Yes, a recipe for brownie ice cream. Because even if you’ve been smashing brownies into ice cream or mixing up chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream since you were a kid, we could all use a reminder. This simple recipe does the trick. It indulges crazy schedules and must-satisfy-now cravings by suggesting store-bought ice cream or gelato, although you may wish to opt for a homemade vanilla, just to make the best darn moment of your day even more astounding.–David Leite
Brownie Ice Cream FAQs
For sure. Use your favorite brownie recipe – whether it’s from a store, a box, or grandma’s recipe – we don’t judge. Also, use your favorite vanilla ice cream.
It’s dessert – feel free to get a little crazy. We think things like strawberries, bananas, and nuts would be amazing. Or chocolate chips or M&Ms, crushed candy bars, gummy worms, smashed Oreos, whipped cream, cherries… heck, you know what? How about all of it? And a big spoon.
And if you can’t get enough brownie in your life, serve it alongside of a big slice of brownie pie.
Brownie Ice Cream
Ingredients
Make the brownies (or substitute your fave homemade brownies)
- 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate*, broken into pieces or chopped
- 1/2 stick (2 oz) unsalted butter, plus more for the pan
- 2/3 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten
- 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3/4 cup pecan pieces, toasted
Make the brownie ice cream
- 2 pints store-bought or homemade vanilla ice cream
Instructions
Make the brownies (or substitute your fave homemade brownies)
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (176°C). Butter a 9-inch square baking dish.
- Place the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set it over but not touching a pan of almost but not quite boiling water. Heat until melted, stirring frequently.
- Carefully remove the bowl from the pan. Stir in the sugar and vanilla extract and let cool for a couple of minutes.
- Stir the beaten egg into the chocolate mixture. Sift the flour and cocoa on top of the mixture and then thoroughly combine the ingredients. Stir in the nuts. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, spreading it evenly.
- Bake the brownies for 12 to 15 minutes, until just firm to the touch. Let cool in the pan before slicing.
Make the brownie ice cream
- Move the ice cream to the refrigerator long enough to soften but not so long that it starts to melt. Dump into a large bowl.
- Chop the brownies into small chunks and mix them into the ice cream. Spoon it into a resealable freezerproof container with a lid and freeze until firm. You know what to do from here.
Notes
*What can I substitute for bittersweet chocolate?
Bittersweet chocolate rests in the 70% cocoa range and can be used interchangeably with semisweet chocolate, which is around 60%. However, there can be a huge range in the amount of sugar used, from brand to brand, so keep that in mind. There are a few other options that involve a little more measuring and mixing. For this recipe, you can use —2 tablespoons cocoa powder+2 tablespoons sugar+4 teaspoons butter OR —1 1/3 ounce of unsweetened chocolate+4 teaspoons sugar Just add either combination directly to the other ingredients and proceed from there.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
If you’re reading this recipe and asking yourself, why can’t I just go to the store and buy a pint of brownie ice cream, you’re absolutely correct—and also unworthy of this recipe. The fresh, nutty brownie taste is a complete revelation compared to the bland brownie chunks you’ll find in store-bought versions. The nut-to-batter ratio is perfect.
As you make the brownies, don’t worry if the batter seems skimpy—you’re not making a regular batch of brownies, but an ice cream add-in. I urge you to make this today and have a spoon in hand as you wait patiently (or not so patiently) by the freezer door for the ice cream to firm up.
This was a big hit here—I know we’ll be making it again. We made homemade vanilla ice cream to swirl the brownies in. This is a great one to get the kids involved in.
This recipe allows you to put your own spin on ice cream without needing any special equipment, or having to go back to the freezer every few hours to churn by hand. The brownies are so quick and easy to make, and they’re crumbly enough to break into small pieces while still being chewy in the centre. They give flavor and texture to a quality store-bought ice cream. The idea is so simple, yet it had never occurred to me to try it before—but I’ll certainly be trying it again.
This was excellent—not that I expected a quick, simple brownie ice cream to be bad. I didn’t, however, expect to consume the entire batch almost single-handedly in the span of 5 days.
I wound up stirring it into freshly made ice cream, but I’m sure it would work just fine with premium store-bought. The brownies were quite good on their own when fresh, too.
This brownie ice cream recipe is for sinners. It’s an excellent idea for a special and different dessert.
Here is a tip for softer ice cream: Wrap the packages in a couple of layers of plastic bags before storing them in the freezer. This way, the ice cream is always soft and ready to eat. I had only coffee mocha ice cream, and it was delicious for adults. Next time we’ll try it with vanilla ice cream. Thanks for the idea! I’m sure we’ll use it a lot in summer.
The brownie recipe was good—I doubled it because I figured what didn’t go in the ice cream could go in my tummy. Probably due to the recipe being doubled, the cook time was much longer than suggested: I had them in for 20 minutes, and the middle was still fairly gooey. I thought this might actually be a good thing—sort of a brownie-meets-cookie-dough concept, so I went with that. I used half vanilla and half chocolate, and swirled the still-sticky brownie through the softened ice cream. When it froze, the undercooked brownie was significantly harder in texture than the ice cream, so you sort of had to dig it out. The kids loved this, but my husband said that it mightn’t be so good for those trying to eat their dessert more “delicately.” All in all, I’d definitely make this again, and maybe make my own vanilla ice cream to go with it.
Wonderful, Tania!
it’s fab!! i luv it so much.
And that’s what we love to hear, ravi gupta! Many thanks for sharing the love with us….