Herbal Spotlight: Chocolate Mint with Recipes

With her striking purple stems & killer flavor, Chocolate Mint is one to grow. Join me as we discuss this beautiful mint cultivar & a bunch of options for using your harvest!

Chocolate mint [Mentha × piperita f. citrata]  is one of many mint varieties easily picked up at your local greenhouse. You may have rubbed its leaves between your fingers there, enjoying that delicious fragrance, & thought “but what would I do with it?” & decided not to buy it. Well, this spotlight post is full of suggestions & recipes for your chocolate mint harvest, so indulge away! 
Okay,  this plant is in the MINT family [Lamiaceae] so it will spread if not contained! Plant it somewhere with that in mind or in containers. And, expect it to come back with friends yearly, hence the need for an arsenal of use ideas!  ​

This delectable cross was created by combining ‘orange mint’ cultivars with ‘water mint’ & spearmint.  This one really is beautiful as well, with narrow leaves that have a purple tone to their undersides & dark stems. The flowers are typical mint, opening from the base up, & are also purple. They are highly desirable to pollinators & will keep the bees in your yard very happy indeed.

pic: AlaskanUrbanHippies

While the flavors or mint & chocolate are highly complementary to each other, adding in other flavors can be a bit of a challenge for this one. Unlike most mints, chocolate mint is disasterous in lemonade for example. Attempting to use it in any citrus based recipe ends up with a rather “Toothpaste then Orange Juice” type situation. However, its addition to basically any recipe already continuing chocolate is destined to be delicious. I am particularly fond of adding it to hot chocolate & brownies.  Chocolate mint also makes delicious tea -- simply dry the leaves & flowers, or steep it fresh on its own for a lovely cup.

I have found it delicious in simple syrups for making craft-cocktails & zero-proof drinks. We recently featured Chocolate Mint as our ‘Blooming Fresh’ ingredient for Brunch. I made Chili Chocolate Mint Smashes with bourbon that were excellent, as well as the strange & compelling zero-proof gem I called ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ which are a blend of chocolate mint syrup, 2 kinds of vanilla, & a beach rose drinking shrub that is crazy, complex, & absolutely delicious. That simple syrup is easy to make:

A Bohemian Rhapsody at Cupacity Pic: K.Menard

Chocolate Mint Simple Syrup

1 cup chocolate mint leaves & flowers
1 cup water
1 cup sweetener [sugar, monkfruit, xylitol]

Simply boil your water & sweetener in a good sized saucepan, stirring to dissolve.  Add your chocolate mint leaves & flowers, pressing botanicals under the surface with a wooden spoon. Turn down the heat & simmer for about 3 minutes. Allow the lot to cool completely to room temperature, steeping the mint in the syrup. Stain off the plant matter & pour into a storage bottle.
​Keeps in the fridge for about 2 weeks.

Pic:CommonSenseHomesteading

Making your own baking extract is another way to use this delicious herb. ​Common Sense Homesteading has a lovely recipe for Chocolate Mint  extract. Check out her post here.

Give it a try yourself for amazing brownies & Mint Chocolate Chip cookies.

Perhaps my favorite thing to do with chocolate mint is to make sorbet. So much lighter than an ice cream, the mint flavor really shines through in this one & is SO refreshing.
I like to add a bit of vodka to my sorbets to prevent ice crystals forming & keep them smooth. This is optional & up to you. 

 This sorbet comes out the palest, soft green, a truly beautiful color. I strirred in about ½ c mini chocolate chips this last time to wonderful effect. The chocolate flavor is definately present without the chips & it is a lovley 100% dairy-free option for those looking for chocolate taste without any milk or even cocoa butter -- but I found the mini chips really added to the overall feel & taste.  We served this batch at Cupactiy & it was a big hit!  
​Pretty & delicious!

Chocolate Mint Chip Sorbet

2 cups sugar
4 cups water
2 cups chocolate mint leaves & stems, rough chopped
3 TBS fresh squeezed lemon juice
4 TSB Vodka [optional, but best]
1 TBS Mint Extract [optional]
½ cup mini chocolate chips [optional]

Day Before Churning:  Boil your water & sweetener in a good sized saucepan, stirring to dissolve.  Add your chocolate mint, pressing botanicals under the surface with a wooden spoon. Turn down the heat & simmer for about 5 minutes. Allow to cool completely to room temperature, steeping the mint in the syrup. Stain off the plant matter & pour into a storage bottle. Add the lemon juice, extract & vodka [if using.] Store in the fridge overnight. 
Run your chilled base through your ice cream machine, following your machine’s directions. After churning, fold ½ cup mini chocolate chips into your sorbet if desired, then place in the freezer to set. It will be servable after a few hours, & remain delicious for a few weeks in the freezer. It looks particularly beautiful served with a sprig of chocolate mint leaves & flowers.

That is it for this post! Short & sweet this time, non? Let me know what you use your chocolate mint for [& if you are local, I am happy to give you a cutting from our garden to grow your own! Just swing by the store!]  Until next time, take care & don’t forget to #StopAndEatTheFlowers