Cookie Dough Ice Cream Bars

Cookie Dough Ice Cream Bars are topped with food-safe cookie dough, ice cream, and whipped cream, then garnished with cookie crumbs for a cookie dough lover’s dream dessert.

Cookie Dough Ice Cream Bars

My family totally loves Edible Cookie Dough; so much so, in fact, that I’ve also shared recipes for an edible Peanut Butter Cookie Dough, Brownie Batter Dough, and Cake Batter Cookie Dough. This is the first time, though, that I’ve used edible cookie dough as the base for an ice cream dessert. With cookie dough ice cream of course.

These bars are sweet, thick, and perfect for cookie dough lovers.

They start with a quick and easy edible cookie dough crust. Top it with cookie dough ice cream and whipped topping (homemade or store-bought). Finish with crushed cookies and they’re ready to serve!

Cookie Dough In The Ice Cream Bars

Regular (raw) cookie dough isn’t considered safe to eat because of health concerns revolving around both the flour and uncooked eggs.

But not to worry, I’ve made the cookie dough base on these ice cream bars, specially formulated to be safe; there are no eggs and the flour is heat-treated to ensure everything is safe to eat!

Heat-Treating The Flour

Many don’t know that raw flour can cause illness because it hasn’t been treated to kill germs like E. coli. To make edible cookie dough safe for these ice cream bars, we need to cook or heat-treat the flour. Here are three ways to do that:

• Buy pre-heat-treated flour, if available. If not, you can heat-treat it yourself:
• Microwave: Add flour to a microwave-safe bowl, heating in 30-second bursts and stirring each time. Use a thermometer to ensure it reaches 165°F throughout. Heat longer if needed.
• Oven: Preheat to 300°F. Spread flour on a lined baking sheet and bake, stirring every 1.5 minutes. Check with a thermometer until it hits 165°F.

Tips For Heat Treating Flour

Ultimately, the heat-treated flour should look and taste just like regular flour;  if it doesn’t, the cookie dough won’t taste right.

• Let the flour cool completely before using; hot flour can ruin the dough. Cool it at room temperature or speed it up in the fridge or freezer.
• Break up any clumps with your fingers and discard any that won’t break up or have discolored spots. Discard any burnt-looking flour to avoid a bad taste. Use only light, fluffy, white flour for the best results.

Cookie Dough Ice Cream Bar Garnishes

Cookie Crumbs

I use store-bought cookies, smashed into crumbs, but if you have some chewy chocolate chip cookies lying around, use those to crumble on top. While you don’t have to top these ice cream bars with cookie crumbs, it adds a delicious flavor and makes for a fun garnish.

Chocolate sauce and mini chocolate chips

I usually like these ice cream bars with just cookie crumbs, but if you’re looking for something a little extra or especially love chocolate, they’re also good with a handful of miniature chocolate chips and a drizzle of hot fudge or chocolate sauce.

More Ice Cream Treats

• Brownie Ice Cream Bars with Samoa cookies
• Ice Cream Pie only three ingredients
• Churro Ice Cream Sandwiches with a chocolate ganache
• Mint Ice Cream Bars with a brownie base
• Icebox Cake with Oreos

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5 from 4 votes

Cookie Dough Ice Cream Bars

By Chelsea Lords

Cookie Dough Ice Cream Bars layer edible cookie dough, ice cream, and whipped cream, topped with cookie crumbs—a dream dessert for cookie dough lovers!

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes minutes

Freezing Time: 8 hours hours

Total Time: 8 hours hours 25 minutes minutes

Servings: 1 9 x 9-inch pan of bars (12 bars)

Equipment

• Baking pan 9 x 9-inch
• Parchment paper
• Stand mixer optional, for whipped cream

Ingredients

1x2x3x

USMetric

Cookie Dough “Crust”

• ▢ 8 tablespoons unsalted butter 1/2 cup, melted
• ▢ 1/2 cup light brown sugar firmly packed
• ▢ 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• ▢ 2 tablespoons whole milk 1% or 2% will work
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour see note 1
• ▢ 3/4 cup miniature chocolate chips

Ice Cream, Whipped Cream, and Garnishes

• ▢ 1 (48-ounce) container cookie dough ice cream
• ▢ 1 cup heavy cream see note 2; or 1 container (8 ounces) completely thawed whipped topping (like Cool Whip)
• ▢ 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ Optional toppings see note 3

Instructions 

• Heat Treat Flour: See note 1; You can heat treat flour in the microwave or oven. Test the flour to ensure it’s reached a safe temperature of 165°F. Let flour cool completely to room temperature before using. Don’t use any burnt or clumpy flour (if it’s off color or smells burnt, it is burnt). The flour should be light, white, and fluffy. Use a spoon to measure the cooled flour into a measuring cup and level the top of the cup with the back of a table knife.
• Line a 9x9-inch pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang of paper so you can easily remove the bars to cut and serve.
• Place the melted butter in a large bowl and let it cool to room temperature. Hot butter will melt the sugars and cause greasy dough. Once cooled, add the brown sugar and granulated sugar. Stir to combine. Add milk, vanilla, salt, and heat-treated flour. Stir with a wooden spoon until dough is smooth. Stir in mini chocolate chips until combined (you may need to knead the chocolate chips in by hand). If the dough is too dry, add a bit more heavy cream; if it is at all wet, add 1–2 tablespoons more heat-treated flour.
• Press the prepared cookie dough evenly along the bottom of the pan. Use the bottom of a 1-cup measuring cup to press the dough firmly into an even layer. Scoop the cookie dough ice cream over the cookie dough layer. Use a strong spatula to smooth the ice cream as much as possible into an even, flat layer. Cover and freeze bar for 2 hours up to overnight.
• In a bowl attached to a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, add the heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Beat to combine, then increase the speed. Whip until firm peaks form, about 2–4 minutes. With a spatula, spread the whipped cream over the ice cream until smooth. Alternatively, spread 1 (8-ounce) container fully thawed whipped topping on top of the bars. Freeze bars to harden, about 30 minutes to an hour.
• To serve, remove from the pan using the parchment paper overhang and cut into bars. If desired, top each bar with a handful of crumbled cookies. You can also add hot fudge topping and/or mini chocolate chips if desired. (I usually just serve with cookie crumbs.)

Recipe Notes

Note 1: Here’s how to heat treat flour:

• Heat treat 1/2 cup more flour than you’ll need (in case edges burn).
• Microwave: Add flour to a microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring between each, to avoid burning or clumping. After each burst, check the temperature. It’s done when it has reached 165°F.
• Oven: Preheat the oven to 300°F and line a large sheet pan with a nonstick liner or parchment paper. Spread the flour on the pan. Bake, stirring and checking the temperature every 2 minutes until it reaches 165°F, about 3–6 minutes.

Note 2: Either use 1 (8-ounce) container of whipped topping (completely thawed) like Cool Whip® or make your own whipped topping as explained in the recipe. I prefer homemade, but either works great!

Note 3: Optional toppings: 3–4 chocolate chip cookies to crumble on top, hot fudge topping or chocolate sauce, and mini chocolate chips.

Storage: Return any leftovers promptly to the freezer. Whipped topping doesn’t thaw and refreeze well (it becomes icy), so try to finish the bars a few days after making.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 565kcal | Carbohydrates: 60.8g | Protein: 6.5g | Fat: 33.8g | Cholesterol: 136mg | Sodium: 76.9mg | Fiber: 1.3g | Sugar: 49.9g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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