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National Chocolate Mint Day

Food · February 19

A day for chocolate and mint together, from thin after-dinner wafers to mint chip ice cream, cookies, cocoa and peppermint bark.

National Chocolate Mint Day falls on Friday, February 19, 2027. That is 115 days away.

Chocolate and mint make one of the most familiar flavor pairings in American sweets. Dark, rich chocolate meets the cool, bright taste of mint, and each one makes the other seem a little sharper.

The pairing shows up in many forms. There are thin chocolate wafers with a mint layer, the kind sometimes handed out after a restaurant meal. There is mint chocolate chip ice cream, often tinted pale green, though plenty of versions are left white. There are cookies, brownies with a mint frosting layer, hot cocoa stirred with a peppermint stick, and peppermint bark broken into jagged pieces.

Most of the mint flavor in these treats comes from peppermint, which tastes stronger and cooler than spearmint. That cooling feeling comes from menthol, a compound in the plant that makes the mouth sense cold even when nothing is cold at all. It is why a square of chocolate mint can feel refreshing and rich in the same bite.

At home, the easiest route is a mug of cocoa with a few fresh mint leaves steeped in the warm milk, strained out before drinking. Bakers might add a drop of peppermint extract to a brownie batter or a chocolate frosting. Go lightly, since a little extract goes a long way and too much can taste like toothpaste.

Fresh mint is also easy to grow in a pot on a sunny windowsill, and it spreads fast enough that a single plant can keep a kitchen supplied for a long while.

Ways to celebrate

• Try a scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream.
• Steep fresh mint leaves in warm milk for homemade mint cocoa.
• Add a drop of peppermint extract to a brownie or frosting recipe.
• Share a box of chocolate mint wafers with coworkers.
• Plant a small pot of mint on a sunny windowsill.

Dates

All national days on February 19

Also on February 19

• National Arabian Horse Day

Categories: Food days