Peppermint Ice Cream
Published December 20, 2021 • Updated March 1, 2026
Scoopable creamy peppermint ice cream straight out of the freezer
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This keto peppermint ice cream is everything a holiday dessert should be: creamy, minty, loaded with crushed candy canes, and scoopable straight from the freezer. No waiting, no thawing, just grab a spoon.
Christmas isn’t just for gingerbread houses and sugar cookies. Low-carb peppermint ice cream deserves a spot at your holiday table too.
I make this without eggs or sweetened condensed milk. Just heavy cream, sweetener, and my secret: vodka. The alcohol keeps it soft enough to scoop right from the freezer. No custard, no tempering egg yolks (I always curdle them anyway).
The crushed candy canes turn it a soft pink with crunchy red-and-white chunks throughout.
How to make peppermint ice cream
- Whisk together your five ingredients – heavy cream (or coconut milk if making dairy-free ice cream), powdered sweetener, vodka, salt and peppermint oil.
- Refrigerate the ice cream mixture for 2 hours. This helps for the mint flavors to meld together with the cream. You get a more pronounced, developed flavor. It also helps to give the ice cream a creamier texture.
- Churn in an ice cream maker. Pour in your mix to an ice cream maker and churn until thick, creamy and frozen.
- No ice cream maker? No problem. For no-churn ice cream, beat mixture with an electric mixer or add mixture to a mason jar and shake to thicken. Then freeze.
Key ingredients
- Heavy cream – This keto ice cream is meant to be indulgent. For the ultimate silky ice cream, we use heavy cream. If you prefer to make a non-dairy ice cream, use canned coconut milk instead.
- Sweetener – Ice cream is sweet – at least most prefer it that way. To minimize the sugar and carbs in this recipe, we use a powdered sugar-free sweetener. The powdered or confectioner’s sugar dissolves into the cream better compared to granulated sweeteners.
- Vodka or rum – Using a clear, neutral-flavored distilled spirit, like vodka or white rum, raises the freezing point of liquids. This decreases the iciness. Instead of rock hard ice cream straight out of the freezer, you get softer ice cream that you can easily slide an ice cream scoop with. You don’t have to worry about getting to rummy or punchy with this ice cream recipe since we only add 2 tablespoons of hard alcohol for the entire batch of ice cream.
- Salt – Adding salt to a sweet recipe will enhance the sweet flavor. Salt will also lower the freezing point of water resulting in a softer ice cream you can scoop.
- Peppermint – It’s up to you whether you want to use mint or peppermint flavoring. And you can use either extract or oil. Extracts are alcohol based and oils are oil-based (of course). Both will help create a soft ice cream.
- Peppermint Candies – The finishing touch to any worthy peppermint ice cream are the chunks of crushed peppermint swirls or candy canes mixed in the base.
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Ingredients
2 cups heavy cream -
1/3 cup powdered sugar free sweetener
-
1/8 teaspoon salt
-
2 tablespoons vodka or white rum
-
1 teaspoon mint flavoring
-
1/4 cup crushed sugar-free peppermint candies
-
ice cream maker, optional
Step by Step Instructions
Step by Step Instructions
Combine peppermint ice cream ingredients
In a medium bowl, whisk together heavy cream, powdered sweetener, salt, vodka or white rum and peppermint flavoring. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours before churning or freezing.
- Heavy cream
- Powdered sugar-free sweetener
- Salt
- Vodka or white rum
- Peppermint flavoring
Churn instructions
Add ice cream base to your ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer instructions. Add crushed peppermint candies during the last few minutes of churning.
- Crushed peppermints
Nutrition disclaimer
The nutrition information provided is an estimate and is for informational purposes only. I am a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.); however, this content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your physician or other qualified health provider before making any lifestyle changes or beginning a new nutrition program.
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Get My Macros + Recipes →Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use regular sugar instead of powdered sugar free sweetener?
Yes, you can definitely use regular powdered sugar if you prefer! Just keep in mind that it will add calories and carbs to the recipe.
What can I substitute for vodka or white rum in this recipe?
You can skip it, but the ice cream will freeze harder. You'll need to let it sit on the counter for 5-10 minutes before scooping. Still delicious, just less scoopable.
How should I store leftover peppermint ice cream?
Store it in an airtight container in the freezer for up to two weeks. Press plastic wrap directly on the surface before sealing to prevent ice crystals.
Can I make this recipe dairy-free?
Absolutely! You can substitute the heavy cream with a dairy-free alternative like coconut cream or cashew cream, but be sure to check that your sweetener and flavoring are also dairy-free.
How many servings does this peppermint ice cream recipe make?
This recipe makes about 4 to 6 servings, depending on how generous your scoops are!
I've made a lot of keto ice creams and most are basically frozen heavy cream blocks after 24 hours. This one scoops like real ice cream straight from the freezer, and it's because of the vodka. Nothing I've made since has come close.
Scoopable straight from the freezer was exactly what I was going for. Took a few batches to land on two tablespoons - more than that and you can actually taste the vodka.
I was genuinely skeptical about the vodka. Sounds like something you throw in a cocktail, not a dessert, but I've made enough keto frozen bricks that needed 25 minutes on the counter before a spoon could break through, so I figured why not. Churned this last Sunday and it scooped clean out of the freezer right away, soft and creamy with no ice crystals. The peppermint flavor hits exactly right, not the fake toothpaste kind. This solved the one problem I've never been able to crack with homemade keto ice cream.
Yeah, the vodka was my fix after a couple of batches that came out like peppermint bricks. Two tablespoons is all it takes.
My daughter has strong opinions on peppermint ice cream and she's shot down every keto version I've made. Churned this in the Cuisinart last weekend and she asked if she could bring some to her friend's house, the first time she's ever wanted to share something I made. The crushed candy pieces in every scoop put it over the top for her.
The candy pieces are what make it. My kids always go straight for the scoops with the most crushed peppermint. Love that she wanted to share it.
Do you measure your peppermint candies before crushing? I noticed on the nutrition 3 candies are 15 carbs. Can’t wait to make this today ❤️
After crushing - 1/4 cup of the crumbled bits. And those are sugar-free peppermint candies in the recipe, not regular ones, so the carbs are way lower than what you'd get from a standard candy cane.
I made this with peppermint flavor, 1 cup heavy whipping cream, 1 cup flaxseed milk, semi-natural pink food coloring, cheap vodka from a tiny bottle, Swerve confectioners, and organic peppermint candies made with real sugar. Made in ice-cream maker. Delicious.