Rich and delicious, this vegan cookie dough ice cream is made from raw cashews and cashew milk. The ice cream is churned into a creamy base and filled with chocolate chip cookie dough chunks in every bite.
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Friends, it’s my first ice cream recipe of the season!
If you know me at all, you know that I am a HUGE fan of homemade ice cream and for the past 6 summers I’ve been sharing my favorite recipes with you on the blog.
Search my archives and you will find recipes for
- Pistachio Ice Cream
- Turkish Coffee Ice Cream
- Snickerdoodle Ice Cream
- Strawberry Ice Cream
But before you go looking for them, stick around for a moment so I can tell you about today’s flavor – the one to kick off the 2018 ice cream season.
Today, I am sharing with you one of my favorite ice cream recipes from childhood – vegan cookie dough ice cream – a rich and creamy cashew-based custard filled with sweet and salty chocolate chip cookie dough pieces in every single bite.
I can’t think of a better way to kick off the season.
Recommended Ingredients & Equipment
This ice cream is made out of a cashew-based custard that is rich, creamy, and relatively without flavor, meaning it absorbs the flavors around it. So good!
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Cashew Milk – I choose cashew milk because it is rich, thick, and flavorless but any non-dairy milk will do.
- Raw Cashews – If you don’t have a high-powered blender, make sure to soak your cashews for at least 2 hours prior to blending.
- Brown and White Sugar – Check out my guide to vegan sugars and alternative sugar replacements. For a healthier sugar alternative, I recommend coconut sugar.
- Coconut Oil
- Corn Syrup
- Vanilla Extract
- Salt
- Mini Chocolate Chips – My favorite brand of vegan mini chocolate chips. (<<affiliate link)
- Applesauce – This is the binder for the chocolate chip cookie dough. You could replace it with mashed bananas or a variety of other egg replacers.
- All-Purpose Flour – For a gluten-free recipe, I recommend 1:1 Gluten-Free Flour Baking Blend. (<<affiliate link)
Recommended Equipment
Most importantly, you will need an ice cream maker.
You also need a high-powered blender such as a Vitamix. These blenders can be pricy, but my Vitamix is, by far, the most used gadget in my kitchen. Most other blenders are simply not powerful enough to create a cream out of cashews.
In addition, you should also have a 9×5 loaf pan, ice cream scoop, and a set of reusable pint-sized ice cream freezer containers. (<<affiliate link)
Check out the full list of my recommended kitchen tools and gadgets.
How to Make Vegan Cookie Dough Ice Cream
Step One – Make the Cashew Base
Soak the cashews in distilled water for at least 2 hours.
Once they are soft, drain and rinse the cashews. Place them in a high-powered blender, along with the cashew milk, and blend until completely smooth. Add the sugar, coconut oil, corn syrup, vanilla extract, and salt and blend again.
Step Two – Chill the Custard
Transfer the custard to a shallow container, cover, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, until the custard is chilled all the way through.
Step Three – Make the Cookie Dough
While the ice cream is chilling, make your cookie dough.
For the cookie dough, I used a variation of my Classic Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe. I omitted the baking soda and swapped out regular chocolate chips for mini chocolate chips.
Roll dough into a thin log, cut into 1/4″ pieces and place in a single layer on a baking sheet in the freezer for at least 1 hour.
Step Four – Churn
Add the chilled ice cream base to the frozen ice cream bowl and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Church until the custard becomes thick and resembles soft serve.
Add the frozen cookie dough chunks and mini chocolate chips and mix to combine. You can serve now or transfer it to loaf pan and store in the freezer until ready to serve.
Serving and Storing
Store the ice cream in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 1 month. I store my ice cream in pint-sized ice cream tubs to keep them fresh and avoid freezer burn.
Serve your ice cream slightly thawed. Allow the ice cream to thaw 10-15 minutes before serving. Serve it in a bowl, in cones, or as part of an ice cream sundae.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need an ice cream maker?
While I totally recommend getting an ice cream maker ASAP, you can make a creamy custard without the machine.
To do this, make your ice cream base as outlined above. Once it’s ready, transfer it to a baking sheet and place in the freezer. When the ice cream is frozen, break it into chunks and blend it in a food processor until it becomes smooth and creamy. This may take up to 10 minutes. Transfer to a loaf pan refreeze.
You won’t get quite the same creaminess, but it works in a pinch!
I’m allergic to cashews, will something else do?
If you can’t eat cashews or don’t have a high-powered blender than can cream them, I recommend trying this recipe with my coconut milk ice cream. To do that, make the coconut milk ice cream according to the instructions and add the chocolate chips and cookie dough at the end, as in the recipe below.
More Vegan Ice Cream Recipes
- 5-Ingredient Coconut Ice Cream
- Raw Chunky Monkey Ice Cream
- Vegan Snickerdoodle Ice Cream
- Turkish Coffee Ice Cream
- Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
Vegan Cookie Dough Ice Cream
Ingredients
Cashew Ice Cream
- 2 cups cashew milk
- 1 1/2 cup raw cashews
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 tbsp. coconut oil
- 1 tbsp. corn syrup
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
Cookie Dough
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp white sugar
- 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp apple sauce
- 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Place the bowl of your ice cream maker in the freezer the night before.
- Add cashew milk and cashews to a high-powered blender and blend until completely smooth. Add all the remaining ice cream base ingredients EXCEPT the mini chocolate chips and blend together until well combined - about 2 minutes.
- Transfer to a shallow container, cover in plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator to let the ice cream base chill all the way through (about 2 hours).
- While the ice cream base is chilling, make your cookie dough. Stir together sugars and coconut oil together in a small bowl until evenly mixed. Add apple sauce and vanilla extract, stirring to combine. Once combined, sift in the flour and mix until an even dough has formed. Fold in the chocolate chips. Roll dough into a long, thin log and cut into 1/4" pieces. Place pieces on a baking pan and freeze for at least 20 minutes.
- When the ice cream base is chill, transfer it to the frozen base of your ice cream maker and churn the ice cream according to the manufacturer's instructions. Once it is thick and creamy and resembles soft serve, add 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips and frozen cookie dough chunks. Churn for 30 seconds more or until chocolate chips and cookie dough is evenly distributed.
- Transfer it to a loaf pan, cover, and place in freezer. Allow ice cream to freeze all the way through, about another 2 hours.
- To serve, remove from freezer and allow ice cream to thaw for 10 minutes before scooping.
- Store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 2 weeks.
Hi, I’m Sarah. I’m a 14-year (and counting) vegan, professionally trained photographer, former pastry chef, founder of My Darling Vegan, and author of the
Anna says
Hello! I am trying to make this, but a little confused by the cookie dough recipe. In the description I didn’t see when to add in the salt, and it also states to add vanilla but I don’t see vanilla in the cookie dough ingredients list. Thank you so much for your help! Sorry if I missed something!
Dee says
Ooh! This looks amazing! Just one question: Any recommendations on the quantity of maple syrup instead of corn syrup? Thank you!!
Emily says
Holy yum!! That looks amazing! Cookie Dough ice cream has always been one of my favorites.. I just got an ice cream maker and I’ll definitely have to make some!
Sarah says
Yay! It’s so fun to start experimenting with an ice cream maker. Enjoy!
Caitlin Galer-Unti says
I love my Cuisinart ice cream maker too! I’ve also had mine five years and it was such a good choice. 🙂 Cuisinart make great products in general though (I also have a mini food processor from them). This ice cream looks SO, so good.
Sarah says
Oooh! I want to get their mini food processor. I’ve been eying it for awhile.