Healthy Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
This Healthy Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream is creamy, sweet, fresh and minty… and secretly good for you too! You’d never know it’s all natural, sugar free, low carb, high protein, and even keto too!
Healthy Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 32 oz Low Fat Cottage Cheese
- 16 oz Organic Half and Half
- ½ cup Mint Leaves*
- 1 tbs Liquid Stevia Extract
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- ½ tsp Mint Flavor* (alcohol-free)
- Liquid Chlorophyll or Natural Green Food Coloring (optional)
- ⅓ cup No-Sugar-Added Dark Chocolate Chips
Instructions
- Freeze your ice cream maker bowl for 24+ hours (I used my KitchenAid ice cream maker attachment).
- In a blender, add the cottage cheese, a splash of half and half, and the mint leaves. Blend until completely smooth. Add the remaining half and half, stevia extract, vanilla extract, mint flavor, and chlorophyll/natural food coloring. Blend until smooth.
- Place the frozen ice cream maker attachment onto the stand mixer and turn on the "stir" speed. Pour ice cream mixture into the ice cream bowl and churn until soft-serve consistency.
- Transfer the ice cream into a freezer-safe dish. Cover and freeze until it's the texture you prefer (~3-5 hours). Serve with extra chocolate chips and a fresh sprig of mint!
Recipe Notes
- *If you don't have fresh mint, omit it and increase the mint flavor to 4 tsp
As a comparison, here is the nutrition label for Häagen-Dazs mint chip ice cream. And WOW, what a difference, eh? For the same amount of ice cream, my healthy homemade version has less than ½ the calories and nearly ⅓ the fat. Not to mention, 21g of protein with no sugar added!
Can you believe 1 cup of storebought ice cream has just about ¼ cup of sugar in it? A QUARTER CUP! IN ONE SITTING?! Insanity.
So I’ll take my Healthy Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream ice cream over other ice creams any day. I think this is so healthy it probably qualifies for breakfast. Well, it better, because I had a few scoops for brekky 😉
When this ice cream is frozen completely it turns into a rock. hard. brick. To thaw it, leave it at room temperature for about an hour or place in the refrigerator overnight. Not gonna lie, I ate this for breakfast, so leaving ice cream on the counter for an hour while I’m starving would be pure torture. I have found that when I put ice cream in the fridge overnight it has the perfect texture by morning! Sometimes when I leave ice cream on the counter to defrost only the edges will scoop smoothly, but when it defrosts in the fridge the texture is much more even throughout.
If you want to shorten the defrost time, simply add 3-4 tbs of your favorite vodka to the recipe. I like using flavored vodkas in my ice cream (my favorites are marshmallow and whipped cream). Don’t worry though, your ice cream won’t taste like alcohol!
Personally, I don’t like chocolate chips inside my ice cream. They turn rock hard like little pebbles. I prefer to top my ice cream with chocolate chips right before serving. You can do either or, it’s just a matter of preference.
Enjoy!
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With love and good eats,
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– Jess
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Indulge − no strings attached!
Looks absolutely terrific! I actually like the rock hard-ness of the chocolate chips. In fact, I freeze them & eat them as a dessert itself :]
Thanks Carmen!!
I guess the chocolate chip thing is an acquired taste for me then… I’m starting to think I’m just a picky eater, haha 😉
-Jess
I love mint chocolate chip ice cream…I can’t wait to try this version! Love your blog ?
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love all this food
love this food
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What if I don’t have a ice cream maker. Can I use a standard blender or standard mixer to make?
Thanks
Jackie
Ice cream machines are kind of required because they incorporate air in the ice cream, which helps with texture. Even though this ice cream freezes pretty hard, if you thaw it like I mention in the post (in the fridge overnight) it has the PERFECT texture! Ice cream machines are pretty affordable too… and I use mine all the time! 🙂
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Can I make this with mint extract that has alcohol?