Ice Cream Dough {12 Months of Sensory Dough}


My inspiration for our ice cream dough is Kelly's Ice Cream Play Dough Recipe @ Smart Schoolhouse. Kelly uses two simple ingredients: pre-made (store bought) frosting from a can and powdered sugar. Please visit Kelly's post for simple instructions and gorgeous photos that will tempt you to want to make ice cream play dough!

I adapted it for our family by using homemade frosting colored with beet juice.

I used:

  • 1 cup grass-fed butter

  • 1 cup cream cheese

  • 1 bag of powdered sugar

  • beet juice juiced from fresh beets


I snuck in some grass-fed vanilla whey protein powder to make it a little healthier, but after all of the sugar we ended up needing, I don't think it helped in the least bit.

Then, we experimented. We first froze the frosting so it would be more like real ice cream, but not too long so that it would still be scoop-able.

We also made cake-cones to play with. (The idea was to limit the amount of frosting we actually ate, by filling the cones with cake).


When the frosting came out of the freezer, it was scoop-able, and yummy! but not playable - too sticky.




So, we set to make a dough that we could play with.


We added over half of another bag of powdered sugar to get the dough to a workable, playable consistency.

And we mixed it by hand. Elli liked that it was cold like real ice cream!



And it works!

It took quite a bit of adding and mixing, but it was not only scoop-able, moldable, and playable, but has a wonderful silky texture that looks like ice cream!


And is edible and delicious!


Though, a little goes a long way. Since beginning my Trim Healthy Mama journey, my little ones don't eat a lot of sugar. (They think Truvia is candy!) So, after I told Malachi that yes, he could eat his ice cream play dough cake cone, he joyfully went outside to enjoy it in the sunshine. He licked all the way around his cone (like he would a real cone, hehe!) and came back in saying that he had had enough and could he freeze it for later? :D

So we did more playing than eating!



To roll the ice cream play dough for cutting into shapes, we took a ball of dough and rolled it in powdered sugar before rolling flat to be cut with cookie cutters.


Because to Bo, play dough is play dough, and he likes to cut shapes out of it.


This post is a part of the Best of the Best Sensory Doughs: 12 Months of Sensory Dough!  On the 12th of each month, we will share a different sensory dough.

My co-hosts:

Lemon Lime AdventuresWildflower RamblingsGlittering MuffinsI Heart Crafty ThingsLittle Bins for Little HandsLook! We’re Learning!Natural Beach LivingPowerful MotheringStill Playing SchoolThe Eyes of a Boy, & The Life of Jennifer Dawn

Do you have a post on Ice Cream Dough that you’d like to share? Please read the guidelines @ Lemon Lime Adventures and link up below!

I'll see you next month for Fizzy Dough! 




9 comments

  1. Ooo I like this one! We will definitely try it some day! :)

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  2. I love how you turned the sensory experience into a treat as well! So much fun! Congrats on staying strong with your Trim Health Mama journey. I need to get on board with that! :)

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  3. Awesome! Wonderful recipe. I can't wait to try this out.

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  4. I love this, Michelle!! I love that you froze it and that Bo and Eli were a part of the creating process so sweet <3

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  5. Thank you! I did help taste test the dough when we did this though! :D I've lost 25 pounds so far, so it is worth it to get right back on plan!

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  6. Bo looks so "grown up" in that soccer shirt!

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  7. They did such a good job mixing up some fun ice cream dough! Love it!

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  8. WOW! Congrats on losing 25 pounds! I'm not too consistent right now, and find all sorts of excuses to not eat on plan. I'm frustrated that I'M the one that wants so very much to be healthier, and I'M the one I fight with the most! It's a heart issue. I'll get there. ;-) Congrats to you!

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