Experience the delicious taste of fried ice cream with this homemade ice cream recipe, without the need for frying. The delicious crumb mixture will give you that perfectly fried texture.
We know the name is a little deceiving, but once you taste this amazing creamy vanilla ice cream rolled in the crunchy coating, you will more than forgive us and add it to your favorite desserts list.
The ball of ice cream rolled in the golden brown cereal coating will give you the taste and look of fried ice cream from your local Mexican restaurant, without having to attempt frying the ice cream dessert.
About this recipe:
This fun dessert is a combination of delicious ice cream rolled in a cereal mixture similar to Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal, to get those delicious, creamy cinnamon and vanilla flavors all mixed into one.
After all of that, place the rolled ice cream in a deep bowl and drizzle hot fudge, caramel sauce, and a maraschino cherry on top of the ice cream to finish.
Is This Fried Ice Cream Recipe Fried?
The short answer is nope, it is not! It is ice cream scoops rolled in a corn flake mixture to create the effect you would get for perfect fried ice cream.
Is there a substitution for Coconut?
You can leave the coconut completely out of this recipe. It will change the flavor slightly, but the recipe will work fine without it.
Can you use another flavor of Ice Cream?
You can make this recipe whatever you want it to be. Using chocolate ice cream or even coconut ice cream would be delicious in this cornflake mixture with hot fudge and peanut butter.
Expert Tips:
- If you’re looking for more crunch, try toasted coconut or chopped nuts on top!
- We love these best with chocolate, caramel, and whipped cream. Yyou can also serve them with strawberries or other fruit toppings as well.
- To roll ice cream balls, you could even wear plastic gloves to make rolling the balls easier.
Make Ahead & Storage Instructions:
Fridge: Store leftover Fried Ice Cream in the freezer covered in plastic wrap. Or in an airtight container for up to one week.
Make ahead: This recipe can be made up to a week before you serve it. To keep them tasting extra fresh, make the ice cream balls ahead of time and then roll them in the topping the day of.
Side dishes to serve with this recipe:
- Churro Waffles Recipe
- Puff Pastry Baked Churros Recipe
- Instant Pot Churro Bites
- Copycat Taco Bell Cinnamon Twists
Fried Ice Cream Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 cups Cornflakes Cereal, crushed
- 1 cup coconut
- ⅔ cup sugar
- ½ cup butter, melted
- 1 Tablespoon corn syrup
- 1½ teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ gallon vanilla ice cream
- whipped cream, for topping
- hot fudge , for topping
- caramel, for topping
Instructions
- Crush cornflakes in a bag using a rolling pin until crumbs form.
- Melt butter and add cornflakes, coconut, sugar, corn syrup, and cinnamon.
- Roll ice cream into 3 inch balls. To roll the ice cream into balls, only thaw the ice cream slightly so you can easily roll it with your hands. You could even wear plastic gloves to make rolling the balls easier. Then roll the ball in the cornflake mixture. You may need to pack the mixture firmly around the ice cream ball.
- Place the covered ball onto a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper.
- Freeze until firm, about 4 hours.
- When ready to serve, top with whipped cream, hot fudge and caramel.
Notes
- If you are looking for a quick and simple replacement for coconut, I highly recommend trying it without the coconut. There won’t be a huge difference, but it will still taste absolutely amazing.
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave a review or a question in the comment section below the post.
What a great idea, all the flavor of fried ice cream without all the work! Can’t wait to try this!
Yum! I’ve made a fried ice cream similar to this and it’s so yummy. This looks great!
YUM! This looks amazing!
Looks delicious will try. My family love ice cream.
This looks fabulous Kendra! Plus it’s an easy treat which is always great in my book!
Is there anything else to use if we don’t like coconut? otherwise, it sounds wonderful 😉
Hi Judy, I really think you would be fine to just leave the coconut out all together if you are not big coconut lovers. Hope this helps!!
Cyd (mom of the six sisters)
I worked in a Mexican restaurant and we didn’t fry ours at all. All it was was cinnamon, sugar and cornflakes so you can even leave all th e other ingredients out too.
Made 30 of these babies for our Cinco de Mayo party tonight in addition to homemade tamales, chips, salsa, and red beans and rice. These were amazing! So good. I was surprised. I love my mexican food, and especially fried ice cream and I love this. Definitely a keeper!
OMG
Hi Kendra, I know this may be obvious, but the 4 cups of corn flakes is that the measure before or after crushing. I really look forward to serving these soon. I really appreciate all of the recipes you and your sisters share with the rest of us. Thank you so much!
It is four cups after being crushed.
Has anyone ever done this using a sheet pan, not rolling the ice cream into balls? I have a football banquet I would like to try this, but I don’t want to make 150 little balls!
Would this work with coconut ice cream (non-dairy)? It is more of a Thai flavor… would everything else stay the same?
If the non dairy ice cream is the same texture as regular ice cream, it should work just fine.