Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream
5 from 23 votes
Prep Time 30 minutesminutes
refrigeration time 4 hourshours
Total Time 4 hourshours30 minutesminutes
Servings 12scoops
Calories 424
Cookie dough ice cream is better with brown butter chocolate chip cookie dough!
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Equipment
ice cream maker
Ingredients
Ice Cream Base:
550gramswhole milk(2 cups plus 2 Tablespoons)
255gramsheavy cream(1 cup plus 1 Tablespoon)
2teaspoonsvanilla bean paste(or vanilla extract)
¼teaspoonfine sea salt
55gramslight brown sugar(¼ cup)
6large egg yolks
125gramssugar(½ cup plus 2 Tablespoons)
Cookie Dough:
113gramsunsalted butter, cut into ¼ inch squares(8 Tablespoons or 1 stick)
120gramsall purpose flour(1 cup)
66gramsgranulated sugar(⅓ cup)
73gramslight brown sugar(⅓ cup, firmly packed)
1Tablespoonmilk
1teaspoonvanilla
½teaspoonsalt
170gramssemisweet and/or bittersweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate(1 cup)
Instructions
Cookie Dough:
Preheat oven to 350° F.
In a large saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Once fully melted, increase the heat to low-medium to cook the butter, stirring frequently with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon. The butter will start popping and crackling and then start foaming. The part of the butter that will start browning is the milk solids which will be on the bottom of the pan. This is why you need to keep stirring and lifting the spatula or spoon out of the pan to see what stage it is at. Once you have nicely browned specks on the bottom of the pan, remove the pan from the heat and immediately pour the butter into a heatproof bowl to stop it from cooking any further. (Be careful not to overcook the butter. It can go from brown to burnt very quickly.) Allow the butter to cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate until hardened, at least two hours. (Brown butter can be made up to one week in advance and stored in the refrigerator.)
Place a piece of foil or parchment paper on a shallow baking sheet like a jelly roll pan. Spread the flour on it and bake for 10 minutes, stirring half way through. Allow to cool to room temperature.
In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the brown butter, sugar, brown sugar, milk, and vanilla. Add the flour and salt just until combined. Fold in chocolate or chocolate chips.
Spread cookie dough into a large rectangle and completely wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes before churning the ice cream base. While the ice cream is churning, cut the cookie dough into bite-size pieces (approximately ½ inch squares). Fold into churned ice cream.
Ice Cream Base:
Fill a large bowl half way with ice. Pour cold water over the ice so that the bowl is no more than ⅔ high. Place a clean bowl on top of the water bath. Place a strainer over the empty bowl. Set aside
Combine milk, cream, brown sugar, vanilla bean paste, and salt into a 2 or 3 quart saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring the mixture occasionally to ensure the sugar dissolves.
While the liquid heats up, vigorously whisk the egg yolks with the sugar. You want to whisk it until the mixture turns pale yellow, becomes thick, and forms a ribbon when dripped on itself. (You can use an electric mixer with the whisk attachment if you are feeling lazy. It will take approximately 5 minutes of constant whisking by hand.)
Once the liquid mixture comes to a simmer, turn the heat off and let it sit for a minute or two. With the bowl containing the egg/sugar mixture secure on the counter (if no one is around to hold it, place it on a rubber mat (like a Silicone Hotpad) or wet a dishtowel and wrap it around the base of the bowl), slowly pour the heated liquid mixture into the eggs, whisking constantly. Once fully incorporated, pour the contents of the bowl back into the saucepan. Over a medium-low heat, stir the mixture constantly with a wooden spoon until it reaches 185°F or a line holds when you drag your finger across the back of the wooden spoon. (It should only take a minute or two to reach the correct temperature.)
Immediately remove the saucepan from the heat and pour the cooked mixture through the strainer into the empty bowl sitting in the ice water bath. Stir the mixture as it sits in the ice bath every 2 to 3 minutes until the mixture has completely cooled, about 10 minutes.
Pour into a container. Cover with plastic wrap directly over (touching) the mixture. Cover and place in refrigerator for 4-24 hours.
Follow your ice cream manufacturer’s directions to churn the ice cream. Towards the end, add the chopped cookies or fold in the cookies by hand with a rubber spatula. Transfer the ice cream to a freezer container. Cover with a piece of parchment paper or plastic wrap directly on the surface. Cover container and freeze.
Notes
For the chocolate in the cookie dough, I recommend using mini-chips and/or cutting up good quality chocolate into small, mini-chip sized pieces. You can certainly use regular chips, but it's more enjoyable to eat frozen chocolate in small pieces.