Cookie dough ice cream is my ultimate indulgence. When I was a teenager, my friend Sarah and I would go to the shopping centre in Sheffield, Meadowhall, every Saturday and eat jacket potatoes with beans and feel superior to all the people shoving McDonald’s burgers down their throats. We would then go to Baskin Robbins and order cookie dough milkshakes which probably contained more calories than a McDonald’s family meal, but somehow our sense of superiority survived in tact. My teens years were an interesting time.

I think I’d vomit if I tried to drink an entire cookie dough milk shake these days, but still the lure of those delicious little oases of dough in a thick, creamy ice cream drags me in every now and again. At least, I reason, I know exactly what’s in it when I make it myself.

This ice cream has the benefit of not being full of sugar, but a nice infusion of coffee makes the whole thing feel somewhat more grown up, even with cookie dough scattered throughout. This is easy to make and will please quite literally anyone you care to serve it to.

You’ll need:
(Makes 1 medium tub)
3 cups coconut milk
1 tablespoon instant coffee
1 cup plain flour*
1/3 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup Earth Balance / vegan margarine
100 grams dark chocolate, roughly chopped into small pieces
salt
pinch of cinnamon

Method:
In a pan, gently heat the coconut milk and stir in the instant coffee
Remove from the heat and place in the fridge to cool completely
When the mixture is almost cool, grab a medium mixing bowl and cream together the sugar and Earth Balance / margarine until smooth and pale
Add in the flour, cinnamon and salt and mix until combined
Add in half the chocolate and stir to mix
Roll into a series of small balls – the size is up to you
When the mixture is totally cooled, pour it into an ice cream maker for around 20 minutes until ready. Pour in the remaining chocolate pieces 5 minutes before the end of churning
As you pour your ice cream into its container, scatter the balls of cookie dough randomly throughout, then when they’re all in, set the ice cream in the freezer to set
Enjoy!

*You can easily make this with a GF flour if you want to keep this dessert gluten-free. I’d recommend something mild like oat flour rather than a heavy tasting chickpea flour or something like that.

If you want to be utterly indulgent (and who doesn’t?) you can make an affogato out of this ice cream; that is, you can serve 2 scoops in a glass and cover the whole thing in a piping hot espresso. This is one of those treats for a hot afternoon when you’ve achieved something deserving of such a treat. Don’t go for more than 2 scoops though; that’s just insane.