Chocolate Thin Mint Ice Cream Recipe

By Max Falkowitz
Updated August 27, 2020
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Photograph: Max Falkowitz

As Girl Scout Cookie Week draws to a close, let's talk about leftovers. Maybe you went a little milkshake crazy, or maybe you were guilted into buying an extra four boxes that you don't dare open, lest they be gone by tomorrow. Girl Scout cookies are a little like tribbles. Cute and fun in small batches, but downright dangerous if they linger.

We've been putting some of our cookies in suspended animation in the freezer. It's starting to get warm, almost hot, in New York, and a frozen Thin Mint in the afternoon has been pretty refreshing. But frozen Thin Mints are just as dangerous—if not more so—than an open box on the counter. There's only one real way to keep yourself safe: churn them into ice cream.

When making Thin Mint ice cream, you'll have to decide if you want to go in a minty or chocolaty direction. All things being equal, I'd take the mint, but the verdant, herbal flavor of real mint ice cream seems at odds with these peppermint extracted cookies. The compromise? A chocolate ice cream base made minty by a generous steeping of the cookies themselves.

That's right—steep the cookies directly into the dairy until they dissolve without a trace of crumb. It's like chocolate mint cookie tea, but way more delicious than that sounds. When the ice cream has churned, you'll want to add a bunch more chopped up cookies for a bit of crunch.

Fair warning: this is some really rich chocolate ice cream. It's plenty dark, and so pumped with chocolate that it melts more into pudding than custard. The mint keeps things light enough, but a little of this goes a long way. Think of it as a form of forced restraint.

Sort of.

Recipe Details

Chocolate Thin Mint Ice Cream Recipe

Active 30 mins
Total 9 hrs
Makes 1 quart
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Ingredients

  • 6 egg yolks
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 3 cups half and half
  • 28 Thin Mints (1 box), divided
  • 5 ounces dark chocolate (about 70% cacao), chopped fine
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions

  1. In a medium saucepan off heat, whisk together egg yolks and sugar until light in color and slightly thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Whisk in cocoa powder until no lumps remain. Slowly add half and half, whisking constantly. Finely chop 10 Thin Mints (crumbs should be no larger than a pea) and stir into dairy.

  2. Put saucepan on medium-low heat and cook, whisking frequently, until custard reaches 180°F on an instant read thermometer (custard should coat the back of a spoon but a swiped finger should leave a clean line). Remove custard from heat and stir in chocolate, then salt to taste.

  3. When chocolate is fully melted and incorporated, transfer to an airtight container and chill overnight in refrigerator.

  4. The next day, churn in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Roughly chop remaining Thin Mints; chunks should range from pea to nickle-sized. In the last minute of churn, add chopped Thin Mints. Return ice cream to container and chill in freezer for at least two hours before serving.

Special equipment

ice cream maker

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