No-Churn Cookie Dough Ice Cream. Easy To Make, Even Easier To Eat!

We can’t get enough of frozen treats now that it’s the summer. Gina’s sorted us out with a no-churn cookie dough ice cream recipe that’s to die for.

I had the idea to make my own ice cream on a blistering hot (yet typical) Dubai summer afternoon. I was standing in my kitchen, safely protected from the blast furnace outside our castle of concrete and the coveted air conditioning when I heard that noise. The sweet, intoxicating melody that is literally music to my ears… the ice cream truck. It doesn’t matter how old you are, once you’ve heard that noise you’ve got shoes on (doesn’t matter if they match and most always, they’re on the opposite feet because you’ve already convinced yourself that he’s gone and it’s ok to run with your shoes on the wrong feet, it’s ice cream for heaven’s sake!) and most important a handful of change jammed in your pocket.

There we are me and the kids, running down the street, my little one has literally no idea what’s going except his mother is crazy and my oldest boy has that look of cheer happiness slapped ear-to-ear. We run, dripping wet from the gust of humidity and I come to a screeching halt. The music has stopped. Where is he? Where is my over-priced popsicle that will most likely melt before we get home? My oldest boy tells me, ‘Moooooom keep running!’

But I know we’ve lost him. I again faintly hear the hum of the music. He’s far. I’m hot. The kids’ hair is plastered to their faces. We solemnly saunter on back home. Defeat.

Now since ‘sugar’ might as well be my middle name, I am not going to let the ice cream man win this round. I had remembered from my Pinterest addiction that the latest craze at the moment is homemade ice cream. Better yet, no-churn homemade ice cream. This basically means you don’t need a fancy, expensive ice cream maker, just a simple hand-mixer. This is all well and good except for the fact that you can now make ice cream any darn time you want. This was the whole reason I never bought myself an ice cream maker – my waistline will never be the same. In any event, this is a good recipe to keep on hand for summer days when you too have missed the truck.

Although this is a cookie dough recipe, you can most certainly leave it out all together for a somewhat healthier option. Or throw in some chopped fruit, chocolate chips, crumbled biscuits, really anything and everything is possible, use whatever you’ve got on hand.

No Churn Cookie Dough Ice Cream

Ingredients

For the Cookie Dough
2.6 ounces (73 grams or 5 tbsp) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
2-3 tablespoons whole milk
1/3 cup PLUS 1 tablespoon chocolate chips

For the Ice Cream
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1. To prepare the cookie dough, cream the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally. Add the vanilla and mix until combined.
2. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in two separate additions, alternating with the milk after each addition. Take a small portion of the dough in your hands and squeeze. If it is still crumbly, add about a teaspoon of milk and stir until it comes together.
3. Add the chocolate chips and stir until combined. You may need to use your hands to work them through. Roll the dough into bite-sized pieces and place in a glass dish. It’s ok if they touch, they won’t stick. Once you’ve rolled all the dough into balls, cover the dish with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to firm up, about 1-2 hours.
4. Once the dough is firm, you can proceed with making the ice cream. Add the whipping cream to a large bowl and beat on high with a hand mixer (or stand up mixer) until soft peaks form. Add the sweetened condensed milk and vanilla and continue to beat on high until thickened. Do not over beat.
5. Add half of the cookie dough balls to the cream and gently fold in with a rubber spatula. Transfer the mixture to a typical-sized loaf pan (approx. 9”x3” or a 900g). Evenly top the cream with the remaining cookie dough and covered pan with aluminum foil. Place in freezer until frozen, about 5-6 hours.