A soft and chewy, chocolate chip studded, melt-in-your mouth cookie cake filled with your favorite ice cream making the ultimate Ice Cream Cookie Cake. It’s absolutely delicious and you would never guess it’s secretly made better-for-you using only unprocessed, unrefined ingredients! This healthy Ice Cream Cookie Cake is paleo-friendly (gluten/grain/dairy free), refined sugar free, and nut free!
What Does This Healthy Ice Cream Cookie Cake Taste Like?
This Ice Cream Cookie Cake is the perfect frosty treat to celebrate a long weekend or those long summer days! The cookie is incredibly soft and deliciously chewy but with perfectly crispy edges to stand up to the ice cream. The chocolate chip cookie cake has a deep dish style crust making it the perfect cavity to fit a pint of your favorite ice cream. Fill the cookie cake with your preferred vanilla ice cream and decorate it with berries for a festive, healthy dessert for Memorial Day or July 4th!
Here’s why you should DEFINITELY make this Ice Cream Cookie Cake!
- So quick and easy and a definite crowd pleaser!
- You wouldn’t believe it uses only better-for-you ingredients!
- The perfect healthy (ish) treat for any spring/summer celebration!
- Soft and chewy, chocolate chip-studded cookie with crispy edges.
- Can easily be a healthy patriotic dessert with vanilla ice cream and berries!
What Ingredients Are Used to Make This Paleo Ice Cream Cake?
This Ice Cream Cookie Cake is made healthier as it contains no refined sugars, flours, or oils. This easy summer dessert is paleo-friendly meaning it is gluten free, grain free, and dairy free. It also happens to be nut free!
Here’s a look at the ingredients you’ll need and some possible variations:
- Coconut Sugar – My favorite granular sweetener for refined sugar free baking. Coconut sugar has a similar flavor to brown sugar and makes this cookie cake taste absolutely delicious. I highly recommend Nutiva’s Coconut Sugar for the reasonable pricing and excellent quality.
- Tahini – I love tahini for cookie and cookie bar recipes, it creates a perfectly dense and chewy texture. My favorite tahini for baking is Whole Foods’ 365 Brand. It’s organic and not as expensive as other nut/seed butters. Feel free to use any nut/seed butter you like, preferably one that is thin and drippy like a natural almond or peanut butter.
- Avocado Oil – Adds additional moisture and helps with the browning process. I use Chosen Foods Avocado Oil (great pricing at Costco). Sub for olive or coconut oil.
- Eggs – Makes the cookie texture perfectly dense and chewy.
- Vanilla – For flavor!
- Cassava – An unprocessed flour that is gluten, grain, and nut free. I use and love Otto’s.
- Tapioca Flour – Helps thicken the cookie dough without making it too floury.
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda – We use both baking powder and baking soda to get a soft center and good browning along the top and edges.
- Salt – To balance the sweet.
- Chocolate Chips – Use any chocolate chips or a chocolate bar chopped into chunks you like! To keep this strictly paleo use your favorite maple or coconut sugar sweetened chocolate like Hu Simple Dark or Eating Evolved.
- Ice Cream – Use your favorite ice cream of choice! My current favorite dairy free ice cream is Nada Moo, it has a coconut milk base and wonderfully creamy, light, and just so tasty. I used their Marshmallow Stardust to fill the cookie cake for a little more color and extra berry flavor. They also recently came out with a sugar free line if you’re looking to reduce the overall sugar content.
How Do You Make This Healthy Cookie Cake?
This Ice Cream Cookie Cake is SO quick and easy to make! The batter comes together in just one bowl (yay for few dishes!), no chilling necessary, after it’s baked just fill with ice cream and freeze until you’re ready to enjoy! This Ice Cream Cookie Cake is absolutely perfect for your summertime celebrations because not only is it delicious and refreshing, it is a perfect make ahead dessert!
Here’s a quick overview of the steps and a few tips!
- Mix the wet ingredients together until thick and glossy.
- Stir in the dry ingredients until a dough forms, then add the chocolate chips or chunks.
- Pour dough into a baking dish. You can really use any 9 inch square or circle baking dish you like. I like using a springform pan because it lifts out easily and the crisp edges make for a pretty presentation.
- Bake the cookie cake. I like a just-baked, soft and dense cookie and found 30 minutes to be the perfect bake time. If you like a more underdone cookie bake for 28 minutes and for a fuller baked cookie, bake for 35 minutes.
- Let cookie cool. The cookie center will sink a bit as it cools. This is by design so there is the perfect low area to fill the cake with ice cream!
- Scoop ice cream into the cookie cake. I find it easiest to spread and scoop the ice cream when the ice cream has softened at room temperature for 2-3 minutes.
- Freeze the cake until ice cream is firm and you are ready to serve!
Make Ahead: This is really the ultimate make ahead dessert! The dough can be made ahead, spread into the baking dish, and kept, covered, in the fridge up to 2 days in advance. Because this is an ice cream cake it can be fully assembled and stored, covered, in the freezer until you are ready to enjoy!
The only thing better than an ice cream cake during these warm spring and summer days is an ice cream COOKIE cake! This Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake is deliciously dense and chewy but with crispy edges that stand up to the ice cream filling. Made with only unprocessed and unrefined ingredients that really makes this taste absolutely scream-worthy! And it’s easily made into a healthy patriotic dessert with a vanilla ice cream center and berry toppings to create a festive red, white, and blue treat for your summer celebrations!
paleo friendly (gluten/grain/dairy free), refined sugar free, nut free
More Healthy Patriotic Dessert Recipes!
- Red, White, & Blue Stuffed Cookies
- Cake Batter Rice Crispy Treats (Use red, white, and blue sprinkles)
- Paleo Berry Blondie
SHARE THE LOVE!
If you make this recipe, please spread the love and leave a review or rating down below. And I’d LOVE to see and share your creation! Take a picture and tag me on Instagram @freshlydafna in your feed or stories and I will share on my account!
Healthy (ish) Ice Cream Cookie Cake
A soft and chewy, chocolate chip studded, melt-in-your mouth cookie made into a cake and filled with your favorite ice cream to make the ultimate Ice Cream Cookie Cake. Perfect for any spring/summer celebration and easily made patriotic for Memorial Day or July 4th.
paleo (gluten free, grain free, dairy free), refined sugar free, nut-free
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (228 grams) coconut sugar
- 1/2 cup (130 grams) tahini* sub other nut/seed butter preferably thin & drippy
- 1/2 cup (122 grams) avocado oil sub olive oil or melted & cooled coconut oil
- 2 eggs ideally room temp
- 2 tsp vanilla
Dry Ingredients
- 1 cup (144 grams) cassava flour, spooned and leveled
- 1/2 cup (60 grams) tapioca flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp sea salt
Additions
- 1 pint ice cream of choice
- berries or other toppings of choice
Instructions
Heat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a springform pan (or other 9 inch circle or square baking dish of choice) by lining the bottom with parchment paper and greasing the sides with additional oil.
Mix the wet ingredients together. In a large bowl, if mixing by hand, or in the bowl of a stand mixer beat together the coconut sugar, tahini, avocado oil, and eggs on medium speed until well combined and creamy, about 2 minutes.
Add the vanilla and continue to beat on medium until the mixture is thick and glossy, about 1 more minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
Add the dry ingredients and stir on low until just fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl once or twice more during mixing to ensure ingredients are evenly distributed in the batter.
Stir in chocolate chips until well combined.
Pour batter into prepared baking dish and spread into an even layer.
Bake in the center of the oven for 28-35 minutes (see notes), the top and edges should be a golden brown and slightly puffed.
Let cookie cake cool on baking sheet for at least 10 minutes. Then spread ice cream into the center of the cake. This is a bit easier when ice cream has softened slightly on the counter for 2-3 minutes.
Freeze the cake until ice cream is firm and you are ready to serve!
Recipe Notes
Helpful Kitchen Tools (affiliate links): springform pan, silicone spatula, kitchen scale
Bake Times: I found 30 minutes to be perfect bake time for a just-done and soft center. If you like a more "gooey" underdone cookie bake for 28-29 minutes. For a fuller baked cookie, bake for 33-35 minutes.
Make Ahead: This is really the ultimate make ahead dessert! The dough can be made ahead, spread into the baking dish, and kept, covered, in the fridge up to 2 days in advance. Because this is an ice cream cake it can be fully assembled and stored, covered, in the freezer until you are ready to enjoy!
Ingredient Subs/Variations:
Tahini - The tahini should be thin and drippy. Sub tahini for any other single ingredient nut/seed butter that is thin and drippy, like a natural almond or sunflower seed butter that has a good amount of oil at the top. For best results, be sure to mix the nut/seed butter in the jar well before measuring. Do not use the compacted paste at the bottom of the jar. My favorite tahini for baking is the 365 brand from Whole Foods.
Chocolate Chips – To keep this strictly paleo use your favorite maple or coconut sugar sweetened chocolate like Hu Simple Dark or Eating Evolved chopped into chunks instead of chocolate chips.
Ice Cream – Use your favorite ice cream of choice! My favorite dairy free ice cream is Nada Moo, it has a coconut milk base and still perfectly creamy and light. I used this Marshmallow Stardust to fill the cookie cake for a little more color and extra berry flavor.
Red, White, & Blue Dessert – To make this a patriotic or festive dessert for Memorial Day or July 4th use vanilla ice cream and top with berries!
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