up before serving. Ice cream frozen for long periods will freeze hard, but when stored in a shallow container, it thaws to scoopable consistency in about 10 minutes on the kitchen counter!
**I don't recommend omitting the vegetable glycerin either. It helps keep the ice cream from sticking to the ice cream maker and vastly improves the creamy texture of the ice cream. We buy this brand from Amazon.
-Glucomannan brands can vary in strength, so if yours is on the strong side and you think it makes this ice cream slimy or masks too much flavor, feel free to decrease the amount (don't omit). This was the amount that worked best for me; I use Konjac Foods brand glucomannan.
-Feel free to add some crushed sugar-free peppermints or a chocolate ganache swirl to take it over the top! The Plain Hot Fudge Sauce (pg. 413) or Peanut Butter Hot Fudge Topping (pg. 414) from my cookbook would be great toppings.
You can pin this recipe here:
Does this recipe fit in the Cuisine Art ICE21? I made the Basic I’ve Cream last night and it was less base than this recipe and it seemed to fit perfectly.
Yes, that’s the machine I use for pretty much all of my recipes. 🙂 If it looks like too much for your machine, you could always use the extra ice cream base to make a few popsicles.
Briana, finding I can’t eat glucomannan- any suggestions like gelatin Would it just be soft serve without it? Any suggestions would be gratefully received. Thank you!
It won’t be as creamy without the glucomannan and gelatin won’t quite give the same effect, BUT xanthan gum would probably work just fine in its place, if you can use that!
This was perfection! I skipped the food coloring, substituted 1/3 cup of THM Supersweet for the sweeteners, and added half a large bar of 100% bitter chocolate, chopped fine, in the last 5 minutes of churning. We’ve found our new Christmas ice cream. Thank you!
What can you sub for half/half?
I am dairy free but cream doesn’t have lactose so am fine with cream.
Hmm…maybe try replacing it with half nut milk of your choice and half cream? The texture might not be quite as good because of adding nut milk but it should be close. 🙂
Thx! I did that. This was by the creamiest recipe of yours I tried. Almost tasted like cool whip-hubby said..
just super creamy. My other ones also get “icy”
Yay! I’m glad it worked for you! The two cups of heavy cream are likely responsible for the great texture. 😉 I generally try to keep my ice cream recipes on the lighter side, but you can’t beat cream for a winning texture….
I don’t have half and half but I have everything else. Can I sub half and half with almond milk and cream? Also have regular milk if that helps.
Hmm…I think I’d just wait until you can get to the grocery store to buy some half and half. 🙂 You can try improvising but the texture will probably be icier if you add more almond milk. And I’m not sure about the actual makeup of half and half – is it really half cream and half milk? You’re welcome to experiment but I would personally recommend sticking with the half and half.
We don’t have xylitol, would this work with sweet blend or gentle sweet?
They may not have as much of the anti-freezing effect as xylitol does, but feel free to substitute with an equivalent amount of your favorite sweetener (to taste). 🙂 Gentle Sweet would probably be the better option since it has a higher volume of sugar alcohols.
Oh, this is the very ice cream I need to get through the holidays! I don’t have xylitol, but I do have all the thm stevia, the gentle sweet w/o xylitol, and super sweet. I also have Pyrue. I guess I will just experiment with a smaller batch to see what works. Also I only have thm gluccie, so I’ll see what happens.
So excited! (And I have to put my ice cream container in the freezer and wait 24 hours!)
Thanks!
Let me know how it turns out! I would use the least concentrated sweetener you have to replace the xylitol. 🙂 (Just do it to taste.)
I have your cookbook (love it!) and had purchased a used ice cream maker, but it didn’t work well. This recipe has me purchasing a new ice cream maker (through your link), because peppermint ice cream is my favorite memory with my grandparents growing up. I’m so excited to make this!
Making this as I type… this recipe is a little different from the book but I am glad because I do not have cottage cheese…
smell amazing! Briana you are an amazing young woman! Thank you for all the yummy things you make!!! (And share)
This sounds wonderful! As I have all the ingredients, I will be making this today. My only question is, how does your Glucomannan compare to THM’s? I want to avoid the slimy factor and am unsure if I should put in the same amount as directed.
Thank you for all your wonderful recipes–your soups are definitely my favorites!
Hi Clare! I’ve never used THM’s glucomannan, but I’ve heard that it’s stronger than what I use so I would decrease the amount if using THM’s. Maybe use 3/4 of the amount? Actually, for me personally, I would try the full amount just to see what it’s like before decreasing it in subsequent trials, but if you want to stay on the safe side you may want to just do that up front. 🙂
This looks wonderful. I’ve ordered Necessary Foods. I can’t wait to get it. I’m really enjoying THM Table.
Oh, I hope you get lots of good use out of it, Diane!
I am very excited to try this! I just wanted to say Brianna, your photography skills have grown by leaps and bounds! These photos are beautiful!
Thank you so much, Pam!
Sorry I misspelled your name Briana! ♥️
Oh…this makes me sad. I can’t eat xylatol.
As I mentioned in the Notes section of the recipe, you’re welcome to experiment with other options! I would try something that measures like sugar so you have that bulk from the sugar alchohols.