Frozen Grasshopper Drink

Step back in time and make a frozen grasshopper drink to serve at your next dinner party. This ice cream version of the mint green classic cocktail is perfect for after dinner.

It’s “Freaky Friday” again! This is a day every so often when a bunch of bloggers get together and swap recipes.

Last time I made this Chocolate Guinness Cake, and today I’m sharing a recipe for Frozen Grasshoppers from Sue’s blog, Sue Bee Homemaker!

Freaky Friday also makes me think about how cool it would be to actually swap places with someone. I’ve always loved the 1940s and think it would be fun to see my grandmother as a newlywed and what kinds of fun parties she threw.

I like to imagine my grandmother serving cheese straws for an appetizer and grasshopper cocktails during dessert with work friends or maybe her bridge club. These mint-chocolate beauties are always a hit for dessert.

What is a grasshopper drink?

The classic grasshopper cocktail is a creamy, pastel-colored, after-dinner drink made with heavy cream, crème de menthe and crème de cacao.

Crème de menthe is a green, mint-flavored liqueur and crème de cacao is chocolate liqueur. Together with cream, they create a mint chocolate-flavored drink that’s mint green in color.

This cocktail dates back to the pre-Prohibition era and a 1918 New York City cocktail contest, according to The Essential Bar Book by Jennifer Fiedler. Philbert Guichet, the owner of Tujague’s in the French Quarter of New Orleans, won second place for his grasshopper cocktail recipe.

However, it gained popularity again in the mid-century, especially in the South, as a sweet dessert drink. It tastes like mint chocolate chip ice cream in a glass.

Tujague’s is still there and celebrated the drink‘s 100th birthday in 2018 with an updated recipe. If you visit New Orleans, go there and try it and tell me how it is!

Frozen Grasshopper Drink recipe

By adding vanilla ice cream instead of cream, the grasshopper can turn into a delicious frozen dessert drink.

Sue’s frozen grasshopper drink recipe is incredibly easy to make. All you need is a blender and something to scoop ice cream out of.

This recipe comes from Sue’s mother Norma Jean, who used to make it in advance to serve her big family at the holidays. They are so special and colorful, making them the perfect drink to top of a big Christmas dinner. They are a family favorite at Sue’s house.

However, you can enjoy these cocktails any time of year. Its history makes it a good drink for Mardi Gras. The green color makes them perfect for St. Patrick’s Day. They’d be super fun in the summertime to top off a long, hot day.

Grasshoppers for a crowd

What I love about this recipe is that you can make a bunch of cocktails in advance of your party (up to three months!), which is great if you are serving a big crowd.

• This recipe uses 2 pints of ice cream and makes enough to serve 4 people, maybe 6.
• If you double it to use half a gallon, you wind up with 8 servings, which you could probably stretch to 10.
• And if you use the whole gallon of ice cream (8 pints), you can make 16 servings.

Ingredients

One trip to the grocery store and your local liquor store is all you need to make these easy cocktails! Here’s what to get:

Ice Cream

You can use any kind of vanilla ice cream. Sue recommends vanilla bean ice cream or you could make her homemade vanilla bean ice cream.

If your ice cream is rock-hard, you may need to soften it so it doesn’t break your blender. Try one of these methods for softening ice cream.

Ice cubes

You will need about 10-15 ice cubes to get that nice frothy consistency of a good milkshake.

Crème de menthe

Crème de menthe is a sweet, mint-flavored liqueur that you can find wherever you buy liquor. It comes in both clear and green colors, but you will want the pretty green crème de menthe de so your cocktail winds up with that gorgeous mint green color. If you have the clear version, you can add a few drops of green food color to the blender.

Clear peppermint schnapps is a good backup for this cocktail — just make sure to add some green food coloring for that grasshopper color. Or, use homemade peppermint vodka and enjoy a pretty pinkish red color instead!

Crème de cacao

Similarly, crème de cacao a sweet, chocolate-flavored liqueur. It comes in a clear version and a dark brown color. You will want to pick up the clear version, called white crème de cacao, so it doesn’t interfere with the pretty green color of the crème de menthe.

Garnish

To top off the cocktail, you might want something chocolate to finish it off. When you garnish a cocktail, it makes guests say, “wow!” Here are a few ideas:

• Cookies: I used Pocky, which are chocolate biscuit cookies from Japan, come in chocolate, chocolate almond and cookies and cream. You could also use ladyfingers, chocolate wafer cookies or Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies.
• Fresh mint: Add a sprig of mint leaves to garnish this drink.
• Toppings: Another idea is to dust the top of the cocktail in chocolate shavings, cookie crumbs or festive sprinkles. Mini chocolate chips would also work.
• Rim: You could rim the cocktail in chocolate sprinkles or Oreo cookie crumbs. (Crushed candy canes would be pretty for Christmas for a red-and-green look. Pour some honey or maple syrup on a plate and some sprinkles on another plate. Lightly touch the top of the glass in the honey, making sure there are no drips, then dip it in the sprinkles or crumbs to coat.
• Chocolate syrup: Drizzle chocolate syrup or chocolate sauce around the edge of the glass before scooping in the ice cream cocktail mixture.
• Whipped cream: What’s a milkshake without whipped cream?! And what’s an adult milkshake without boozy whipped cream? There, I said it.

How to make a frozen grasshopper

You will love how easy this recipe is, especially if you are planning a party.

First, combine all the crème de cacao, crème de menthe, ice and about half the ice cream. Pulse together until combined, then add the rest of the ice cream and blend until nice and creamy.

Then, pour it out into a freezer-safe container with a lid. I used a loaf pan with plastic wrap, but you can also pick up one of these reusable ice cream containers (so handy for homemade ice creams). You could also rinse out the vanilla ice cream container and reuse it for this mixture.

You can eat this concoction fresh after making it, or you can freeze it to have on hand for your party. It will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.

To serve, add scoops to a pretty glass (a martini glass works well) and top with a splash of crème de menthe.

Variations and substitutions

This cocktail is like a boozy milkshake that is full of mint flavor (not unlike these boozy mint chip milkshakes). Here are a few ways to make this grasshopper milkshake your own.

Use coffee ice cream. This will make it a Frozen Brown Grasshopper. The Brown Grasshopper cocktail uses coffee instead of cream.

Use chocolate ice cream. You can totally use chocolate ice cream, but know it may affect the color of the cocktail.

Add some vodka. Add 1 part vodka to create a Frozen Flying Grasshopper cocktail. You can use plain vodka or vanilla vodka.

Make it dairy-free or vegan. Use soy ice cream or another non-dairy ice cream to make this recipe vegan and dairy-free. (Crème de cacao and menthe do not contain dairy. The word “crème” refers to the high-sugar content.)

Freaky Friday

So what is Freaky Friday? It’s a day every once in a while when fellow bloggers come together and swap recipes on our blogs. Michaela from An Affair from the Heart is our host for the event, and she assigns the participating bloggers to another blog to remake a recipe of their choosing.

We try, photograph and write about the recipe as if it were our own, then we share them on the same Friday and all link to each other. It’s a great way to meet other food bloggers and try new recipes. I hope you meet someone new!

See all of our 2022 Freaky Friday Spring Edition Recipes

1. An Affair from the Heart – Blueberry Lemon Pull-Apart Bread
2. Aunt Bee’s Recipes – Baked Asparagus with Parmesan
3. The Carefree Kitchen – Carrot Cake
4. The Culinary Compass – Dunkaroo Dip Recipe
5. Devour Dinner –Fruit Charcuterie Board
6. Family Around the Table – Fresh Strawberry Milkshake 
7. Feast + West – Frozen Grasshopper Martini
8. Home Cooked Harvest – Rocky Road Brownies
9. Hostess at Heart – Honey Bun Cake
10. Kathryn’s Kitchen Blog –Homemade Sour Cream Funfetti Cupcakes
11. Off the Eaten Path –  Beer Margarita Recipe
12. The Speckled Palate – Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies with Bourbon and Walnuts
13. Sue Bee Homemaker – No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake Bites
14. Take Two Tapas – Crab Dip
15. The Wimpy Vegetarian – Texas Trash Dip Warm Bean Dip

Frozen Cocktail Recipes

This Frozen Grasshopper cocktail is such a big hit, and I hope you’ll try some of Sue’s other recipes for frozen cocktails.

This frozen vodka slush brings together frozen orange juice and lemonade, sugar, green tea, and vodka and looks like a dream for summer nights!

These frozen Kahlua cocktails would be delicious with homemade coffee liqueur. You could make them in advance and serve them alongside the grasshoppers.

Make Frozen Blackberry Peach Margaritas for Cinco de Mayo or to enjoy this summer.

Watermelon Frosé looks perfect for summertime and I can’t wait to try it.

Sue’s whole site is filled with delicious recipes (and lots are from her mama’s kitchen!). I hope you’ll check out her site and find some new favorite recipes.

Mint cocktail recipes

Love mint? Try one of these minty drinks:

• Classic Mint Julep
• Spiked Peppermint Hot Chocolate
• Peppermint White Chocolate Martini