If you follow me on Instagram, you’re probably tired of being teased by my cooking photos from last week, AKA Abby’s birthday week. This year Abby requested a mint chip ice cream cake for her birthday cake, and she flattered me by asking if I would make it. To keep from having a huge half-eaten cake in my freezer for the next month, I decided to make Mint Chip Ice Cream Cupcakes topped with chocolate ganache. Abby declared them the best dessert she’s ever had!

Every year for Abby’s birthday, I get really into coming up with a fun cake for her. We try to keep junk food to a minimum at our house, so birthdays are a time when we indulge a bit. One of the favorite posts on my blog is this one about the Peppa Pig cake I made for Abby’s 2nd birthday. It was a lot of work and not vegan, but I had so much fun making it!

This year, I found a vegan, gluten-free, oil-free chocolate cupcake recipe that sounded good, threw together a vegan mint chip ice cream, and topped the whole thing off with my go-to vegan ganache and some sprinkles.

These mint chip ice cream cupcakes turned out better than I’d imagined! Also, even though they require a couple more steps than regular cupcakes, each step is simple, and you can make these cupcakes well in advance if needed!

Steps for Making Mint Chip Ice Cream Cupcakes:

1. Make one dozen chocolate cupcakes, using your favorite recipe. I used this one from The Banana Diaries, and they turned out great! They’re also vegan, GF, oil-free, and sweetened with coconut sugar.
2. Decide which crust option you’d like (see below) and whether you want muffin papers or not. If you’d like a crust, make it and press a couple of teaspoons into each well. Place the pan in the fridge or freezer to harden.
3. Make the mint chip ice cream (recipe below). While it’s in the ice cream machine, cut about 1/3 inch off of the bottom of each cupcake. Spoon roughly 2 Tablespoons of the soft ice cream into each cupcake well and place a cupcake top on top of each. Cover and freeze a few hours, preferably overnight.
4. Make my simple chocolate ganache (recipe below), spoon a little on each cupcake, and top them with sprinkles if you like! Serve the cupcakes immediately, or return them to the freezer until you’re ready to serve them.

Crust options:

1. No crust at all! This saves you a step.
2. Place 10-11 Oreos in a bag and crush them into a crumbly flour. I used the Annie’s version, which is also vegan. Stir in 3 Tablespoons of melted coconut oil, then press about 2 teaspoons of the mixture into the bottom of each muffin well. Place the muffin tin in the fridge or freezer for at least 30 minutes for the crusts to harden. If you want your mint chip cupcakes to be gluten-free, be sure to buy a GF version of the cookies or skip the crust altogether.
3. Stir together by hand or with a paddle mixer 3/4 cup cocoa, 3/4 cup fine almond flour, 1/2 cup coconut sugar, 1/4 cup soft coconut oil, and a pinch of salt. Press 2 teaspoons into the bottom of each muffin well and allow the crust to harden in the fridge or freezer for about 30 minutes.

Simple Chocolate Ganache:

• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup coconut butter/manna
• 1 cup maple syrup
• pinch sea salt

Directions: Combine all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Keep leftover ganache in the fridge. Warm ganache slightly in the microwave to soften.

Mint Chip Ice Cream

 

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Prep time

75 mins

Total time

1 hour 15 mins

 

No one will know this creamy mint chip ice cream is vegan and simple to make!

Author: Mary Ross Fowler | Daily Dose of Greens

Recipe type: Dessert

Serves: 2.5 cups

Ingredients

• 2 cups full-fat coconut milk
• ⅔ cup pure maple syrup
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. peppermint extract
• Pinch sea salt
• Green food coloring or small handful fresh mint leaves, optional
• 1 oz dark or vegan semisweet chocolate bar

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients except the chocolate in a blender until smooth. Place blender in the fridge to chill at least one hour.
2. Stand chocolate bar upright and shave down the narrow side with a sharp knife or veggie peeler to turn the chocolate into shavings.
3. Pour chilled ice cream mixture into the ice cream bowl and add the chocolate shavings. Continue according to manufacturer's instructions, until ice cream has thickened like soft-serve. It is now ready to be spooned into cupcake tins or into another container to be placed in the freezer.

Notes

I do not recommend storing ice cream in the freezer bowl that comes with the ice cream maker. The ice cream never softens enough to scoop, and you really need it to thaw a few minutes before scooping it.

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You now have all of the information you need to make your own mint chip ice cream cupcakes! They were such a fun, decadent, vegan treat!

♥   ♥   ♥

Also try my Black Sesame Ice Cream!