homemade cookie dough (explosion) ice cream

inspired by the july issue of martha stewart living, i made chocolate chip cookies for the camp out and suddenly decided to make good use of the extra dough by rolling it into tiny chunks for a fourth of july ice cream experiment. i froze the cookie dough chunks ahead of time (and hid it from sight). admittedly, i may never make this ice cream again because it was tedious work. next time i will have a friend help. still, the excitement about whipping up another batch of ice cream for a outdoor fireworks party was enough to keep me motivated.

to be honest i am a chocolate ice cream fan, so if i'm gonna eat a vanilla base i really prefer enough mix-ins to keep me marveling. and thus, i went a bit overboard with the amount of cookie dough in my batch, but like my sister says, there's no such thing as 'too rich' when it comes to dessert. we are sweet-toothed twins. benji was my taste tester and dan (in tie-dye) was my handy man ice cream maker. we make a good team. summer ain't over yet, let the ice cream making continue.

a side note for those of you extreme salmonella worriers. first off, i ate enough cookie dough ahead of time that i knew this batch of cookie dough was safe (taking one for the team). second of all, i grew up drinking shakes with raw eggs in it all the time. strange but true. did your mom ever do the same? so there. go safely. let your kids lick the beaters. life is short. be happy. make ice cream.

Homemade Cookie Dough Ice Cream
adapted from Williams-Sonoma vanilla ice cream recipe
*makes about 1 quart

2 cups whipping cream
1 cup milk
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt 
1 Tbs. vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups (or more) cookie dough chunks, prepped and frozen

In a bowl, stir together cream and milk. Add the sugar and salt and whisk until the sugar is dissolved, 3 - 4 minutes. There should be no visible graininess left in the bowl. Stir in the vanilla. Keep cold until ready to pour into ice cream maker. Pour cream mixture into the mixing container of your ice cream maker and freeze (or hand-crank) according to manufacturer's instructions.

Once the churning is almost through, add the cookie dough chunks and churn a bit more until blended. Pour soft ice cream into containers. (I like using rectangle pyrex pans as they fit so easily into the freezer. Lightly press plastic wrap directly on the surface of ice cream to avoid any freezer burn. For longer storage, wrap a tinfoil layer on top to secure.) Freeze 2 - 5 hours longer and serve.

*note / i doubled this recipe for our bucket ice cream maker. it was enough ice cream to fill a 9x13" pan and a 8x8" pan. (perfect for saving some and giving some!) one more thing, if you're serving the ice cream in bowls or ramekins, be sure to freeze the stack of bowls as well. the ice cream won't immediately melt once you scoop and serve. enjoy.

one more thing / happy seven eleven. (slurpees anyone?) and happy birthday to my big sister, gabi. (read my mom's inspirational account of becoming a mother here.)