Cookie Dough Ice Cream

Post updated 6-21-2023

Father’s Day is soon approaching, and I have the perfect foodie gift for the special dad in your life. Cold and creamy brown sugar ice cream is loaded with chocolate chip cookie dough bites for a satisfying treat.

This homemade ice cream is an easy summer dessert to make, only takes a few ingredients, and doesn’t require an ice cream maker.

A Special Thank You

A very special thank you to Mill King Creamery and Dairy . Their milk is low temp pasteurized and non-homogenized so that you can enjoy the freshest, most close to fresh from the cow, as you can get. Working with their heavy cream was very enjoyable. The flavor of the cream was clean and sweet, and the color was slightly yellow, meaning the cows they keep are getting a well-balanced diet. I appreciate the hard work and dedication it takes to bring milk to market. Also, a special thank you to Three Six General in San Marcos, TX, a small butcher shop that stocks locally made Texas products where I was able to find Mill King heavy cream in stock along with other locally made goodies. Shop local and support the small farms and businesses in your community folks! It’s very important to keep the local food movement alive.

Why I Love This Recipe

I use sweetened condensed milk and whipped heavy cream instead of making a custard base with eggs. This keeps the ice cream light and fluffy and omits having to make a custard. Don’t get me wrong, I adore a homemade custard ice cream, but I wanted a fluffier whipped consistency for this ice cream since I will be using it as the filling for my brownie ice cream sandwiches (coming Thursday).

The lighter whipped consistency makes this a light sweet treat for hot summer days plus, you don’t need an ice cream machine to make this ice cream. Whipped cream and sweetened condensed milk keep this ice cream soft and ready to eat after a few hours of chilling. Whipping the heavy cream and adding condensed milk also help the ice cream maintain a smooth consistency during freezing.

I make a larger batch of edible cookie dough so that every single bite of ice cream has cookie dough in it. The best part of cookie dough ice cream are those crunchy little bites of dough that keep you coming back for more. No swimming around with the spoon trying to scoop out the good bits out of the ice cream, this ice cream is loaded with them.

Using a little bit of brown sugar and vanilla extract while whipping the heavy cream enhances the cookie dough flavor making every bite taste like cookie dough. Brown sugar and vanilla add a pleasant warmth that is synonymous with fresh baked chocolate chip cookies.

Ingredients You Need

Ice Cream

-Heavy Whipping Cream- can use full fat coconut milk as a dairy free substitute. If using coconut cream, make sure to use the liquid at the bottom and all the solidified cream at the top. You will want to whip them together just like the whip cream until soft peaks form.

-Sweetened condensed milk- can use dairy free condensed milk as a substitute.

-Chocolate Chips-Mini chips work the best for the cookie dough bites.

-Brown Sugar

-Vanilla extract

-Salt

Cookie Dough

-Flour-heat treating the flour is a step I take out of an abundance of caution as there can be nasty bacteria lurking in uncooked flour. I heat treat the flour by microwaving and stirring the flour in a heat safe bowl for a minute before use in the recipe.

-Sugar and Brown Sugar

-Butter-I am using Browned Butter in this for an even yummier cookie dough bite. Brown butter gives a nutty toffee like flavor and adds a depth of warmth with brown sugar sweetened cream. But, I’m an avid baker that always has brown butter in the fridge. You can make this with unsalted butter with just as yummy results.

-Vanilla Extract

-Salt

Let’s Make Cookie Dough

I start with making the edible cookie dough first. If you would like a healthier version of edible cookie dough you can also use my No-Bake Cookie Dough Bites, and roll the dough out into small pieces to add to the ice cream.

I heat treat the flour I am using in a microwave safe bowl for 1 minute in the microwave. I stir halfway through to make sure all the flour is heated up. This will ensure that any nasties are gone before we use it in our recipe.  Before having kids I can honestly admit I wouldn’t have cared as much about heat treating flour, you could catch me eating raw spoonfuls of dough. But nowadays, even the slightest chance of someone getting sick in my household is a big NO in terms of risks I am willing to take at the moment.

In this recipe I will be using Browned Butter but you can use softened unsalted butter as well. The brown butter will give the cookie dough more of a nutty caramel flavor which will pair nicely with the brown sugar in the ice cream. I make sure the butter is very soft before adding the rest of the ingredients so I can mix the dough easily together with a spoon.

In a medium bowl smooth out the butter with the back of a spoon then add the remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly, leaving the chocolate chips for last.

Add in your chocolate chips and combine with dough. I like to use mini chocolate chips since they are the perfect size for our tiny cookie dough bites, but you can use any chocolate chips you prefer.

Once the dough is mixed, use the tip of a teaspoon to scoop out small bits of dough. I roll them around briefly in my hands to smooth out any edges and place them on a parchment lined baking tray. This can be a little tedious so if you would rather roll out on parchment and use a large knife to score the dough into small square pieces, then break them apart after freezing, it would cut down on time. Or, just skip rolling them out all together is fine too. You will never notice after it is added to the ice cream mixture. I do prefer to roll the tiny doughs out because I think it’s fun to get a variety of sizes of cookie dough in the ice cream and rolling out cookie dough is a relaxing activity for me.

Let the dough  bits chill in the freezer. Try not to sneak too many bites. This was a very hard task for my toddler.

I usually make a large double batch of these cookie dough bits and store them in a sealed bag in the freezer for up to 3 months. I love having cookie dough chilling in the freezer just waiting for me to share or add to the next recipe I whip up.

Let’s Make Ice Cream!

Place cold heavy whipping cream in a stand mixer with whisk attachment. Beat on medium high until soft peaks form.

Add in brown sugar, vanilla extract, and salt. Mix on medium high for a few seconds.

With mixer on medium, slowly drizzle in the condensed milk until all of it is mixed in. The cream should me smooth and fluffy.

Stir in frozen cookie dough bits with a spatula making sure not to stir too roughly. You want to maintain the fluffiness of the whipped cream. I use a gentle scooping motion form top to bottom until all of the cookie dough bits are covered in cream.

Pour into a freezer container. I am going to use this ice cream as a filling for brownie cookie sandwiches, so I poured the ice cream into a 9×13 pan lined with parchment. This makes it easier to cut out circles for the cookie sandwiches. When I am not making cookie ice cream sandwiches, I will scoop it into 9×5 freezer container with a lid.

Chill the ice cream for at least 6 hours before serving. I usually make this a day in advance, so it has all night to set up in the fridge.

Make scooping this ice cream easier by placing your cookie scoop in a bowl of very hot water for a few minutes before scooping. Let your ice cream soften for 5-10 minutes on the counter makes it easier to scoop as well.

Cold, creamy, light, and filled with cookie dough bites, this cool treat is sure to make everyone happy this summer. I will be kicking this recipe up another level by using it as the filling for my Brownie Cookies (for ice cream sandwiches) coming Thursday. Stay tuned!

If you try this recipe and love it as much as I do, please tag, follow, and like @sunshinetxcookies on Instagram and Facebook. New posts every Tuesday and Thursday so be sure to follow me for more delicious cookie recipes. Happy Baking!