Cool off this summer with a healthier version of a cookie dough blizzard.

Bry likes to joke that I’m a professional quitter. And while I’ve gotten much better at the whole commitment thing as an adult, I have to fess up and say that as a kid he was totally right. My mom put me in almost every sport imaginable, and if there wasn’t a big enough motivator then you can bet I’d be done with it by the end of the season (sometimes by the end of the first practice. . .). Soccer was too competitive (I was only 4 or 5), tennis only kept me interested until I had the complete outfit, swim team practice was too early (who wants to wake up early during the summer), piano was at the same time as basketball, basketball got too intense with the coaches, volleyball was the same season as field hockey once I got to high school, and field hockey was uber intimidating once I got to college. So what does this have to do with cookie dough blizzards?

Well the one of the positive memories I have of playing sports is occasionally going to Dairy Queen after a game or practice and getting a cookie dough blizzard. I just loved those sugary bites of cookie dough and oftentimes would just eat all of them off the top, scoop out the ones hiding in the ice cream, then throw out the rest once all the cookie dough bites were gone.

While I can’t remember the last time I had a blizzard from Dairy Queen, I’ve been having my own homemade version quite often lately . The cookie dough “batter” is super simple and made with wholesome ingredients: oats pulsed into flour, real maple syrup, almond butter, vanilla extract, pinch of salt, and mini chocolate chips. Mix everything in a big bowl then start the hardest part of this whole recipe: rolling the batter into 50 tiny balls using a teaspoon. Once you have them rolled, pop in the freezer for 15-20 minutes and you’re ready to start blending your “ice cream”.

Since the Dairy Queen blizzards are really more an ice cream/milkshake hybrid, I added some almond milk to the frozen bananas to make it more liquidy than traditional “nicecream”. However, if you want a thicker treat, leave out the milk and just pulse your bananas in a food processor until creamy!

So here’s a toast to cookie dough blizzard motivation this summer!

Print Recipe

Healthier Cookie Dough Blizzard

Cool off this summer with a healthier version of a cookie dough blizzard.

Prep Time15 mins

Total Time15 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Gluten-Free, Healthy dessert, Healthy Smoothie, Vegan

Author: Kelli

Ingredients

For the Cookie Dough Bites:

• 1 cup rolled oats pulsed into a flour
• 1/3 cup almond butter
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Pinch salt
• 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

For each blizzard:

• 1 frozen banana
• 2 Tbsp unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• A few cookie dough bites

Instructions

To make the cookie dough bites:

• combine all ingredients for cookie dough bites in a mixing bowl. Batter should be sticky like traditional cookie dough.
  

  Line a baking sheet with parchment. Using a teaspoon, roll batter into ~50 balls. Place rolled bites in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet.
• Freeze bites for 10 minutes then dig in! Leftover cookie dough bites can be frozen in a sealed container for 3 months.

To make the blizzards:

• Place frozen banana and almond milk in a food processor. Blend on high until mixture is creamy. Option to eat now as more of a soft-serve or place in freezer for 20-30 min for a thicker consistency. Pour banana “ice cream” into prepared glass and top with frozen cookie dough bites. Enjoy!