Cookie Dough Nice Cream is a healthy remake of the popular ice cream flavor! Frozen banana slices are whipped together with a touch of almond milk, and paired with homemade gluten free edible cookie dough bites! It’s SO creamy and delicious, you won’t miss the original!
We love cookie dough in our house! I’ve made chickpea cookie dough, and vegan cookie dough bites, and today, I’m bringing to you the best ever cookie dough nice cream! Vanilla ice cream paired with chunks of cookie dough bites is a super decadent treat. However, it’s not something I buy from the store, and the kids only enjoy it when we go out for ice cream.
At home, I prepare dairy-free treats like my vegan strawberry ice cream and chocolate nice cream.
This recipe for cookie dough nice cream is super creamy like regular ice cream, but it’s vegan, dairy-free, and gluten-free, making it suitable for those on special diets.
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💗 Why You’ll Love This Easy Nice Cream Recipe
- Vegan and Dairy-Free
- Gluten-Free
- Refined Sugar-Free
- Easy to Make
- Only 5 Ingredients
🥣 Ingredients and Notes
Nice Cream
Frozen Bananas: You’ll need 4 ripe bananas, cut into slices and frozen. You can either use bananas that have already been frozen or slice the bananas and then freeze them before combining. The more ripe the bananas are, the sweeter the nice cream will be. Use bananas that are beginning to brown for best results.
Almond Milk: A small amount of almond milk is added to the frozen bananas to help them blend and create a creamy consistency. You can use regular, or vanilla almond milk depending on your preference. I recommend using unsweetened almond milk since the bananas are already very sweet.
Cookie Dough Bites
Almond Flour: Be sure to use almond flour, not almond meal. You can adjust the amount of almond flour used depending on how thick you want the cookie dough.
Almond Butter: I prefer to use raw natural almond butter. Trader Joe’s is my favorite. If you don’t have almond butter, you can use peanut butter or cashew butter.
Vegan Mini Chocolate Chips: Be sure to use vegan and dairy-free mini chocolate chips if you are vegan. I highly recommend using mini chocolate chips, and not regular chocolate chips because the cookie dough bites are quite small. Larger chocolate chips will take over the whole bite!
📋 Instructions: Cookie Dough Nice Cream
Step 1: Prepare the Bananas. Peel the ripe bananas, then slice them into even chunks. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and freeze for 2 hours. Note: If you already have frozen bananas ready to use in your freezer, prepare the cookie dough bites first because they need time to freeze.
Step 2: Prepare the Cookie Dough Bites. In a small bowl combine the almond flour, almond butter, and mini chocolate chips. Fold together until the almond flour is completely combined.
Step 3: Scoop the cookie dough into bite-size pieces. Using a ½ teaspoon, scoop the cookie dough into bite-sized pieces. Place in a small baking dish lined with parchment paper. Freeze for 2 hours.
Step 4: Blend the bananas. After two hours have passed, using a food processor or high-speed blender, add the banana chunks, and almond milk. Process until the bananas have a smooth soft-serve consistency.
Step 5: Combine the bites with nice cream. Transfer the nice cream to a bowl medium-size bowl, or 9-inch loaf pan. Remove the cookie dough bites from the freezer. Gently fold them into the nice cream. Optional: Sprinkle with additional mini chocolate chips. Freeze for an additional 30 minutes for a firmer consistency, or enjoy right away for a soft-serve consistency.
❓ Recipe FAQS
Nice cream is an easy dessert that resembles ice cream, but instead of using cream, milk, and sugar, it uses frozen bananas that are blended to create an ice cream consistency.
It’s called “nice” cream because it’s a healthy and dairy-free version of ice cream. There is also no added sugar. When frozen bananas are processed in a food processor or blender it creates a soft-serve texture.
It has a very similar taste and texture to soft-serve ice cream, but because it is made from bananas it does have the flavor of a banana.
Freeze the nice cream after it’s been blended for 2 hours to achieve an ice cream texture.
Once it is put back into the freezer it will become solid. If you want it to return to a soft-serve texture you will need to allow it to thaw at room temperature.
💭 Expert Tips for Making Cookie Dough Nice Cream
- Use ripe bananas that are beginning to brown.
- To save time, keep frozen bananas in the freezer. When I notice my bananas are beginning to brown, I peel them, transfer them to a freezer bag, and keep them in the freezer for when I feel like making a smoothie or nice cream.
- Add more depth of flavor to the nice cream itself by adding a ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon and nutmeg.
- Double the recipe for the cookie dough bites, if you’d like to use more as a garnish on top when serving.
- If the cookie dough batter is too thick, add a teaspoon of nut butter.
- If the cookie dough batter is too thin add a tablespoon of almond flour.
👩🍳 Serving Suggestions
This recipe makes 4 servings. Scoop into small bowls. Reserve a few of the cookie dough bites to place on top of each serving, and sprinkle with a few mini chocolate chips.
❄️ Store and Keep
Store: Keep in the freezer covered with plastic wrap, or in a freezer-safe container.
Keep: It will keep for up to 7 days. Once it is in the freezer for more than a few hours, it will become solid. Before enjoying it again, allow it to thaw at room temperature for 10-20 minutes.
😋 More healthy dessert recipes!
Recipe
Cookie Dough Nice Cream
Ingredients
- 4 ripe bananas
- ⅓ cup unsweetened almond milk
Cookie Dough Bites
- 4 tablespoon almond flour
- 2 tablespoon almond butter
- 2 tablespoon vegan mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Prepare the Bananas. Peel your ripe bananas. Slice them into even chunks. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and freeze for 2 hours. Note: If you already have frozen bananas ready to use in your freezer, prepare the cookie dough bites first.
- Prepare the Cookie Dough Bites. In a small bowl combine the almond flour, almond butter, and mini chocolate chips. Fold together until the almond flour has been completely combined.
- Scoop the cookie dough into bite-size pieces. Using a ½ teaspoon scoop the cookie dough into bite-sized pieces. Place in a small baking dish lined with parchment paper. Freeze for 2 hours.
- Blend the bananas. After two hours have based, using a food processor or high-speed blender, add the banana chunks, and almond milk. Process until the bananas have a smooth soft-serve consistency.
- Fold in the cookie dough bites. Transfer the nice cream to a medium-size bowl, or 9-inch loaf pan. Remove the cookie dough bites from the freezer. Gently fold them into the nice cream. Optional: Top with additional mini chocolate chips. Freeze for another 30 minutes.
- Serving. If you'd like reserve a few of the cookie dough bites to place on top of the nice cream, and sprinkle with ½ a teaspoon of mini chocolate chips on each serving.
Video
Notes
- Use ripe bananas that are beginning to brown.
- To save time, keep frozen bananas in the freezer. Whenever I notice my bananas are beginning to brown, I peel them, transfer them to a freezer bag, and keep them in the freezer for when I feel like making a smoothie or nice cream.
- Add more depth of flavor to the nice cream itself by adding a ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon and nutmeg.
- Double the recipe for the cookie dough bites, if you’d like to use more as a garnish on top when serving.
- If the cookie dough batter is too thick, add a teaspoon of nut butter.
- If the cookie dough batter is too thin add a tablespoon of almond flour.
- Keep in the freezer for up to 7 days.
- When ready to eat again, allow the nice cream to thaw at room temperature for 10-20 minutes before serving.
Juliane
Perfect for the hot weather here! Excited to give this a try!
Dannii
We are big fans of nice cream and this cookie dough version looks amazing.
Cyndy
I got hooked on “nice” cream last summer and I’m so excited to try this recipe. LOVE cookie dough and this looks so scrumptious. I am freezing my bananas tonight to make tomorrow!
Anita
The ice cream is really delicious, and the nice cream with banana is so much healthier than regular ice cream.
Sharon
This cookie dough ice cream is so good! Better than storebought cookie dough ice cream.