No-Churn Candy Cane Chocolate Chip Ice Cream – This cool and creamy bowl of minty delight proves that it’s possible to capture all the magic of the Christmas season in a single dish!

My mom is a candy cane connoisseur. As a kid, the Christmas tree was never complete until it was carefully adorned with Spangler candy canes. This seems like such a simple tradition, but believe me, it wasn’t.

First of all, we had to go from store to store until my Mom found Spangler candy canes. This is because of their “superior mint flavor.” We would then check each box, making sure that none were broken and that all had stripes that met a certain high standard of beauty.

Once we brought home the perfect candy canes, my sisters and I were allowed to carefully assist with hanging them on the tree. I’m using the word carefully lightly here… Some of them would “accidentally” drop on the floor, which meant us kids got some. My mom would set the rest aside for herself to eat throughout the holiday season. Goodness knows she needed them with us crazy kids (I get this now that I’m a mom).

In the end, we’d look up at our finished Christmas tree, pleased with ourselves and it’s beauty. The funny thing is, we’d go to bed, and somehow the Christmas tree would be different in the morning.

My mom suffers from OCOD (obsessive compulsive ornament disorder). After us kids went to bed she would meticulously rearrange the ornaments and candy canes until she achieved Christmas tree perfection. This is pretty much the only area of life that she’s obsessive about, so we all try to let it slide with only a little bit of teasing.

Like my mom, I also decorate my Christmas tree with candy canes. Fortunately for her, I didn’t inherit OCOD. I say fortunate for her, because when she comes over to my house I’ve seen her sneak candy canes off of my tree to eat! But this only bothers me a little bit.

This year, however, she’ll have a shock when she realizes that I didn’t get Spangler candy canes, but some all-natural organic nonsense instead!

I’m telling you this whole long story for a reason, I swear! At the end of every Christmas season, for as long as I can remember, I’ve been overrun with leftover candy canes.

This year I decided to solve my leftover candy cane problem by developing this recipe for No-Churn Chocolate Chip Candy Cane Ice Cream. Check out how easy it is to make. No ice cream maker needed!

How To Make No-Churn Candy Cane Ice Cream

1. Whisk together sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, peppermint extract, and salt in a large mixing bowl and then set aside. 
2. In another large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer on medium-high to beat the cold heavy cream for about two minutes or until stiff peaks form.
3. Using a spatula fold 1 C of heavy cream into the bowl of sweetened condensed milk until evenly combined, but don’t overwork. This will lighten the sweetened condensed milk. 
4. Next, using a spatula, fold the sweetened condensed milk mixture into the the bowl of remaining whipped heavy cream until well blended, but taking care not to over work. 

5. Pour into a 9x3x5 metal loaf pan. Chill in the freezer for two hours. After two hours your ice cream should be creamy like soft serve ice cream. 

6. While the no-churn ice cream is chilling, prepare your mix-ins. Use a food processor to chop the candy canes. Use a vegetable peeler to create the chocolate shavings. 

7. After the no-churn ice cream has chilled for two hours mix in 2/3 C of candy cane bits.

8. Next, very gently mix in 3/4 C of chocolate shavings. Mix in this order so that the chocolate shavings don’t fall apart too much. Return to the freezer and chill for another 3 hours or until the ice cream is solid and scoopable. Store covered in the freezer for up to a month.

This ice cream’s flavor reminds me of Chick-Fil-A’s Peppermint Chocolate Chip Milkshakes. It’s creamy, minty, chocolatey, and oh so good! It’s like one last hurrah for the holiday season as you bid farewell to your perfect Christmas tree!

No-Churn Candy Cane Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Yield: 6 servings

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Additional Time: 5 hours

Total Time: 5 hours 30 minutes

This cool and creamy bowl of minty delight proves that it's possible to capture all the magic of the Christmas season in a single dish!

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Ingredients

Ice Cream

• 1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 tsp clear imitation vanilla extract*
• 1 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
• pinch fine salt
• 2 C cold heavy cream

Chocolate Peppermint Mix-Ins

• 2/3 C candy canes, finely chopped (about 10 candy canes)
• 3/4 C semi-sweet baking chocolate bar, cut into shavings

Instructions

1. Whisk together the sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, peppermint extract, and salt in a large mixing bowl and then set aside. 
2. In another large mixing bowl, beat the cold heavy cream with an electric mixer on medium-high for about 2 minutes or until stiff peaks form.
3. Using a spatula, fold 1 C of the whipped heavy cream into the bowl of sweetened condensed milk until evenly combined. Take care not to overwork. The purpose of this is to lighten the sweetened condensed milk. 
4. Next, using a spatula, fold the sweetened condensed milk mixture into the bowl of remaining whipped heavy cream until well blended. Again, take care not to over work. 
5. Pour into a 9x3x5 metal loaf pan. Chill in the freezer for two hours. After two hours your ice cream should be creamy like soft serve ice cream. 
6. While the no-churn ice cream is chilling prepare your mix-ins. Use a food processor to chop the candy canes.** Use a vegetable peeler to create the chocolate shavings. 
7. After the no-churn ice cream has chilled for two hours mix in 2/3 C of candy cane bits. 
8. Next, very gently mix in 3/4 C of chocolate shavings. Mix in this order so that the chocolate shavings don’t fall apart too much.  
9. Return to the freezer and chill for another 3 hours or until the ice cream is solid and scoopable. Store covered in the freezer for up to a month.

Notes

*Feel free to use real vanilla extract. I used the clear imitation as it doesn’t affect the color of the ice cream. 

**I made this recipe a couple of times. I found that although not as pretty, a finer candy cane chop yields a better texture and flavor.

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