When I created my chocolate chip cookie dough bites (which if you’ve not made yet then you need to, sharpish) it reminded me how much we used to love Haagen Dazs cookie dough ice cream back in the day (before I ditched the dairy and sacked off the sugar).

I actually had a little bit of a lightbulb moment – I already had the cookie dough, so all I needed to make was the ice cream! Now vegan and sugar free ice cream doesn’t sound in itself too enticing, but you’d be surprised, once you try this you won’t be able to tell it apart from the regular stuff! In fact I actually think it tastes better (biased though we might be) as it’s super creamy and perfectly sweetened, but made with only natural ingredients. 

The ice cream itself contains only five ingredients, which makes it very simple to make (and shop for) as well as pretty economical when you think how expensive branded tubs of ice cream are. This is such a great recipe if you’re entertaining or for giving to kids, or for any unexpected Bridget Jones moments that might pop up at certain times of the month!

Serves 2-3, depending on how much ice cream you can eat!

Ingredients

For the ice cream

• 2 cups cashews, soaked in water for at least four hours
• 1 cup coconut cream
• 1/2 cup dates
• 1 banana
• 2 tbsp cacao powder
• 2 tbsp water (more if needed)
• 1/2 a batch of our choc chip cookie dough bites

For the chocolate fudge sauce

• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tbsp cacao powder

To make the ice cream, blend the cashews after soaking until smooth. Then add in the dates, coconut cream, cacao and banana and whizz until thoroughly blended. The mixture should be the consistency of melted ice cream , so add in the water a tablespoon at a time until this consistency is reached.

Pour the mixture into a Tupperware container and place in the fridge while you make the cookie dough bites (click here for the recipe). Instead of rolling them into bite size balls, shape them into little balls about 1cm wide. Once these are made, stir them into the ice cream mix and place the container in the freezer. Leave for a couple of painfully long hours in the freezer to set, then it’s time to indulge!

To make the sauce, simply melt the maple syrup and cacao powder in a saucepan until they form a delicious gooey sauce. Double or triple the amounts if you’re feeling extra saucy!

P.S. a little tip – run your ice cream scoop or serving spoon under hot water before scooping out the ice cream to make it come out easier.

Love, Mrs H xx