This vegan & Paleo Cookie Dough Ice Cream! A healthy & delicious dessert recipe absolutely loaded with chunks of cookie dough! Gluten/grain-free, dairy-free with no refined sugar!
How many of you love vacation? We went on our first family vacation in 6 years this June and it was glorious.
One of the best parts of vacation, of course, is the food! Depending on where you travel the cuisine can vary…however the one food that is available no matter what part of the world you visit is ice cream! Seriously, have you ever been on a get-away that didn’t include at least one stop at the local ice cream shop? I know I haven’t!
The problem is, that this lady and dairy do not get along, like at all…and very few tourist towns have vegan ice cream shops {major bummer}. I created this Vegan & Paleo Cookie Dough Ice Cream to make all my dreams {and yours} come true. Grab a spoon and dive right into this creamy dreamy vanilla ice cream completely loaded with cookie dough!
This Vegan Cookie Dough Ice Cream uses my vegan and Paleo Vanilla Ice Cream as the base, and adds an insane amount of giant chunks of cookie dough {that is also paleo AND vegan}!
Seriously, I am not one to play around with my add-ins. Have you ever bought ice cream from the store and found two measly chunks of cookie dough {or brownies or Reese’s Cups} in the entire container?! MAJOR bummer right there if you ask me!
LOTS of Cookie Dough!
Well never fear. This Paleo Cookie Dough Ice Cream has a borderline insane ratio of ice cream to cookie dough….which is just the way I like it. I mean seriously, look at that picture above. Alllll of that cookie dough got mixed into that container of vanilla ice cream…because I want a hunk {or chunk} of doughy goodness in every. single. bite.
Don’t judge, you know in a perfect world all ice cream would be this way. But we don’t live in a perfect world {stating the scary obvious truth right?}…so if you want this Paleo Cookie Dough Ice Cream ice cream done right, you need to make it yourself!
How to make Paleo & Vegan Cookie Dough Ice Cream
- Make & Freeze the cookie dough chunks. Like I mentioned above, I like a TON of cookie dough. If you’re a little more normal, feel free to halve the cookie dough portion of this recipe! It’s important to freeze the cookie dough before adding it to the ice cream so that it holds together!
- Make the vanilla ice cream. Using a combination of the Vitamix and an ice cream maker results in the easiest paleo ice cream EVER. Not to mention insanely delicious!
- Freeze! Mix everything together and freezer for at least 3 hours! Then grab a spoon and dig in!
Serving Suggestion for Paleo Cookie Dough Ice Cream
Obviously you can eat it alone! OR…serve on top of some paleo brownies (either these or these) and you will not be sorry!
This ice cream also is delicious with a drizzle of homemade almond butter! YUM!
Paleo Cookie Dough Ice Cream: Ingredients & Substitutions
- Almond flour. Using a paleo baking flour or all-purpose gluten-free flour works well in this recipe too! (although be sure to choose a variety that complies with your dietary needs).
- Almond butter. any nut or seed butter should be able to be substituted in this recipe with no trouble at all! My second favorite is cashew butter!
- Coconut oil. grass-fed butter or ghee can be used in place of coconut oil!
- Coconut sugar. Feel free to substitute your favorite granulated sugar for coconut sugar!
- Honey. To make this recipe vegan, use maple syrup in place of honey.
- Almond Milk. Any milk variety works great in this paleo ice cream recipe (dairy-free or dairy-full)
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Paleo Cookie Dough Ice Cream
Ingredients
Cookie dough chunks:
- 1 cup almond flour
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 2 TBS almond butter
- 1 TBS coconut oil measured in solid state
- 2 TBS coconut sugar
- 1 TBS honey or maple syrup for vegan
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 TBS almond milk
- ¼ cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
Make the Cookie Dough Pieces:
- In a small bowl, mix together the almond flour, salt, baking soda, and coconut sugar, set aside.
- In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the almond butter and coconut oil (warm for about 1 minute). Mix until well combined.
- Add honey, vanilla and almond milk, stir until combined.
- Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until homogenous.
- Add mini chocolate chips and mix well.
- Line a baking sheet with wax paper.
- Roll cookie dough into ½ inch balls or pieces (however you prefer your cookie dough in ice cream), placing each one on the wax paper. Once you have rolled all the dough, place it in the freezer.
Make the ice cream:
- Follow instructions here: Paleo Vanilla Ice Cream.
Putting it together:
- Once ice cream is finished churning, mix in your cookie dough pieces by hand. Transfer to a freezer-friendly container and freeze for at least 2 hours.
- When ready to eat, remove from freezer and let stand at room temperature for at least 5 minutes to make it easier to scoop!
Nutrition
This Paleo Cookie Dough Ice Cream is not a variety that I have to think twice about eating. I can dive right in without hesitation because not only is it easy on my tummy…but it is made with so many healthy ingredients! It is dairy-free and gluten-free, with no refined-sugar!
If you’re an ice cream lover but cannot tolerate dairy, you can also give this Dairy-Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream recipe a try…which is my all-time favorite. Next on my list is to merge the two…how does dairy-free chocolate peanut butter cookie dough ice cream sound? #goals!
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kendra
did you use blanched or unblanched almond flower? thank you!
Laura
Blanched!
Debbie
Hello I follow a ketogenic diet (eating no sugars that raise glucose levels) so do you think subbing the honey for powdered natural sweetener (to taste) would also work, i would also replace coconut sugar with the stevia
Laura
Hey Debbie! I honestly have never used either of those substitutes, and I am not familiar with the keto diet enough to make a recommendation! However, my concern would be that the ice cream wouldn’t be creamy enough if you substitute a liquid sweetener like honey with a granulated one.
Dana
Hey!!
How long will the cookie dough balls last/how do I store them?
Thank you!
Laura
Do you want them for another purpose than putting in the ice cream? I would store them in an airtight container in the freezer if you just want them around for snacking on! 😉 If you are making them to use in the ice cream you can store them in an airtight container in the freezer (glass container with a lid or a ziplock bag) until you’re ready to ask them! They haven’t lasted more than a month in my house…but by the end of that month they were still perfectly fresh and delicious!
Courtney
This looks divine– love those cookie dough chunks!
Laura
Never too many cookie dough chunks right?! 😉
Vegan Recipes
Oh wow this is like a dream come true! I wish I could have that with me right now, I guess I will have to make it myself. I will definitely try it soon! Thank you! 🙂
Laura
Thank you! It really is super delicious…and filling because of all the cookie dough! I hope you try it and love it! 🙂
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Now THIS, this is just a win! No other words!
Katie @ 24 Carrot Life
I am totally pinning this for later! It looks amazing and I love the cookie dough to ice cream ratio!
Alisa Fleming
Oh my word! This looks almost too good. I think I would have a hard time stopping at just one bowl. And I might eat half the cookie dough before the ice cream was done churning 🙂
Laura
LOL Alisa! First world problems right?! 😉 The thing about this ice cream is that it IS so loaded with healthy cookie dough that it’s super filling! I’m satisfied with a small scoop…which is uncharacteristic for me because I usually eat loads of ice cream in one sitting! LOL!
Jenn
Oh, man, now I totally want ice cream for breakfast! This LOADED cookie dough ice cream! I make cookies very similar to this and they are the BOMB frozen….so I KNOW this would taste good! Drool……
Laura
Ice cream for breakfast is always OK (in my humble opinion)! 😉 And loaded is the only way to go when cookie dough is involved!
Brie @ Lean, Clean, & Brie
Oooh how could I not love this recipe?! Definitely need to make it ASAP!
Laura
There’s truly nothing not to love about cookie dough! Right?! 😉
Emily Weir
Yesss! I’ve been wanting to figure out my own homemade cookie dough but haven’t gotten around to it. This looks delicious and I can’t wait to give it a try!
Laura
I love vegan cookie dough because you don’t have to worry about the eggs! My whole family loved this one! 🙂
Casey the College Celiac
That’s definitely the best part of making your own recipes – you get decide exactly how much cookie dough chunks you want!
Laura
YES!!!! There is never {ever} any skimping on the mix-ins in my house!
Megan
Wow I want this so bad.
So when I was in the US I was really excited to try Dairy Queen because I’d heard about it all my life in tv shows and books. I ordered the cookies and cream blizzard thingy and it was one of the most disappointing desserts of my life.
It just tasted like milk! There were no cookies!
I’m still bitter about it. Did I just make a bad choice?
Laura
LOL Megan!!!! No I had a similar experience when I was pregnant with Naomi! I hadn’t eaten DQ in YEARS and was craving it SO bad…and we went and it was a total let down. If you order a blizzard you always have to ask for extra mix-ins there. Honestly I’d skip it and go to a place like Culvers (custard)!
rachel @ athleticavocado
Totally drooling over this perfection! You are the ice cream queen 🙂
GiGi Eats
But seriously!!!! SPOON THAT IN MY FACE!!!
Laura
LOL AMEN!
sarah@creatingbettertomorrow
Any time I see the words cookie dough, ice crema, and then paleo…I get way too excited 🙂
Kristy from Southern In Law
This looks amaaaaaaaaaazing!
I’ve always loved travelling and one of my favourite things to do when travelling is to try the local produce! I must have known I’d one day find out I was a coeliac and needed a tradition I could keep as it’s the one vacation tradition I never had to change 😛
That means locally grown yellow watermelons in Louisiana, dragonfruit in Asia, teeny tiny bananas in Bali, corn by the roadside in New Zealand and whatever treasures I can find!
Emily
Your paleo icecream is so good, and now this one to add on top off it was like the BIGGEST cherry on top!
AZ@...And A Dash of Cinnamon
OMG this looks amazing! I am a huge fan of the insane ratio and am right there with you.
Valerie
My mouth is watering! I am weak when it comes to anything involving cookie dough!
Tara | Treble in the Kitchen
This is so up my ally! I am a cookie dough lover through and through. Love that this is a kind I can eat and not feel bad about it 🙂
Laura
Absolutely! I think it’s amazing how many healthy treats can taste so fantastic! 🙂
Farrah
Ahhh! This looks so amazing! *-* Can’t wait to try making it! Cookie dough ice cream is my favorite!!
Laura
Cookie dough ice cream IS one of the best! 🙂
Jamie @ Dishing Out Health
I knew once I saw that sheet of cookie dough on Instagram that something super fabulous was about to happen! Can I just say WHOOAA! You have done it again, girl. This is going on my list of must-makes!
Laura
LOL! Can you ever go wrong with a sheet full of cookie dough?!?! 😉