Chocolate-Covered Ice Cream Bites Recipe

Whether it's winter, spring, summer, or fall, ice cream is always a favorite dessert. Sometimes you want a great big bowl of the stuff, and sometimes you just want to eat it straight from the carton. And other times, just a small, sweet bite hits the spot. As recipe developer Katie Rosenhouse says of her chocolate-covered ice cream bites, they make for "a great way to enjoy ice cream without committing to a whole bowl," telling us, "I especially love them for quick grabbing in the afternoons."

These treats consist of the cookie of your choice, topped with a small scoop of ice cream, dipped in melted chocolate, and frozen until set. Rosenhouse cautions that though this dessert is easy and approachable, there is one key step you shouldn't skip: You'll need to let your miniature scoops of ice cream freeze completely before dipping them in the melted chocolate. "You'll want the ice cream to be completely firm," she says, which means you might have to do your dipping pretty quickly to avoid a messy meltdown. "If in doubt," she advises, "dip a few mounds at a time, leaving the rest in the freezer while you work."

To make this simple dessert, only 4 ingredients are used. You'll need some ice cream, of course, as well as chocolate chips, neutral oil, and sandwich cookies. Rosenhouse says you're free to use any flavors of ice cream, cookies, and chocolate chips you prefer, mixing and matching to your heart's content.

Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Dip a small ice cream scoop into a glass of warm water.

Use the scoop to portion a mound of ice cream onto each cookie, re-dipping the scoop in warm water as needed.

Use gloved hands to gently press each mound of ice cream into a smooth dome.

Place ice cream bites onto the prepared baking sheet and freeze until very firm, at least 2 hours (or overnight).

Melt chocolate chips and oil in a bowl set over a double boiler (or in the microwave) until smooth.

Dip one ice cream bite at a time into the melted chocolate, so the ice cream dome is completely covered. 

Repeat with remaining ice cream bites and return to the baking sheet. 

Drizzle a few ice cream bites at a time with remaining melted chocolate, if desired, and add any additional toppings before the chocolate sets. Freeze until ready to serve.

Rosenhouse calls these ice cream bites "completely customizable," explaining that you can use any flavor of ice cream you like. She opts for Häagen-Dazs mint chip and white chocolate raspberry truffle. You need not limit yourself to ice cream, either, since Rosenhouse tells us, "You can even opt for sorbet or a low-fat ice cream option." By extension, gelato would work as well, or you could go with that Midwestern favorite, frozen custard.

Need cookie inspiration? Rosenhouse says, "The sandwich cookies are the base of these ice cream bites, giving you something to hold onto while dipping," but she allows that non-sandwich cookies of any flavor could also work. Still, you'll probably want to make sure that the cookies you use are fairly sturdy so they can support the ice cream. Macarons, for example, might be too delicate, but chocolate chip cookies could make an excellent alternative to sandwich cookies. Depending on the size of the cookies, you may need to use a different size scoop, spoon, or measuring cup to portion out the ice cream.

When considering your ice cream bite toppings, Rosenhouse says to choose just about anything small, sweet, and freeze-able. "I wouldn't recommend fresh fruit for topping," as this tends to go limp in the freezer, she advises, but chopped dried or candied fruits could work. Other ideas include flaked coconut, colored sugar, crushed cookies, candies, chopped nuts, and sprinkles. Just remember to make some extra melted chocolate to serve as edible glue, and "be careful to only drizzle a few bites at a time so you can get the toppings to stick," Rosenhouse adds.

As for the candy coating, Rosenhouse says, "The crunchy chocolate exterior is a great contrast to the creamy ice cream center." You can use semisweet, milk, or white chocolate as you choose (try adding a few drops of food coloring to this last-named), or even flavored chips such as butterscotch. If you are using something other than chocolate, though, Rosenhouse notes that you might need to use a tiny bit more oil to achieve dipping consistency.