Low carb vanilla ice cream packed with chunks of gluten-free chocolate chip cookie dough. The perfect summer indulgence.
It’s been a funny summer here in New England. The temperatures have been swinging wildly from sauna-like heat and humidity to unseasonable chilliness with lots of rain. A few weeks ago, I got into my car after a haircut and the car temperature gauge registered at 108F, which “cooled off” to a breezy 99F as I drove home. Although I’ve lived in warmer climes (Arizona), that was a bit mind-blowing for good old Boston. It’s little wonder I’ve been craving iced and frozen treats this summer. I am sure I crave them every summer, but this year, I’ve been making an inordinate amount of ice cream and popsicles. I can’t seem to get enough and neither can my kids. And I am having a grand old time trying to recreate flavours you’d find at your local creamery. As long as I can find a way to make it free of sugar, why not indulge?
When I saw that Davidson’s Safest Choice Eggs was having a no-bake recipe contest this summer, the little wheels in my head began a-spinning. Many no-bake goodies don’t take any eggs at all, but Safest Choice is challenging folks to actually use their pasteurized shell eggs in some great oven-free summer recipes. Since there is little risk of salmonella with Safest Choice, you are free to let your imagination run wild.
Of course, I had plenty of ideas for no-bake bars and cookies and such. But the heat was dragging me down and I wanted ice cream. Ice cream is, of course, no-bake by nature, so how to really play up the freedom of using the pasteurized eggs? What recipe would really show off the ability to use those eggs in raw form?
Cookie dough. Who doesn’t love to eat raw cookie dough? And who hasn’t worried that they are poisoning themselves by eating the cookie dough straight out of the bowl? Or, possibly worse, poisoning their kids by letting them lick the beaters and the bowl clean? Don’t hide your head in shame, we’ve all done it. I am quite certain that most commercial varieties of Cookie Dough Ice Cream contain egg-free cookie dough. But let’s face it, that’s fake cookie dough. REAL cookie dough contains eggs. So why not make REAL low carb chocolate chip cookie dough and freeze it in bits and mix that into my ice cream?
My only problem here was that my best chocolate chip cookie dough recipe made way too much cookie dough. I solved that simply by putting half of it into the ice cream and using the other half for actual cookies. You could also freeze it for future use, or you could try halving the recipe for the cookie dough (you would need to beat the egg and then measure out half of it).
I may, or may not, win the Safest Choice Eggs No-Bake Contest. Maybe YOU will win the contest! Come up with a great no-bake recipe that actually uses eggs and submit…you never know! But even if you don’t win the contest, we are all winners with Low Carb Cookie Dough Ice Cream.
Check out the Safest Choice Summer No Bake Recipe Contest on Facebook.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream – Low Carb and Gluten-Free
Ingredients
Ice Cream:
- 2 1/2 cups cream
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1/2 cup Swerve Sweetener or granulated erythritol
- 3 egg yolks
- 2 tbsp vodka optional, helps reduce iciness
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp liquid stevia extract
- 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
Cookie Dough:
- 2 cups almond flour Honeyville
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1/2 cup Swerve Sweetener
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3.5 oz high % cacao chocolate finely chopped OR Homemade Sugar-Free Chocolate Chips
Instructions
- For the ice cream, set a bowl over an ice bath and set aside.
- Combine cream, almond milk and erythritol in medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir until erythritol dissolves and mixture reaches 175F on an instant read thermometer.
- Whisk egg yolks in a medium bowl. Slowly add about 1 cup of the hot cream mixture, whisking continuously, to temper the yolks. Then slowly whisk egg yolk mixture back into cream, whisking continuously.
- Cook until mixture reaches 180F on an instant read thermometer.
- Pour mixture into bowl set over ice bath and allow to cool 10 minutes. Then wrap tightly in plastic wrap and chill at least 3 hours.
- Meanwhile, prepare the cookie dough**. Line a large baking sheet with waxed paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together almond flour and salt.
- In a large bowl, beat together butter and Swerve. Beat in egg and vanilla extract, then stir in chopped chocolate.
- Spoon about half of the cookie dough into small chunks on prepared baking sheet and freeze until firm. (Freeze the remaining cookie dough for another use, or bake into cookies**).
- Once the cream mixture is chilled, stir in vodka, vanilla extract and stevia extract.
- Sprinkle with xanthan gum and whisk vigorously to combine.
- Pour custard into the canister of an ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer's directions.
- Once churned, transfer half to a large, airtight container. Stir in half of the frozen cookie dough chunks, then top with remaining ice cream and remaining frozen cookie dough chunks until well combined.
- Freeze until firm but not rock hard, about 2 hours.
Notes
Disclosure: Safest Choice did not ask me to write this post. They are helping sponsor me to attend IFBC this year, but I did this post because I wanted to share the information about the No-Bake Recipe Contest.