Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream is the creamiest, sweetest dairy free ice cream recipe I've tried! Cashew milk ice cream is studded with edible cookie dough for a sweet summer treat.
This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases. All opinions are my own.
Jump to:
It's no secret that I'm chocolate chip cookie dough obsessed, so it should come as no surprise that cookie dough ice cream is hands down my favorite.
I couldn't just make regular cookie dough ice cream though, I needed to make it vegan! What came out was the creamiest non dairy ice cream recipe I've tried.
I have made a few coconut based vegan ice cream recipes with less than exciting results. When I finally tried cashew based ice cream I couldn't believe how creamy and delicious it was! The fat from the cashews acts just like heavy cream to give you that perfect scoop.
I like to enjoy this ice cream after a couple hours in the freezer, but if you've let it chill longer just let it sit on the counter for 10-15 minutes in order to be soft enough to scoop.
Cashew ice cream ingredients
- Cashews
- Cashew milk
- Brown sugar
- Granulated sugar
- Coconut oil
- Vanilla extract
- Salt
How to make cashew ice cream
- The night before, place the bowl of your ice cream maker in the freezer. Place your cashews in a large mason jar or bowl and cover with water. Let sit overnight.
- Drain the cashews and place them along with half the cashew milk in a high power blender and blend until completely smooth.
- Add the remaining ice cream ingredients and blend until thoroughly combined.
- Transfer the mixture to a gallon size freezer safe resealable plastic bag and zip closed. Place in the refrigerator and chill 2 hours.
- While the ice cream base is chilling, prepare your cookie dough.
- After chilling, transfer the ice cream base to your ice cream maker by cutting a small hole in one of the corners of the plastic bag and squeezing it out into the bowl. Freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.
- Remove the bowl from the ice cream maker and stir in the cookie dough chunks with a rubber scraper. Transfer the ice cream to a loaf pan, cover with plastic wrap, and freeze until firm, at least 2 hours.
- When ready to serve, let thaw 10-15 minutes before scooping.
Edible cookie dough ingredients
- All purpose flour
- Creamy natural almond butter
- Pure maple syrup
- Coconut oil
- Pure vanilla extract
- Salt
- Vegan mini chocolate chips
How to make edible cookie dough
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Spread flour on a baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes. Let cool.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together 3 tablespoons almond butter, ¼ cup maple syrup, 1 tablespoon coconut oil, and ½ teaspoon vanilla.
- Add 6 tablespoons of flour and ¼ teaspoon salt and stir until thoroughly combined. The dough should be soft, but able to roll between your hands without being too sticky and falling apart. If it is too sticky, add a bit more flour. Stir in chocolate chips.
- Roll dough into small balls about ½ teaspoon in size and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Freeze until ready to add to the ice cream, at least 1 hour.
Top tips
Edible cookie dough for ice cream
I used the dough recipe from my vegan cookie for one for the edible cookie dough chunks. The almond butter base makes it just the right soft and chewy texture when frozen.
To make the dough safe to eat, toast the flour before using. You can do this by baking it at 350ºF on a parchment lined baking sheet for 5 minutes.
I rolled the dough into balls and froze them on a parchment lined baking sheet until ready to use. You could also shape the dough into a flat disc, chill or freeze the dough and cut it into small bits before adding to the ice cream.
This recipe offers a generous chocolate chip cookie dough to ice cream ratio. It's fun to have a few cookie dough balls to sprinkle over the top of scoops, snack on while you wait for the ice cream to freeze, or of course you could shove them all in there.
How to soak cashews
This recipe calls for soaked cashews. Place the cashews in a large mason jar or bowl and cover with distilled water. Let soak eight hours or overnight. After soaking, drain the water and use only the soaked cashews in the recipe.
The best dessert salt
I like using Mediterranean sea salt in all my baking, including this vegan ice cream. The size of the salt crystals offer just the right balance to the sweet and nutty flavors. If you don't have Mediterranean sea salt, you can use another coarse salt or whatever salt you have on hand.
The best blender for cashews
You'll want a high power blender for this such as a Vitamix, Blendtec, or Ninja. I have a Vitamix, but this regular old KitchenAid would probably do the trick, or a NutriBullet in small batches.
The best ice cream maker for homemade ice cream
I used to use this KitchenAid ice cream maker attachment, but the bowl started leaking the freezing fluid. It worked great until then, but now I have a Cuisinart ice cream maker that I like much better.
Tips for customizing this vegan chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream recipe
- Experiment with your favorite edible cookie dough recipe (or store bought!) in place of this one
- Swap the cookie dough for brownie chunks, larabar bites, whatever your mouth can imagine!
- Follow the recipe but put the finished product in popsicle molds for chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream popsicles
- You could try your favorite gluten free flour blend to make this gluten free
FAQ
Healthy means something different to everyone, but let's not pretend that any ice cream is healthy. While this non dairy ice cream might be a healthier choice, it's still full of fat, sugar, and calories, so keep that in mind when choosing your portions and frequency.
This recipe is safe to eat. It doesn't contain any raw ingredients that might make you sick. If you choose not to toast the flour before using it in your cookie dough you run a small risk of salmonella contamination, but this is rare and I don't usually worry about it. You can visit the food safety website for more information on flour safety.
More vegan cookie dough recipes
- Vegan Cookie Dough for One
- Vegan Cookie Dough Dip for Two
- Vegan Peanut Butter Cookie Dough for One
- Double Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
- Pretzel Cookie Dough Truffles
More ice cream recipes
- Gingerbread Cookie Dough Ice Cream
- Brown Sugar Ice Cream with Honeyed Grape Nut Crunch
- Goat Cheese and Honey Ice Cream
- Strawberry Sorbet
- Cherry Crisp Ice Cream
- Butter Pecan Ice Cream
- Pistachio Ice Cream
- Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookie Ice Cream
If you make this recipe, be sure to rate it, leave a comment, or tag #theliveinkitchen on Instagram!
Recipe
Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream
Ingredients
Cashew Milk Ice Cream
- 1 ½ cups raw cashews, soaked (see note)
- 1 ¾ cups unsweetened cashew milk
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Vegan Cookie Dough
- 6-8 tablespoons unbleached all purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons creamy natural almond butter
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons vegan mini chocolate chips, I like Enjoy Life brand
Instructions
Cashew Milk Ice Cream
- The night before, place the bowl of your ice cream maker in the freezer.
- Place the cashews and half the cashew milk in a high power blender and blend until completely smooth.
- Add the remaining ice cream ingredients and blend until thoroughly combined.
- Transfer the mixture to a gallon size freezer safe resealable plastic bag and zip closed. Place in the refrigerator and chill 2 hours.
- While the ice cream base is chilling, prepare your cookie dough.
- After chilling, transfer the ice cream base to your ice cream maker by cutting a small hole in one of the corners of the plastic bag and squeezing it out into the bowl. Freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.
- Remove the bowl from the ice cream maker and stir in the cookie dough chunks with a rubber scraper. Transfer the cookie dough to a loaf pan, cover with plastic wrap, and freeze until firm, at least 2 hours.
- When ready to serve, let thaw 10-15 minutes before scooping.
Edible Cookie Dough
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Spread flour on a baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes. Let cool.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together 3 tablespoons almond butter, ¼ cup maple syrup, 1 tablespoon coconut oil, and ½ teaspoon vanilla.
- Add 6 tablespoons of flour and ¼ teaspoon salt and stir until thoroughly combined. The dough should be soft, but able to roll between your hands without being too sticky and falling apart. If it is too sticky, add a bit more flour. Stir in chocolate chips.
- Roll dough into small balls about ½ teaspoon in size and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Freeze until ready to add to the ice cream, at least 1 hour.
Kate says
I'm allergic to cashews, how could I use almonds/peanuts/no nuts as a substitute? Thanks! x
Lindsay Moe says
Unfortunately cashews perform differently than other nuts in this case, so I would not recommend swapping for a different nut. However, frozen banana nice cream would be delicious here, or you could try coconut ice cream like you'll find here: https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-vegan-ice-cream-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-204755. Best of luck!
Amanda says
Can the oil be left out or substituted in the ice cream and the cookie dough? Our household is oil free.
Lindsay Moe says
I can't fully recommend without trying, but you could try replacing the oil in the ice cream with more soaked cashews and the oil in the cookie dough with additional almond butter.