This coconut milk mint chocolate chip ice cream starts with one measured dairy-free base: homemade high-fat coconut milk, raw honey, pure peppermint extract, and optional homemade vanilla. Finely shaved homemade cocoa-butter chocolate goes in during the last few minutes of churning.
The ice cream is creamy and cool with a clean mint finish. The chocolate is optional. Leave it out and the same base becomes Honey Mint ice cream without changing the coconut milk, honey, peppermint, or vanilla amounts.
Frozen desserts are easy to overcomplicate when you are feeding a family. With six children, I would rather have one reliable base with a clearly marked optional finish than a list of vague swaps. This recipe keeps every measure visible and keeps its coconut, cultured-sour-cream, and fresh-cream siblings in separate posts.
Where This Ice Cream Fits On GAPS
The plain Honey Mint version fits Full GAPS after homemade coconut milk, raw honey, peppermint, and optional homemade vanilla have been introduced and tolerated. It is not an Introduction Diet dessert.
The mint chocolate chip version is an occasional later Full GAPS treat after digestive symptoms have resolved and pure organic cocoa is appropriate. Use the separate finished homemade chocolate component rather than a commercial chocolate bar or packaged chips.
This is the dairy-free coconut formula. The cultured-sour-cream and fresh-cream bases have different ingredient ratios and GAPS timing, so neither is folded into this post as a substitution.
Make The Coconut Milk And Chocolate First
Use three and one-half cups finished homemade high-fat coconut milk at room temperature. For the homemade method, make the richer batch of Hot-Water Homemade Coconut Milk for Full GAPS, stir it until the coconut fat is evenly distributed, and measure the finished milk.
For the chip version, prepare Raw-Honey Cocoa-Butter Chocolate Bars for Later Full GAPS. Chill the finished chocolate until firm, then shave it finely and measure one-half cup after shaving.
Use the fine holes of a clean box grater for small flecks. Keep the chocolate cold while grating, measure the loose shavings without packing them down, and return the measured cup to the refrigerator while you blend the base. Warm chocolate bends and smears instead of producing distinct chips.
If you want plain Honey Mint, skip the chocolate entirely. Do not replace it with carob, commercial chips, or another unmeasured candy.
Bring The Base Ingredients To A Mixable Temperature
Room-temperature coconut milk and raw honey combine more easily than refrigerator-cold ingredients. The coconut milk should be fluid enough to pour and uniform rather than separated into a hard fat cap and watery layer.
If the milk is chilled and the coconut fat is firm, warm the closed container gently in warm water just until it can be stirred smooth. It should not be hot when it goes into the blender.
Use raw honey that pours in a steady ribbon. A solid spoonful can remain stuck below the blender blades or settle at the bottom instead of sweetening the base evenly.
Measure The Mint Carefully
Begin with three-quarters teaspoon pure additive-free peppermint extract. Different extracts vary in strength, so that smaller end of the measured range protects the ice cream from tasting sharp or medicinal.
After blending, taste the base. Add only enough of the remaining one-quarter teaspoon to reach the mint strength you want. The full measured range ends at one teaspoon.
Peppermint extract should list a simple compatible ingredient base without sugar, syrup, coloring, or flavor blends. Peppermint essential oil is not used as a substitute in this recipe.
Blend The Coconut Base
Put three and one-half cups homemade coconut milk, two-thirds cup raw honey, three-quarters teaspoon peppermint extract, and optional two tablespoons homemade vanilla extract in the Ninja BN801 pitcher.
Blend for about fifty seconds. Stop and scrape the sides if honey clings above the liquid line, then finish blending until the base looks the same from top to bottom.
The finished base should be pale, smooth, and pourable. Tilt the pitcher and look at the bottom: there should be no dense amber ribbon of honey beneath the coconut milk and no hard pieces of coconut fat.
Churn Until Mostly Frozen
Pour the blended base into the ice cream maker and churn according to the machine’s instructions. Churning may take about twenty minutes, but the useful endpoint is mostly frozen ice cream that still moves as the paddle turns.
If the machine uses a freezer bowl, freeze that bowl for the full time required by its manufacturer before blending. A partly frozen bowl warms before the coconut base thickens and leaves you with a cold drink instead of soft ice cream. Start the machine before pouring if its instructions require that order.
Do not add the chocolate at the beginning. Early shavings can sink, smear through a warm base, or gather around the paddle before the ice cream has enough body to hold them.
Watch for the churned base to thicken from a liquid swirl into soft folds. When it holds those folds but the machine still turns freely, it is ready for the optional chips.
Add The Chocolate Near The End
About five minutes before churning is finished, add the measured one-half cup finely shaved homemade chocolate through the machine opening. Sprinkle it gradually across the moving surface instead of dropping the full cup into one spot.
Finish churning until the shavings are distributed and the ice cream reaches a soft, scoopable stage. The chocolate should remain in small dark flecks rather than melting into one brown streak.
For Honey Mint ice cream, omit this step and let the same coconut base finish churning without chocolate.
Serve Soft Or Firm It In The Freezer
Serve the ice cream directly from the machine for a soft texture. The scoop will be rounded but relaxed, and the chocolate flecks will remain visible throughout.
For firmer scoops, transfer the churned ice cream to a covered glass freezer container, smooth the top, and freeze until it reaches the texture you want. Press the lid on only after the ice cream is level so loose frost does not fall into the surface.
A fully frozen high-fat coconut base can become quite firm. Let the closed container sit only until a scoop can cut cleanly through the center, then return the remaining ice cream to the freezer.
What The Finished Ice Cream Should Be Like
The color is pale ivory unless the homemade vanilla darkens it slightly. The peppermint aroma should be clear when the container opens, with coconut in the background rather than dominating every bite.
The chocolate-chip version should show small, separate flecks from the first scoop to the last. The ice cream should not contain large hard chunks that make a spoon skid away from the coconut base.
The texture at the machine is soft and creamy. After freezer storage it becomes firmer, but the two-thirds cup raw honey and optional homemade vanilla help keep it more scoopable than unsweetened frozen coconut milk.
The plain Honey Mint version should look completely smooth, without dark flecks. That visual difference makes it easy to label two containers when you divide a batch before adding chocolate. Keep the measured base identical on both sides and add shavings only to the portion that will become mint chocolate chip.
Storage And Serving
Store the finished ice cream in a covered glass container in the freezer. Keep the lid closed between servings so the surface does not pick up freezer odors or ice crystals.
Write Coconut Honey Mint or Coconut Mint Chocolate Chip on the container so it is not confused with the cultured-sour-cream and fresh-cream siblings. That label also makes the dairy-free base clear when several frozen desserts share the same freezer.
Serve it as an occasional dessert between meals rather than replacing the meat, stock, fats, vegetables, and ferments that make up the regular Full GAPS day.
For another dairy-free churned dessert with a different formula, try Full GAPS Coconut Lime Ice Cream. Keep its lime-and-salt measures separate from this mint base.
Recommended Equipment
- Ninja Professional Plus Kitchen System BN801
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Silicone spatula
- Ice cream maker
- Fine side of a clean box grater or a sharp stainless knife for chocolate shavings
- Glass measuring cup for the finished chocolate shavings
- Covered glass freezer container
- Ice cream scoop
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I Use Canned Coconut Milk?
No. Use the measured three and one-half cups of homemade high-fat coconut milk.
Can I Make This Without Chocolate?
Yes. Omit the optional shavings for plain Honey Mint and keep every base ingredient at the same measure.
Which Chocolate Should I Use?
Use one-half cup shavings measured from finished Raw-Honey Cocoa-Butter Chocolate Bars. Commercial bars and chips are not used.
Is Vanilla Required?
No. Two tablespoons homemade vanilla are optional. If you include it, use the linked homemade GAPS version.
How Much Peppermint Extract Should I Use?
Start with three-quarters teaspoon and increase only as needed, up to one teaspoon total.
Can I Use Peppermint Essential Oil?
No. This formula uses measured pure additive-free peppermint extract.
Why Do The Chocolate Shavings Go In Near The End?
The mostly frozen base can hold the shavings in suspension. Added too early, they can sink, smear, or gather around the paddle.
Why Is My Ice Cream Very Firm After Freezing?
Homemade coconut milk freezes firmly. Let the closed container soften only until the scoop can cut through it, then return the rest to the freezer.
Can I Replace The Coconut Milk With Sour Cream Or Fresh Cream?
Use the separate sour-cream or fresh-cream sibling recipe. Each has its own measured water, salt, and dairy base.
Coconut Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Recipe
Coconut Milk Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream for Full GAPS
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Put the scaled homemade high-fat coconut milk, raw honey, the smaller end of the scaled peppermint range, and optional homemade vanilla in the Ninja BN801 pitcher. Blend for about 50 seconds, scraping the sides if needed, until the base is uniformly pale with no honey ribbon or coconut-fat pieces.
- Taste the base. Add only enough of the remaining scaled peppermint range to reach the mint strength you want; do not exceed the displayed maximum.
- Pour the base into the prepared ice cream maker and churn according to its instructions, until mostly frozen and holding soft folds while the paddle still turns.
- For mint chocolate chip, add the scaled finely shaved homemade chocolate gradually about 5 minutes before churning finishes. For plain Honey Mint, omit the shavings and continue churning the same measured base.
- Finish churning. Serve at the soft stage or transfer to a covered glass freezer container and smooth the top before freezing for firmer scoops.
Notes
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!Build A Freezer Of GAPS Treats
The planned Frozen Treats Cookbook gathers yogurt pops, honey ice creams, and frozen fruit treats into one clearly labeled collection. Find current resources and upcoming releases in the WFLI shop.
Leave a comment