No fry fried ice cream recipe shows you how to make fried ice cream with a crispy coating without frying it! This simple five-ingredient recipe makes an easy dessert.
I've never met a Mexican or Tex-Mex dessert that I didn't like. When I worked at a Mexican restaurant in college, I fell in love with the desserts. They had flan, buñuelos, and fried ice cream, and I liked them all.
As great as that fried ice cream was, frying foods can be messy and time-consuming. This easy no-fry version gives you a scoop of ice cream with a sweet, crisp coating without all of the work and mess that goes along with frying.
How to make no fry fried ice cream
Step 1: Place scoops of ice cream on a tray or in a muffin tin. Cover loosely with plastic wrap, and freeze until solid, about 1 hour.
Step 2: Preheat oven to 350 F.
Step 3: Toss corn flakes, sugar, and cinnamon together on a small rimmed baking sheet.
Step 4: Drizzle with butter, and toss to combine.
Step 5: Bake corn flake mixture until toasted, about 4-5 minutes. Let corn flake mixture cool completely.
Step 6: Roll each scoop of ice cream in corn flake mixture until well-coated.
Step 7: Re-freeze scoops for at least 2 hours, or until frozen solid. Can serve topped with a drizzle of honey, chocolate sauce, or whipped cream.
Recipe FAQs
The no-fry version is largely made the same way as the fried restaurant version. The biggest difference is the way that the outside coating is crisped up. With the fried version, the ice cream is briefly dipped in hot oat to fry the coating. With this version, the coating is crisped in the oven so there's no need to fry it.
Absolutely! Feel free to use another flavor of ice cream - like cinnamon or caramel - if you prefer.
Topping suggestions
The fried ice cream is delicious as-is, but it's fun to top it with a drizzle of honey, dulce de leche or caramel sauce, chocolate syrup, and a bit of whipped cream and a cherry on top.
Storage
After step 9, the ice cream balls can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and stored in the freezer for about 1 month.
More dessert recipes!
If you’ve tried this no fry fried ice cream recipe, don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below. I love to hear from people who've made my recipes!
You can subscribe to receive my latest recipe newsletters or follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest for even more delicious food.
No-Fry Fried Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 6 scoops vanilla ice cream*
- 3 cups corn flakes crushed
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon butter melted
Instructions
- Place scoops of ice cream on a tray or in a muffin tin.
- Cover loosely with plastic wrap, and freeze until solid, about 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Toss corn flakes, sugar, and cinnamon together on a small rimmed baking sheet.
- Drizzle with butter, and toss to combine.
- Bake corn flake mixture until toasted, about 4-5 minutes.
- Let corn flake mixture cool completely.
- Roll each scoop of ice cream in corn flake mixture until well-coated.
- Re-freeze scoops for at least 2 hours, or until frozen solid.
- Can serve topped with a drizzle of honey, chocolate sauce, or whipped cream.
Video
Notes
- For the best results, I recommend choosing a good-quality vanilla ice cream.
- Nutrition values are estimates.
Cheri
A friend made this for dessert this evening and it was delicious! Surprisingly good! I plan to make it for my family. You won’t be disappointed!
Kate
Thank you!
Jon
Superb idea. A few alterations, possibly just because i was confused with the cornflake amount. I used 3 cups post crushed. I feel like there would be a much better, sugar mix to cornflake ratio if the recipe stated clearly 3 cups pre crushed, crush after measure. Also, we did not feel the need to pre scoop, freeze, roll in stuff and freeze again. We just added mix to bowl, rolled ice cream in, topped with more mix and it was fantastic.
Bottom line is i loved it, flavor was just right after adding more cinn n sugar. Thank you.
Kate
Hi! Thanks! =) It's 3 cups of cornflakes measured and then crushed. As an FYI - in my recipes, if the cornflakes needed to be crushed and then measured, I'd write it as "3 cups crushed cornflakes". I hope that helps to clear that up. I'm glad that worked out for you! My ice cream gets soft after scooping, and a re-freeze is a must for me, but absolutely do whatever works for you!
Betty Binder
Can you coat them with the flakes and freeze for a couple of days before serving?
Kate
You can! I've found that the coating loses just a bit of the crispiness, but you can make them a couple days ahead.
biz_kid1
Question...have you tried crushed buñuelos instead of corn flakes and cinnamon for coating? Plus, easy "cheat" since the buñuelos are already "made", maybe? I think we may try this for dessert tonight! :) I bet the crushed buñuelos work just as well, maybe better!
Kate
I love buñuelos! I've only ever had the ones that are more like donuts, but I'm guessing you mean the ones that are more like cinnamon sugar crisps. I think they would work just fine. Good luck, and I'd be interested to hear how it works out! =)
biz_kid1
Yes, the cinnamon crisp type! They were pretty good! I topped with caramel drizzle! YUM!
Kate
Awesome! It certainly sounds good! I may have to try some cajeta on this next time. =)
Damaris
Amazing photography! Love this recipe!
Kate
Thank you so much!
Sarah
SO good!!! Everybody loved it! Thanks!
Kate
Thank you! I'm glad everyone enjoyed it! =)