Peppermint ice cream
A cool, sweet ice cream flavored with peppermint, white or pink, and studded with bits of crushed peppermint candy.
Sometimes found Found in some shops and some grocery freezers. What the badge means
Peppermint ice cream, also called peppermint stick, is a cool, sweet mint ice cream with bits of crushed candy. You can find it in some shops and some grocery freezers, but not everywhere.
This page covers how it tastes, where it comes from, how to make peppermint ice cream at home, what to serve with it, how common it is and what the nutrition figures show.
What peppermint tastes like
Peppermint tastes cool and sweet. The mint is clean and bright, and the sugar keeps it from feeling sharp. The ice cream itself is white or pink, so a scoop looks pale with flecks of color running through it.
The texture is smooth and creamy, with small crunchy bits of crushed peppermint candy. Some pieces stay crisp. Others soften in the freezer and melt into little sweet pockets.
It is made from a plain sweet cream base flavored with peppermint, and the main mix-in is crushed peppermint candy. That is all it needs. The candy adds crunch, color and an extra hit of mint in every spoonful.
Where peppermint comes from
Peppermint stick has deep roots in New England. Yankee Magazine lists it among seven old-school New England ice cream favorites.
Yankee Magazine also calls it one of Brigham’s most popular flavors. It says peppermint stick was one of Howard Johnson’s original 28 flavors as well.
That history fits the flavor today. It is still a simple sweet cream base with peppermint and crushed candy, and it is still easy to make at home in a small batch.
How to make peppermint at home
Peppermint works well in a Philadelphia base, which uses no eggs. The Base Builder sets up that style for you, sized to your machine, in grams and cups. A no-churn base made with condensed milk and whipped cream also works. The Base Builder gives a base formula built on standard food-science ranges, not a tested recipe.
Stir peppermint extract into the cold base a little at a time, and taste as you go. Extract is strong, so small additions keep you in control. Then churn the base as usual.
Fold in the crushed peppermint candy at the end of churning. Factory ice cream gets its candy, nut and cookie pieces as it leaves the freezer, when about half its water is frozen and it is about as soft as soft serve. That is why home cooks add mix-ins at the end. If you already have a recipe you like, the Recipe Scaler resizes it to your machine and converts cups to grams.
Base formula
Open the Base Builder: Philadelphia (no eggs)
Other styles that suit it: No-churn (condensed milk and whipped cream)
The Base Builder gives a base formula built on standard food-science ranges, not a tested recipe.
What to serve with peppermint
Peppermint loves chocolate. Spoon warm hot fudge over a scoop, and the cool mint and the rich fudge play off each other. Chocolate cookies work well on the side, crumbled on top or pressed around a scoop for a sandwich. Brownies are another easy match: serve a square with a scoop of peppermint on top. All three bring the dark chocolate that keeps the sweet mint in balance.
- hot fudge
- chocolate cookies
- brownies
How common peppermint is
Our badge shows peppermint at 3 of 5, a half moon labeled "Sometimes found": you will see it in some shops and some grocery freezers. The badge is about how easy it is to find, not how much people like it.
In IDFA's April 2026 survey of 2,205 U.S. adults, peppermint ranked 25th of 40, with 4% picking it as one of up to five favorites. In the same survey, 1% named it their single favorite. In IDFA's April 2024 survey of 2,203 U.S. adults, it ranked 26th of 40, and 6% picked it as one of up to five favorites.
How it ranks in surveys and order data
| Survey | Result |
|---|---|
| IDFA survey, April 20262,205 U.S. adults, online, April 7-9, 2026, margin of error +/-2 points | Ranked 25th of 40: 4% picked it as one of up to five favorites |
| IDFA survey, April 20262,205 U.S. adults, online, April 7-9, 2026, margin of error +/-2 points | 1% named it their single favorite |
| IDFA survey, April 20242,203 U.S. adults, online, April 16-18, 2024, margin of error +/-2 points | Ranked 26th of 40: 6% picked it as one of up to five favorites |
- Rare Rare enough that you would most likely make it at home.
- Hard to find Look for it in specialty shops and seasonal runs.
- Sometimes found Found in some shops and some grocery freezers.
- Easy to find Common in most grocery freezers.
- Classic A classic you can buy almost anywhere.
Nutrition, roughly
FoodData Central has no record for peppermint itself, so the figures shown are for a plain vanilla base, regular to rich. That range runs from 207 to 249 kcal per 100 grams. Regular vanilla comes to about 137 kcal per 1/2 cup (66 grams). These are figures for a plain base, not for this flavor. Crushed candy, extract and sweeteners change the numbers.
Nutrition per 100 grams
| FoodData Central record | Calories | Fat | Saturated fat | Sugars | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ice creams, vanilla FDC 167575 1/2 cup (66 g): about 137 kcal, 7.3 g fat | 207 kcal | 11 g | 6.79 g | 21.2 g | 3.5 g |
| Ice creams, vanilla, rich FDC 167573 | 249 kcal | 16.2 g | 10.30 g | 20.6 g | 3.5 g |
FoodData Central has no record for peppermint itself: these are the figures for a plain vanilla base, regular to rich. Mix-ins and sweeteners change them.
Questions people ask
Do I need eggs to make peppermint ice cream?
No. A Philadelphia base, which uses no eggs, suits peppermint well. A no-churn base made with condensed milk and whipped cream also works. The Base Builder sets up the Philadelphia style as a base formula built on standard food-science ranges.
When should I add the crushed peppermint candy?
Fold it in at the end of churning. At that point the ice cream is about as soft as soft serve, which is when factories add candy and other pieces. Adding them then spreads the bits evenly through the ice cream.
How much peppermint extract should I use?
Add it a little at a time to the cold base and taste as you go. Extract is strong, so small additions let you stop when the mint tastes right to you, before it turns sharp.
What goes well with peppermint ice cream?
Chocolate is the classic match. Hot fudge, chocolate cookies and brownies all suit it. The rich, dark chocolate balances the cool, sweet mint and the crunchy peppermint candy.
More flavors to try
-
Spice and floral
Mint chocolate chip ice cream
Cool peppermint ice cream with chocolate chips or shards
-
Spice and floral
Cinnamon ice cream
Warm, sweet-spicy and light tan, with cinnamon all through
-
Spice and floral
Pumpkin ice cream
Pumpkin puree and pie spices in a custard base
-
Spice and floral
Honey lavender ice cream
Pale, floral and gently sweet, with lavender steeped in cream
Plan and make it with these
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Recipe Scaler and Converter
Ice cream recipe converter: cups to grams
Scale an ice cream recipe by a factor, a batch volume or your machine, and see every line in grams and cups.
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Scoop size chart
Ice cream scoop sizes and the disher number chart
The number stamped on an ice cream scoop tells you how many level scoopfuls fill one quart, so a #8 holds 4 fluid ounces (1/2 cup) and a #16 holds 2.
Sources
- 7 Old-School New England Ice Cream Favorites Yankee Magazine
- Ice Cream Technology e-Book: Freezing/Whipping of Ice Cream H. Douglas Goff, University of Guelph
- Ice cream preferences of U.S. adults, topline results (Morning Consult for IDFA, April 7 to 9, 2026) International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA)
- Ice cream survey of U.S. adults, topline results (Morning Consult for IDFA, April 16 to 18, 2024) International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA)
- Ice creams, vanilla (FDC 167575) U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service
- Ice creams, vanilla, rich (FDC 167573) U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service
Every data source the site uses is on the Sources page.