Name: Vegan Mint Choc Chip Ice Cream
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Ingredients: 150 g (1 cup) unroasted cashews; 25 g (¼ cup) porridge oats (rolled oats); 800 ml (3 ⅓ cups) unsweetened non-dairy milk (soy is best); 160 g (¾ cup) caster or granulated sugar; ⅛ teaspoon xanthan gum (optional); 1-2 teaspoons peppermint extract (to taste); ¼ teaspoon salt; 2 Tablespoons vodka ((optional)); a few drops green food colouring ((optional)); 140 g dark or milk vegan chocolate (chopped)

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Vegan mint choc chip ice cream - this amazing ice cream is super smooth and creamy, with a refreshing peppermint flavour and plenty of chocolate.

It is easy to make and contains NO coconut! The secret ingredient to it's wonderful creamy texture is oats!

Vegan mint choc chip ice cream in a metal loaf tin on a baking tray with a bowl of chocolate.

This vegan mint choc chip ice cream is based on my delicious vegan vanilla ice cream recipe, which uses a base of cooked oats and cashews rather than coconut.

This gives it a more neutral flavour, meaning that whatever you decide to flavour your ice cream with doesn't have to compete with the coconut to shine.

It is also a great base recipe which can easily be adapted to create all sorts of different flavours, such as this vegan mint choc chip ice cream.

Mint choc chip is one of my favourite ice cream flavours, and this vegan version is amazing!

It has a smooth, creamy texture, a refreshing mint flavour and plenty of chocolate!

Close up of a scoop of vegan mint choc chip ice cream.

What Do I Need To Make Vegan Mint Choc Chip Ice Cream?:

Cashews: Unroasted cashews provide creaminess to this vegan mint choc chip ice cream. They need to be soaked so they are soft enough to blend up to a smooth cream. You can either soak them in boiling water for about an hour, or in cold water overnight.

Porridge oats: regular rolled porridge oats or quick cooking ones are fine. You are going to simmer them with some plant milk until they are soft before blending them.

Plant milk: unsweetened soy milk is the best option here as it has a neutral flavour and creamy texture. (I like Alpro Unsweetened Soya milk the best).

You can use any kind of plant milk you like but bear in mind that the flavour of the milk will affect the flavour of the ice cream.

Caster sugar: I use white caster sugar (granulated is fine too) as it has a neutral flavour, I want the mint to be the star here! You can swap it for maple syrup or agave if you want but then your ice cream will taste like maple.

Don't reduce the amount of sugar by much or the ice cream won't be as creamy and it won't taste as good.

*Something to note, some white sugars are not vegan as they are processed with bone char. If you are in the UK then pretty much all sugar (except royal icing sugar) is vegan friendly so no worries there.

In the US I believe you may need to purchase organic sugar but check the specific brand to be sure. If the sugar is made from sugar beets then it is vegan friendly, sugar cane maybe not.

Xanthan gum: Pretty much all commercial ice creams contain some sort of stabiliser such as guar gum. This helps to stop the ingredients from separating and keeps the ice cream smooth and creamy.

Because guar gum is not so easy to get hold of, I used xanthan gum which is sold in most supermarkets and does the same job. You can just omit it if you can’t get hold of it.

Vodka: This is totally optional but a bit of alcohol helps stop the ice cream from freezing too solid (it will still be quite firm straight out the freezer however).

Peppermint extract: This is the dominant flavour so use a good quality extract if possible; I like Nielsen-Massey.

Salt: A little bit of salt really helps to bring out the flavour and balance the sweetness.

Green food colouring: This is totally optional and obviously doesn't add to the flavour at all. Without any colouring the ice cream will be white, so if you want a more classic mint choc chip look then you will need to add a bit of green food colouring.

Chocolate: I make my ice cream stracciatella style, where melted chocolate is drizzled into the ice cream as it freezes, forming irregular sized shards. You can also just mix in chopped chocolate or chocolate chips instead. Don't use too dark a chocolate as it will taste bitter when frozen - things taste less sweet when cold.

Vegan mint choc chip ice cream with a metal scoop.

How To Make Vegan Mint Choc Chip Ice Cream:

(Full measurements and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the page)

Make sure that the bowl of your ice cream maker has been in the freezer for long enough, mine takes 11 hours to fully freeze.

You need to soak the cashews so that they are soft enough to blend to a smooth cream. Either cover them with plenty of boiling water and leave to soak for an hour, or cover with cold water and leave to soak overnight.

Place the porridge oats in a saucepan with half of the soy milk and bring to a gentle simmer, cook for about 10 minutes, stirring often to prevent the bottom from catching, until the oats are soft.

Step 1, a two image collage of cooking the oats and milk.

Drain the soaked cashews well then place them in a blender with the other half of the milk and blitz until smooth.

Step 2, a two image collage of soaking the cashews and blending them with milk.

Add the cooked oat mixture to the blender along with the sugar, mint extract, xanthan gum, salt and vodka (if using) and blend until the mixture is very smooth.

Pour into a bowl, cover and refrigerate until completely cold.

Once the ice cream mixture is thoroughly chilled, add some green food colouring as you like then pour it into your ice cream maker and churn until it reaches soft serve consistency.

Meanwhile, melt the chocolate and pour it into a piping bag fitted with a small round nozzle.

Slowly drizzle the chocolate in a thin stream onto the churning ice cream, as it hits the cold ice cream it will solidify and break into small shards.

Drizzling the melted chocolate intoo the churning ice cream.

Once the ice cream is done churning, transfer it to a freezer-proof container and freeze for about 4 hours, until firm, before serving.

Mint choc chip ice cream in a loaf tin on a baking tray.

Top Tips:

As with all of my recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scale rather than the cup conversions. Cups are a wildly inaccurate measuring system and you will get far better, more consistent results using a scale, not to mention that it is also easier and less messy than cups!

This ice cream is quite solid straight out of the freezer so make sure that you take it out at least 15 minutes before serving to allow it to soften up a little.

Ideally you need a power blender (such as Froothie/Vitamix) for the smoothest ice cream. You can still make it with a regular blender, but it might not be quite as smooth and creamy.

You don't need to do the stracciatella if you don't want to; you can just add some roughly chopped chocolate or chocolate chips to the ice cream machine in the last five minutes of churning.

Instead of the chocolate chips, this ice cream would also work really well with the chocolate fudge swirl from my vegan coffee ice cream recipe.

More Vegan Ice Cream Recipes:

Mint choc chip ice cream withh several scoops.

If you tried this recipe let me know how it went! Rate it, leave a comment or tag @domestic_gothess on Instagram and hashtag it #domesticgothess

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5 from 3 votes