Melted Ice Cream Cookie Recipe: Soft, Gooey Summer Treat

The secret to the tender texture of Melted Ice Cream Cookies is simple: melted ice cream. Use your favorite ice cream flavor and mix-and-match chips and sprinkles for endless variations of these soft, melt-in-your-mouth cookies.

Why you’ll love this recipe

I live in St. Louis, a town that lives and breathes baseball. Summer and Cardinals red go together, so for my June military care package I created a baseball-themed box filled with treats that feel like home.

A care package for a baseball fan should be fun and familiar. Alongside store-bought team items, I included sugar cookies decorated like baseballs and these Melted Ice Cream Cookies.

Melted Ice Cream Cookies are dense yet tender little cookie balls with a gentle flavor from the ice cream and the mix-ins you choose. Rolled in sprinkles and finished with a red candy “cherry,” they resemble slightly melted scoops of ice cream.

Powdered sugar in the dough gives them a melt-in-your-mouth crumb while the sprinkles add a pleasant crunch. Try different ice cream and chip combinations to customize the flavor—chocolate ice cream with semi-sweet chips or vanilla with butterscotch both work well. I even joked that I sent ice cream to Afghanistan!

Care package contents

To set the mood, I decorated the box flaps with color photos of Cardinals players cut from the newspaper sports section.

The box focused on stadium-style snacks: peanuts (in a team-branded bag), Cracker Jack, themed Pez and cookies. Slim Jim jerky served as a hot dog stand substitute. Note that jerky and similar items may be restricted to certain military zip codes, so always check current shipping rules before sending.

I also included popcorn balls wrapped with baseball paper, sunflower seeds, Big League Chew gum and blow pops to round out the nostalgic snack selection.

Decorated sugar cookies

I kept the sugar cookie decorating simple and effective: white-iced rounds with red stitching to look like baseballs. I used tried-and-true sugar cookie doughs and a faux royal icing for decorating. The process is straightforward and works well for gift cookies and care packages.

1. Outline each cookie, then flood with white icing and allow it to dry completely, preferably overnight.
2. Use colored red icing to pipe the baseball stitching. If desired, lightly imprint curved guide lines after the white icing is fully dry to help with piping.
3. Pipe red lines and add small red “v” shapes along the lines to mimic stitching.

Instructions for Melted Ice Cream Cookies

Overview of the method—full details are provided in the recipe card below.

1. Whisk together all-purpose flour, baking powder, and confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl.
2. In a food processor, pulse the dry mixture with cold butter or vegetable shortening until crumbly. Add vanilla, an egg, and melted ice cream; process until a smooth dough forms.
3. Add chocolate chips and pulse a few times to distribute and slightly chop the chips.
4. Shape the soft, sticky dough into a disc, wrap in plastic, and chill in the freezer for about one hour or refrigerate overnight until firm.
5. Preheat oven to 350°F. Scoop 2-tablespoon portions, roll into balls, and coat evenly in sprinkles or nonpareils.
6. Place the coated dough balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet about 2 inches apart and gently press a red candy onto the top of each cookie.
7. Bake 12–14 minutes until just firm to the touch. Cool on the sheet a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Storage

Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.

More care package ideas

Here are a few other themed care package ideas for inspiration: a dog care package with peanut butter treats, an orange-themed summer box, a heat-conscious “Stay Cool” package, and an ocean-themed “Seas the Day” package. Each theme pairs treats and small items that fit the mood and help the recipient feel remembered.

My experience with this recipe

When shipping baked goods to very hot locations, I follow “desert safe” guidelines to choose recipes and ingredients that resist melting, molding, or spoilage. In extreme heat, hard candies can arrive melted and chocolate is often a no-go.

Small changes make a big difference for shipping: vegetable shortening is less likely to go rancid than butter, and white sugar is less likely to encourage mold than other sweeteners. For hot-weather shipments, consider swapping butter for shortening and choose recipes designed to hold up in heat.

Melted Ice Cream Cookies

These dense, tender cookie balls are flavored with melted ice cream and chocolate chips.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Chill time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes

Servings: 24

Calories: 187 kcal

Author: Wendy Sondov

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1 cup cold unsalted butter (or vegetable shortening for hot-weather shipping)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup melted ice cream
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1 cup sprinkles or nonpareils
• 24 red candies (M&M or similar)

Instructions

1. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl.
2. Pulse the dry mixture with butter or shortening in a food processor until crumbly.
3. Add vanilla, egg, and melted ice cream. Process until dough is smooth.
4. Add chocolate chips and pulse to distribute and slightly chop them.
5. Shape the dough into a disc, wrap in plastic, and freeze for one hour or refrigerate overnight until firm.
6. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment and place sprinkles in a shallow bowl.
7. Scoop 2 tablespoons of dough, roll into a ball, and coat in sprinkles.
8. Place balls 2 inches apart on the baking sheet and gently press a red candy onto each cookie.
9. Bake 12–14 minutes until just firm to the touch. Cool briefly on the sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
10. Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.

Notes

If shipping in hot weather, use vegetable shortening instead of butter to reduce the risk of heat spoilage.

Packing tips

• Double-wrap pairs of cookies in plastic with the bottoms together.
• Place wrapped cookies upright in a tight-fitting airtight container or zip-top bag with excess air removed.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 187 kcal | Carbohydrates: 24 g | Protein: 2 g | Fat: 9 g | Sugar: 12 g

First Published: May 24, 2014. Last Updated: April 13, 2022.