Peppermint Ice Cream | A Family Holiday Tradition

Making peppermint ice cream is a tradition my kids look forward to all year. It started with my sister-in-law, who makes it every year down in Arizona. Since I regrettably can’t go raid her freezer every December, I started making it at home, and my boys caught the magic and ran with it.

In the past, back when I was more ambitious in the kitchen, I’d follow this recipe for a more custard-like vanilla ice cream, and then add the crushed peppermints at the end. Now, though, my time in the kitchen is accompanied by the music of a very big baby opening the fridge and dropping most of its contents onto the floor. I’ve simplified my life out of necessity, so goodbye to the stovetop method. Nobody’s got time for candy thermometers when you’ve got toddlers underfoot!

This is recipe requires a whole three minutes of prep. Perfect.

I hope it’s not too early to be talking about holiday recipes, but this one is fantastic during November and December. Plus, what kid doesn’t LOVE peering into a churning ice cream machine! Good luck keeping little fingers out!

Peppermint Ice Cream

1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cups half and half
2 cups whipping cream
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract (I highly recommend Madagascar vanilla extract!)  
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup crushed peppermint candy, plus a bit more for topping 

Mix the milks. Add in the sugar, salt, and vanilla. Stir until sugar dissolves. Poor into turning ice cream maker. Add crushed candies toward the end.

A couple of tips: Crushing the peppermints is practically the best part, especially with kids! You can use a good blender, but that’s not nearly as fun as sticking the candies in a couple of ziplocks and banging with a blunt object. 🙂

Stick the cartons of milk and a mixing bowl in the freezer for several minutes before you combine them. Then let the ice cream maker turn for as long as you can stand, to get it to set up more. We’re always too impatient and end up pulling it out while it’s still pretty soft. 🙂

Enjoy!

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I’m happy to be participating in Got Milk’s campaign, “Drink to a Brighter Future!” Last week’s post, the peanut butter banana oat smoothie, may be a more normal way to keep your kids drinking milk, but if all else fails, there’s always ice cream, right? (Sounds like a good life mantra…) Whipping this up as a family will definitely make your holiday season a little “brighter.” 🙂

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by ‘Got Milk?’ through their partnership with POPSUGAR. While I was compensated by POPSUGAR to write a post about ‘Got Milk?’, all opinions are my own.

Linked up with Do-Tell Tuesdays.