Fried Ice Cream No Deep Frying

Easy Fried Ice Cream without the Deep Fry!

Several months ago, I went to a local Mexican restaurant for dinner and finished with one of my favorite desserts, fried ice cream. As I sat there slowly savoring each bite and all of the delicious flavors it had to offer, I really thought about the process and asked myself, what is the purpose of frying it if you really are only frying the coating? Well, I thought, I’m going to try a cheater’s fried ice cream recipe. This homemade fried ice cream has everything the normal version has to offer, but it lacks all the tedious steps, lengthy prep times, and oily mess that comes along with the real deal. I decided to try simply frying (more of sauteing really) the crunchy cornflake coating and then rolling the ice cream scoops in the coating of crumbs. Plus, butter vs. oil, that’s a no brainer! Butter tastes way better so I went with butter instead for the sauteing. I hope you have a chance to try this soon, especially if you’ve been scared away from preparing fried ice cream at home due to its frying method. You’ll love this deliciously indulgent, easy-to-make dessert!

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Fried Ice Cream Ingredients

Crunchy Corn flakes cereal – these give it that traditional crispy shell crunch. Don’t substitute another type of cereal. Butter – I like the balanced flavor of salted butter here but unsalted butter would work too. Ground cinnamon – no skimping on the cinnamon here, it’s what gives the crumb mixture that classic crave-worthy flavor. Vanilla ice cream – you’ll need nearly a half gallon. Tillamook’s vanilla is a good option. Optional toppings (chocolate syrup, caramel sauce, whipped cream, maraschino cherries, strawberries) – I mean I say these are optional, but really are they? They complete the dessert in my opinion.

How to Make Fried Ice Cream the Easy Way

Crush cornflakes. Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in crushed cornflakes and cinnamon and increase heat slightly. Cook mixture, stirring constantly until golden brown and fragrant (color will deepen and begin to smell lightly toasty, and corn flakes should be crisp), about 2 minutes. Remove from heat, pour the mixture into a shallow dish, and allow to cool. Remove ice cream from the freezer, scoop out ice cream, and shape it into a ball with clean hands. Immediately drop scoops of ice cream into the cornflake mixture and roll to evenly coat. Let set in the freezer for 10 – 15 minutes then serve with desired toppings.

Can I Use a Different Flavor of Ice Cream?

Yes! The beauty of making homemade fried ice cream is that you can use whatever ice cream flavor you want. Just make sure the ice cream flavor complements the cinnamon in the fried cornflake coating. If you can find huckleberry I love it here (no toppings needed either), it’s not a Mexican flavor but it tastes like a blueberry crumble!

Can I Make it in Advance?

Yes, you can form the ice cream balls and roll them in the corn flake coating a few days ahead, just keep frozen and wait to add toppings until just before you serve it though.

Tips for Fried Ice Cream

If you wanted to really cheat you could simply sprinkle the warm, buttery corn flake mixture over the top of the ice cream and serve it up like an ice cream sundae. You can substitute some of the corn flakes for sweetened shredded coconut or chopped pecans for a slightly different flavor. You don’t have to shape the ice cream with your hands — only if you want each serving to look perfectly uniform!