Prepare the cookie dough, according to directions. Roll the dough into small little bite-sized balls and place on a parchment paper lined baking pan into the refrigerator, covered in plastic wrap.
Put the coconut milk, dates and soaked vanilla bean in a blender and puree until smooth.
Add the almond milk (or other non-dairy milk) vanilla extract and thickener (if using). Puree until smooth.
Refrigerate for about an hour or so, until cold. You can also add to a plastic bag and submerge into an ice bath.
Pour into your ice cream machine and churn per the manufacturer’s instructions. Add the ice cream to your container and fold in the cookie dough balls.
Eat right away or freeze until hard, for perfect scoops.
Notes
other optional thickener: Kelly recommends guar gum – add 1/2 teaspoon to the blender with the other ingredients. note: gelatin is not veganI find I use about 1/2 to 3/4 of the cookie dough in the ice cream and I save the rest to crumble on top and I bake a handful of cookies with it. Use as much as you want in your ice creamopt for the coconut oil vs grass-fed butter in the cookie dough recipe to make dairy-free/veganyou can use any non-dairy milk of your choice where I use almond milk. Cashew milk, hemp milk, etc. For a super rich ice cream you can also use all coconut milk if you want, but obviously the coconut flavor will be much stronger. I find it can be a tad overpowering so I opt for almond milk.you can opt for coconut sugar or stevia as a sweetener option, as well, (read more here), but just note that the less sugar the ice cream has, the icier it will be.if opting for less sweetener, you've heard me mention in the past, but I recommend adding a little vodka, as the alcohol cuts down on the iciness, about 1 tablespoon.