Frequently asked questions
Wow, is the homemade version of this flavor sublime! The soft, salty sweet bits of dough with pops of chocolate are abundant in the creamy, frosty vanilla cream. You can also make just the dough and throw it into purchased ice cream: a fun trick that lets you have any flavor base you want! There’s no surprise why this is a popular flavor. That chewy dough texture with a hint of salty sweet is incredibly satisfying! The cookie dough ice cream recipe below shows you how to make it using homemade vanilla base. Or, simply make the dough and fold it into store-bought ice cream for a fun, semi-homemade treat! Here’s what you’ll need:
1 recipe Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream or 1 quart purchased ice cream All-purpose flour Salted butter Brown sugar Vanilla extract Mini chocolate chips
If desired, heat treat the flour. For best food safety, you can heat treat it to prevent bacteria growth. Preheat the oven to 300°F. Place the flour on a baking sheet and bake for 4 to 6 minutes until the temperature reaches 165°F, checking every few minutes with a food thermometer. Cool completely before using (be patient: if the flour is warm the texture of the cookie dough will suffer). While we don’t always do this, it’s a good safety step to note. Form into pea-sized balls and freeze. It’s easiest to incorporate the cookie dough into ice cream when it’s made into very small bits. Portion out the bits with your hands and place them on a baking sheet, then freeze for 15 minutes or until hardened. If making in advance, store cookie dough until ready to use. If making in advance, remove the cookie dough bits from the tray once they are hardened and place in a sealed container for storage.
For homemade ice cream: Churn the ice cream, about 25 to 30 minutes. Place the ice cream in a loaf pan, then mix in the cookie dough crumbles. Then freeze for another 3 hours for hard ice cream texture. For purchased ice cream: Scoop a quart of purchased ice cream into a loaf pan and mix in the dough. Re-freeze for about 2 hours or until the desired hard ice cream texture is reached. Use any flavor you like! You can make your own version of cookie dough ice cream by varying the ice cream base. Make it with chocolate ice cream, peanut butter ice cream, or coffee ice cream as fun variations!
Freezer bowl ice cream maker: This type of maker is inexpensive. It does require thinking in advance to freeze the base of the ice cream maker overnight before making the recipe. We like this 2 quart freezer bowl ice cream maker, which is durable and has held up well over the years. Automatic ice cream maker: If you make ice cream often, you may want to consider an automatic ice cream maker. It’s larger and more expensive but requires no pre-freezing, so you can make ice cream at any time! (This is the type we use, but only because this is our job!)
Vegan: Use this Vegan Ice Cream base and vegan butter or refined coconut oil in the cookie dough Gluten-free: Use almond flour or gluten-free 1 for 1 flour
Try Rocky Road Ice Cream Go for Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Grab classic Vanilla Ice Cream, Chocolate Ice Cream or Strawberry Ice Cream Make Vegan Ice Cream (Dairy Free!) or Easy Banana Ice Cream Mix up Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream, Vanilla Ice Cream, or Blueberry Ice Cream
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2 tablespoons cornstarch 1 ½ cups whole milk, divided 1 cup granulated sugar 2 cups heavy cream ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Cookie dough
2/3 cup all-purpose flour 6 tablespoons salted butter, softened (or unsalted butter plus ¼ tsp salt) 6 tablespoons brown sugar ½ teaspoon vanilla extract ⅓ cup mini chocolate chips, plus additional if desired
**If using all purpose flour, you can heat treat it to prevent bacteria growth (optional). Preheat the oven to 300°F. Place the flour on a baking sheet and bake for 4 to 6 minutes until the temperature reaches 165°F, checking every few minutes with a food thermometer. Cool completely before using (be patient: if the flour is warm the texture of the cookie dough will suffer).
