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Cookie dough ice cream

Vanilla ice cream with soft chunks of chocolate chip cookie dough, a classic you can buy almost anywhere in the U.S.

Classic A classic you can buy almost anywhere. What the badge means

Cookie dough ice cream is vanilla ice cream with soft chunks of chocolate chip cookie dough. It is one of the easiest flavors to find in the U.S., in shops and grocery freezers alike.

This page covers what it tastes like, how to make cookie dough ice cream at home from a base formula, what to serve with it, how common it is, and what the nutrition figures show.

What cookie dough tastes like

Cookie dough ice cream, also called chocolate chip cookie dough, is vanilla ice cream with soft chunks of chocolate chip cookie dough folded through it. The base tastes of plain vanilla, cool and sweet. The chunks stay soft, not crunchy, so each spoonful pairs a smooth scoop with a dense, doughy piece that carries its own chocolate chips. The ice cream is the pale cream color of vanilla, dotted with tan pieces of dough. The main mix-in is heat-treated cookie dough, cut into small pieces. That heat treatment is the point: it separates dough made and sold for eating raw from the dough you would bake into cookies.

Where cookie dough comes from

Ben & Jerry’s says cookie dough ice cream began in 1984 at its first scoop shop, in a renovated gas station in Burlington, Vermont. In the company’s account, an anonymous fan suggested mixing cookie dough into vanilla ice cream. Ben & Jerry’s says pints of the flavor reached grocery stores in 1991.

The dough itself needs care. The FDA says flour is a raw food that can carry harmful bacteria, and that cooking is the only way to be sure foods made with flour and raw eggs are safe. It advises against eating raw dough and against trying to heat-treat flour at home. That is why cookie dough ice cream uses dough made and sold to be eaten raw.

The flavor has a wide following. In YouGov’s 2022 poll, Midwesterners were the most likely to say they like chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, at 44%.

How to make cookie dough at home

Start with a plain vanilla base in the no-churn style, made from condensed milk and whipped cream. The Base Builder sets up that style for you. A Philadelphia base, with no eggs, works too. The Base Builder gives a base formula built on standard food-science ranges. It is not a tested recipe.

For the dough, use a cookie dough made and sold to be eaten raw. The FDA says home cooks should not eat raw dough and should not try to heat-treat flour at home. Chill the dough, cut it into small pieces, and fold them in at the end. If you churn a Philadelphia base, add them at the end of churning. Factories add pieces like cookies as the ice cream leaves the freezer, when it is about as soft as soft serve, which is why home cooks wait until the end.

Already have a recipe you like? The Recipe Scaler resizes it to your machine and converts cups to grams.

Base formula

Open the Base Builder: No-churn (condensed milk and whipped cream)

Other styles that suit it: Philadelphia (no eggs)

The Base Builder gives a base formula built on standard food-science ranges, not a tested recipe.

What to serve with cookie dough

Cookie dough ice cream works well with a warm sauce poured over the top. Hot fudge is a natural match, since it echoes the chocolate chips in the dough. Caramel sauce adds a buttery sweetness that suits the doughy chunks. For more crunch and chocolate, scatter extra chocolate chips on each scoop. Set out all three at a sundae table and let guests build their own bowls.

  • hot fudge
  • chocolate chips
  • caramel sauce

How common cookie dough is

Cookie dough wears our full moon badge, labeled Classic: a classic you can buy almost anywhere. In IDFA's April 2026 survey of 2,205 U.S. adults, it ranked 8th of 40, with 21% picking it as one of up to five favorites, and 5% named it their single favorite. In IDFA's April 2024 survey of 2,203 U.S. adults, it ranked 4th of 40, also at 21%. Instacart's 2025 order data put it at No. 3 in the top 10, at about 6.9% of ice cream orders.

How it ranks in surveys and order data

SurveyResult
IDFA survey, April 20262,205 U.S. adults, online, April 7-9, 2026, margin of error +/-2 pointsRanked 8th of 40: 21% picked it as one of up to five favorites
IDFA survey, April 20262,205 U.S. adults, online, April 7-9, 2026, margin of error +/-2 points5% named it their single favorite
IDFA survey, April 20242,203 U.S. adults, online, April 16-18, 2024, margin of error +/-2 pointsRanked 4th of 40: 21% picked it as one of up to five favorites
Instacart orders, 2025Instacart ice cream orders during 2025No. 3 in the top 10: about 6.9% of ice cream orders
Talker Research survey, 20255,000 Americans, 100 per state, June 23-30, 20258% named it their favorite
YouGov poll, 2020nearly 20,000 U.S. adults, published July 14, 20206% named it their favorite
  1. Rare Rare enough that you would most likely make it at home.
  2. Hard to find Look for it in specialty shops and seasonal runs.
  3. Sometimes found Found in some shops and some grocery freezers.
  4. Easy to find Common in most grocery freezers.
  5. Classic A classic you can buy almost anywhere.

Nutrition, roughly

FoodData Central has no record for cookie dough ice cream itself. The figures shown are for a plain vanilla base, regular to rich: 207 to 249 kcal per 100 grams. Regular vanilla has 11 g fat and 21.2 g sugars per 100 grams, and about 137 kcal in a 1/2 cup (66 g) portion. The cookie dough pieces and any sweeteners change these numbers.

Nutrition per 100 grams

FoodData Central record Calories Fat Saturated fat Sugars Protein
Ice creams, vanilla FDC 167575 1/2 cup (66 g): about 137 kcal, 7.3 g fat 207 kcal 11 g 6.79 g 21.2 g 3.5 g
Ice creams, vanilla, rich FDC 167573 249 kcal 16.2 g 10.30 g 20.6 g 3.5 g

FoodData Central has no record for cookie dough itself: these are the figures for a plain vanilla base, regular to rich. Mix-ins and sweeteners change them.

Questions people ask

Is it safe to put raw cookie dough in ice cream?

Use a cookie dough made and sold to be eaten raw. The FDA says home cooks should not eat raw dough, because flour is a raw food, and should not try to heat-treat flour at home.

When do I add the cookie dough pieces?

Add them at the end. Chill the dough, cut it into small pieces, and fold them in at the end of churning, when the ice cream is about as soft as soft serve, the way factories do.

What base works for homemade cookie dough ice cream?

A plain vanilla base in the no-churn style, made with condensed milk and whipped cream, works well. A Philadelphia base with no eggs also works. The Base Builder sets up either style as a base formula.

Bakery and dessert ice cream flavors · All flavors

Plan and make it with these

Sources

  1. The Epic History of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ben & Jerry's (the company's own account)
  2. Handling Flour Safely: What You Need to Know U.S. Food and Drug Administration
  3. America's favorite ice cream flavors (poll of July 13 to 18, 2022) YouGov
  4. Ice Cream Technology e-Book: Freezing/Whipping of Ice Cream H. Douglas Goff, University of Guelph
  5. Ice cream preferences of U.S. adults, topline results (Morning Consult for IDFA, April 7 to 9, 2026) International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA)
  6. Ice cream survey of U.S. adults, topline results (Morning Consult for IDFA, April 16 to 18, 2024) International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA)
  7. Pint-Sized Obsessions: Instacart Maps America's Favorite Ice Cream (2025 orders, July 2026) Instacart
  8. New Mexico, New Jersey are America's top ice cream connoisseurs (5,000 adults, June 23 to 30, 2025) Talker Research
  9. Most popular ice cream flavors (July 14, 2020) YouGov
  10. Ice creams, vanilla (FDC 167575) U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service
  11. Ice creams, vanilla, rich (FDC 167573) U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service

Every data source the site uses is on the Sources page.