The Ben & Jerry’s cookbook was one of the first cookbooks I ever bought! I actually got it from Vermont at their Head Office whilst I still lived at home with my family so it’s actually older than Chloe who helps me in this video. It’s a great book and i’d definitely recommend it. There’s a lot of awesome recipes from the Vermonster, New York Superfudge Chunk to Rolo ice cream, then some quirky stuff like beer sorbet! We opted for homemade Ben and Jerry’s cookie dough ice cream, complete with homemade cookie dough, it took a bit of time to make it, but the ice cream machine does all the hard work! Hope you enjoy our attempt, the taste comparison was scarily accurate!
Homemade Ben & Jerry’s Cookie Dough Ice Cream
Alright, lets get going, just a heads up you’ll need an ice cream maker and the bucket for it needs to be left in the freezer overnight as per package instructions before starting. Also try to keep all the ingredients as cold as possible to help the ice cream maker machine churn and be more efficient.
First up we make the no bake cookie dough, the book said to use an egg but I didn’t want to do that. Get a large mixing bowl and an electric whisk and beat together both sugars, vanilla extract and the butter until well creamed together, 3-4 minutes at medium speed should do it, makes sure it’s nice and blended. Add the flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda, fold in until well combined. Now fold in the chocolate chips and nuts (if using, I thought this helped make it taste identical though!). If the dough is a bit too soft add some more flout a tbsp at a time and beat it in until dissolved and the dough is firm but mouldable like plasticine. Grab small pieces of the dough and roll up into marble size pieces, nice and small. Scatter them out on a plate and place in the freezer for at least 30 minutes, or you could leave them overnight. The cold dough pieces will help be scattered around the ice cream better and won’t mush together.
Now lets make the ice cream, keep the cream and milk chilled until needed. Whisk the eggs in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes with an electric whisk. Add in the vanilla extract, then slowly whisk in the sugar, adding slowly as you go in batches until dissolved, then add some more, say a tbsp at a time, until all used and dissolved. Add the chilled milk and cream and whisk for a further minute or 2 to completely mix it. Now place this mixture in the fridge to keep it chilled and help the ice cream maker and get your ice cream maker bits ready.
When ready pour the mix into the ice cream maker and follow the instructions from the manufacturer. About 1 minute before it is done, grab the frozen cookie dough pieces and add it to the maker. This will churn it evenly without sinking or give off warmed cookie dough swirls through the whole ice cream – it keeps the pieces chunky and randomised! Eat either immediately or put in an airtight container and give a really good freeze overnight to get a good set. You may not be able to last that long though, it is very, very good!
Good luck if you try it and you can get the book here, I highly recommend it!