This Peppermint Chocolate Chip Nice Cream is sweet and creamy with a hint of peppermint and lots of chocolate pieces. Perfect for a cool homemade frozen treat anytime, plus it’s dairy free and allergy friendly!
Now that the summer heat has been cranked up to high, we’ve been bringing out all the frozen treats and desserts!
Although honestly we love popsicles, nice cream, and ice cream all year round (not just summer).
Whether you’re cooling off in the summer heat or you want to make a healthier sweet treat for any other time of year, our Peppermint Chocolate Chip Nice Cream is the way to go!
This Peppermint Chocolate Chip Nice Cream is even a really cool treat (pun intended 😉 ) for Saint Patrick’s Day since it’s a really lovely green color if you decide to add green coloring.
We also have a recipe for banana-based chocolate nice cream that’s just like a Wendy’s frosty! So good, especially if you can’t have those Frosty’s due to allergies 🙂
This recipe was originally created by Kirsten Burrows who used to blog at Treat Yourself Sweeter. This recipe has found a new home here and we’ve re-written the post, but here’s a memory that Kirsten shared with her recipe:
Ice cream is not just a summer thing and in fact I think it tastes best on hot apple pie, but I have fond memories of when I was a kid we would ride our bike while Mum walked with us up to the local ice creamery. We would scan their 101 flavors so carefully and always end up choosing the same, slowly walk home with the chirp of the crickets and the sun setting behind the hills…. ahhhhh. Love a good memory!
Kirsten, original creator of this recipe
Allergy notes:
- Top 8 allergen free
- Vegan
How to make peppermint chocolate chip nice cream
This mint nice cream recipe is crazy easy and made with just a couple steps. You’ll want a good blender (we have this Ninja blender that works pretty good) and bananas that you’ve already frozen ahead of time.
You’ll just add your frozen bananas to the blender with some canned coconut milk (add as much as needed to make it blendable), food coloring, and peppermint extract.
Blend it until it’s smooth, then stir in the chopped chocolate or just add the chopped chocolate on top. Scoop it out into ice cream cones or bowls!
Originally this recipe was made with regular food coloring, but we like to use the McCormick natural food coloring powders now. If you’re using food color powders, you’ll want to use a little bit of blue and a little bit of yellow and adjust the amounts until you get the color you like.
I always remind people to start with a tiny bit of food color powder first! You can always add more, but you can’t take it out once it’s in there.
For frozen bananas, you can either slice them before freezing or slice them after they’re frozen. But I’ve found that frozen bananas are still easy to slice once they are frozen, so I like to freeze them whole so it’s easier to see how many whole bananas I’m using, then slice them after they are frozen.
What is nice cream?
“Nice cream” is a term used to describe dairy free “ice cream” type desserts (or any ice cream that is made without animal products).
Technically “ice cream” type products that aren’t made with real dairy ingredients can’t be called “ice cream” per the FDA. But since we’re not packaging and selling our stuff, I don’t split hairs about what we call those recipes on our blog.
So whether it’s called nice cream, dairy free ice cream, or banana ice cream, I’m happy with any of those 🙂
Nice cream is typically made with frozen bananas, but I’ve seen some of them that are made with cashews.
I’m not sure that there is an “official” definition of what nice cream is supposed to be made out of, but it is supposed to be vegan (cruelty free, hence the word “nice”) and not made with animal products.
We’re not vegans, but my kids and I all have dairy allergies and my daughter has tree nut allergies, so we make our ice cream (or nice cream!) out of coconut milk, frozen fruit, or frozen bananas, like with this recipe 🙂
Check out our other dairy free frozen treat recipes!
- Dark Chocolate Fudgesicles
- Pomegranate Chia Popsicles
- Chocolate Cookies n Cream Ice Cream (DF GF)
- Pineapple Popsicles
- Strawberry Mango Popsicles
- Peppermint Chocolate Chip Nice Cream
- Homemade Mocha Ice Cream
- Chocolate Nice Cream
Peppermint Chocolate Chip Nice Cream
Ingredients
- 4 large bananas sliced and frozen
- 2-4 drops of peppermint extract to taste
- natural green food coloring optional – I like using natural food color powders*
- ¼ – ½ cup dark chocolate chips
- ¼ cup coconut milk, as needed
Instructions
- Peel and slice the bananas and freeze until hard (at least a couple of hours)
- Once the bananas are frozen, place in a food processor with peppermint essence and natural food coloring.
- If needed, you can add a little bit of coconut milk to help it blend easier
- Blend until smooth and a soft serve consistency.
- Add chocolate chips and stir gently to combine.
- Serve immediately or you can refreeze.
Notes
Nutrition
Sarah Jane Parker is the founder, recipe creator, and photographer behind The Fit Cookie. She’s a food allergy mom and healthy living blogger based in Wyoming. Sarah is also an ACSM Certified Personal Trainer, ACE Certified Health Coach, Revolution Running certified running coach, and an ACE Certified Fitness Nutrition Specialist
Love it! I love ice creams! Made this today and while the taste is pretty good, it is not nearly as green as the picture and is very “frosty” in texture. I added probably 5-6 drops of green food coloring and no luck on the color. I used a food processor since I don’t have a blender or Vitamix, it was creamy before I put it in the freezer. Any tips?.
Hi! I’m not quite sure what you mean by frosty in texture, but for the coloring you’ll just need to add as much food coloring until you get the color you like. It won’t affect the flavor or texture at all if there is no food coloring this recipe, it’s a personal preference. 🙂 If you’re working with frozen bananas, it will end up being creamy like soft serve before you put it in the freezer. You can eat it that way, too, if you prefer. That’s how I like to eat it, right after blending it and skipping the freezer.
Thanks for sharing! Does it keep long?
Hi Vanessa, it will keep for about 2-3 days
Can you taste the banana?
I personally don’t think so since there’s mint in here, but someone who really dislikes bananas might taste it a bit.
This looks so good! Does the peppermint flavor clash with the banana at all?
Hi Suzanne, nope it doesn’t clash at all! You won’t taste the banana a whole lot