Blue Moo Cookie Dough Ice Cream #IceCreamWeek

Welcome to #IceCreamWeek! Kim of Cravings of a Lunatic and Jen of Juanita’s Cocina have teamed up with more than 20 of their blog friends to bring you a week full of ice cream treats, including a special ice cream giveaway! Prepare to have your taste buds tempted with some of the best ice cream treats around! Make sure you enter the giveaway for a Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker and two fabulous ice cream cookbooks so that you can join in on the ice cream fun!

With the impending move away from Memphis, I’ve started to note food establishments that have items on their menus for which I may go through withdrawl and surely will find myself recreating in whatever city I move to next. Casablanca’s shawerma hummus platter, Deli Mexicana’s El Pastor tortuga, Aldo’s cheesecake, Chinese Sub Shop’s super sub, Trolley Stop’s jive turkey hoagie, and Bosco’s southwest grilled chicken salad to name a few. I’m such a food addict. This is what happens when your favorite restaurants are local establishments instead of chains.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg because this isn’t the first time I’ve run into this problem. First it was when I moved from where I grew up, Rochester, New York. I’ve already shared the delicacy that is the garbage plate with you and there’s also Dinosaur BBQ, Saranac root beer on tap, and Abbott’s frozen custard. Then while living in Columbus, I became obsessed with many other food items including but not limited to Hounddog’s three degree pizza with garlic crust, Moy’s General Tso’s and Sesame Chicken, and UDF’s blue moo cookie dough ice cream. Upon returning to either city I have a tendency to visit those establishments to feed my cravings but in between visits I sometimes attempt to recreate them at home. I cooked a homemade garbage plate and made a pizza dough once that resembled Hounddog’s.

Then there is UDF’s ice cream. Up until recently I wasn’t even entire sure what was in their blue moo ice cream other than pure deliciousness. I finally got the bright idea to check if they had an ingredient list on their website and sure enough there it was! Turns out it is just a vanilla ice cream base, dyed blue and with cookie dough pieces mixed in that contain candy coated chips. But the most interesting observation was the use of skim milk and no egg. From what I gathered from that information I recreated that ice cream with the recipe I have shared below, just in time for Ice Cream Week! It’s not an exact replica but I think it’s pretty darn close. My version is a bit more generous with the cookie dough but when is that ever a problem?

If you’d like to check out today’s #IceCreamWeek recipes, drool over the blogs below:

• Cookie Dough Ice Cream Sandwiches by Cravings of a Lunatic
• Butter Pecan Ice Cream by Juanita’s Cocina
• Cupcake Milkshakes by Cook the Story
• Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Waffle Sandwiches by Food Babbles
• White Chocolate Copycat Ice Cream by Quarter Life (Crisis) Cuisine
• Manischewitz Ice Cream by What Jew Wanna Eat
• Blue Moo Cookie Dough Ice Cream by The Spiffy Cookie
• Cherry Almond Crunch Ice Cream by girlichef

One year ago: Peach Greek Yogurt Pie

BLUE MOO COOKIE DOUGH ICE CREAM

Makes approximately 1 quart

Ingredients:

ICE CREAM

1-1/2 cups heavy cream

1-1/2 cups whole milk

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp cornstarch

Pinch salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Blue gel food coloring

COOKIE DOUGH

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

2 Tbsp heavy cream

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup candy coated mini chocolate chip

Directions:

1. Prepare the ice cream base: In a large saucepan over medium high heat, combine cream, milk, sugar, cornstarch and salt. Whisk until smooth and continuing whisking until it comes to a boil. Boil one minute, then remove from heat.
2. Transfer to a medium bowl set over an ice bath and let cool for 10 minutes. Stir in vanilla and food coloring until it reaches desired color. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, at least 3 hours or overnight.
3. Prepare the cookie dough: In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Mix in heavy cream and vanilla extract. Stir in flour and salt and mix on low speed until the dough comes together. Stir in candy coated chocolate chips. Roll dough into 1/2 teaspoon-sized balls, place on parchment-lined plate and put in freezer while churning the ice cream.
4. Churn the ice cream: Pour ice cream base into the canister of an ice cream maker and churn based on manufacturer’s instructions. Fold in cookie dough, transfer to an airtight container and press plastic wrap flush to the surface. Freeze 1 hour or until firm.

Source: Inspired by UDF’s Blue Moo Cookie Dough ice cream. Ice cream base adapted from All Day I Dream About Food. Cookie dough adapted from The Cookie Dough Lover’s Cookbook.