This delicious recipe is a take on a classic chocolate chip cookie dough blizzard made healthier! It’s dairy free, gluten free, vegan, and packed with plant protein and healthy fats. The ultimate indulgence…guilt free!
The Ultimate Healthy Cookie-Dough Blizzard
Yep, you aren’t dreaming, this is for real my friends. There is such a thing as a healthier cookie dough blizzard. I shared this recipe ages ago and it definitely deserved a comeback into the spotlight as it’s so incredibly delicious and packed with protein, healthy fats, is gluten free, and plant based. With a mix of whole, healthy, unrefined, good-for-you ingredients, combined with a dash of nutrition in the kitch love, this Healthy Cookie Dough Protein ‘Blizzard’ (or wanna-be Blizzard…) can be made at home and enjoyed within 15 minutes flat.
What is a ‘Blizzard’ dessert?
If you aren’t familiar with what a ‘blizzard’ is, let me enlighten you! A blizzard is a famous ice cream dessert from a well-known fast-food chain that is made with super thick vanilla or chocolate ice cream that is loaded with popular treats like cookie dough, Oreo’s, brownies, Skor candy, Smarties etc.
The cookie, candy or chocolate bars are blended into the ice cream using a particular machine so that in every bite you get a bit of ice cream and a bit of whatever you choose to be added in. This is not a healthy dessert. It’s far from it! So, to make a healthy version at home you have to get creative! I always start by making a homemade plant-based ice cream from frozen bananas then add in homemade healthy cookies or brownies to create the same vibe as a traditional blizzard without the refined sugars or artificial ingredients.
How to Make a Healthy Blizzard
To make my healthy cookie dough blizzard you simply whip up frozen bananas (and any other ingredients you want) in a food processor to create the “ice cream” then add in your healthier homemade additions such as homemade cookie crumbles or healthy homemade brownie bits.
Ingredients for the Healthy Cookie Dough Blizzard:
To make my healthier recipe you won’t actually need that many ingredients! First of all you make a batch of my healthy edible vegan cookie dough, then you just add the cookie dough to the ice cream. For the ice cream you’ll need:
- Homemade vegan cookie dough
- Frozen bananas
- Cashew butter (or other nut butter of choice)
- Vegan vanilla protein powder of choice
- Unsweetened almond milk
Is a Blizzard Healthy?
Traditionally no, definitely not. Just take a look at the classic fast-food cookie-dough blizzard ingredients list (found on the fast-food chains website):
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough: Unenriched Wheat Flour, Sugar, Margarine (palm oil, water, soybean oil, mono and diglycerides, artificial flavor {milk}, colored with annatto, calcium disodium EDTA added as a preservative, vitamin A palmitate added), Chocolate Chips (sugar, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, soy lecithin {emulsifier}, vanilla), Powdered Sugar (sugar, corn starch), Butter (cream, salt), Pasteurized Eggs, Brown Sugar, Corn Starch, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Salt. Vanilla Soft Serve: Modified milk ingredients, sugar, glucose, mono and diglycerides, guar gum, polysorbate 80, carrageenan and artificial flavour. Fudge: Glucose-fructose, concentrated skim milk, hydrogenated coconut oil, fructose, water, cocoa (processed with alkali), cocoa, algin, salt, mono and diglycerides, potassium sorbate, dextrin, sodium phosphate, disodium phosphate, soy lecithin, artificial flavour.
Luckily, you can make your own homemade healthy version to enjoy when you please. To be transparent, my healthy version isn’t “low calorie” it’s nutrient dense and also somewhat calorie dense, but calories don’t equal health, it’s all about nutrient content and balance for me! My version is also allergen friendly for those who can’t have gluten or dairy which is great!
Do you have a fast-food treat that you love and have recreated to be healthier? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below! Also, be sure to pin the photo below the recipe to save this one for later and of course, share the love!
Healthy Cookie Dough Blizzard
This delicious recipe is a take on a classic chocolate chip cookie dough blizzard made healthier! It's dairy free, gluten free, vegan, and packed with plant protein and healthy fats. The ultimate indulgence...guilt free!
Ingredients
Cookie Dough
- 1 batch Homemade Vegan Cookie Dough
Banana Ice Cream
- 2 bananas, cut into chunks and frozen
- 1 scoop natural vegan vanilla protein powder of your choice
- 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 tablespoon natural cashew butter
Instructions
- Peel bananas and cut into quarters and freeze. (You will need to use frozen banana chunks for this recipe)
- Prepare the cookie dough according to instructions here - Vegan Cookie Dough
- Make 20 cookie dough balls total.
- Place the balls in the fridge.
- Once the banana chunks are frozen you can make the 'ice cream'.
- In a blender or food processor combine the frozen banana, almond milk, protein powder, and cashew butter. Blend until smooth.
- Divide ice cream between 2 glasses.
- Add/stir in two cookie dough balls to each glass, and enjoy!*
Notes
*I recommend chopping up one cookie dough ball into small pieces and mixed it into the blizzard and topped with another cookie dough ball to get pieces of the cookie dough bits in every bite!
Cookie Dough Recipe makes 20 cookie dough balls, use two-three maximum per blizzard.
Recipe for 'Ice Cream' makes 2 servings.
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No, this is WAY better than the poopy DQ blizzard- in taste and of course in nutrition! Thanks for sharing, because if it were me, I would be really greedy and not share this at all. Just kidding. Thanks!
You are very welcome! π
I made this today and OMG! It is SO good!!! I have been switching over slowly in the last two weeks to a no processed foods / no refined sugar way of life (changing my whole health and way of life – – it’s been a struggle, but a good one!) I LOVE Blizzards and there is one right next to my work . . . when I searched “healthy blizzard” your blog popped up.
This is a wonderful treat and I actually felt guilty eating it because I couldn’t believe it was healthy – – (isn’t it sad how we somehow thing healthy food can’t equal delicious food?! I’m changing that for myself, that’s for sure).
This is proof you can have both (in moderation of course). π Thank you! You rock!
I’m moving to S. Korea soon where some of these things are hard to find – – but I’m sure I can find someway to make it work π
So glad you enjoyed it Erinn! Thank you for the feedback and have a great move to S.Korea!! Wow!
This looks EPIC, and I’m really excited to try it, but I’m allergic to nuts. I figured I could use my rice milk, but what would you recommend as a substitute for the cashews? Thanks for this awesome recipe!
You could try sunflower seeds!!
Hi, what is the font used in the title photo that reads “chocolate chip… cookie dough”?
It’s called sacramento! π
Christal, this is awesome! I made everything this afternoon, so I could have it for dinner tonight. Don’t judge…. π It did not disappoint!! I subbed the maple syrup for a sugar free caramel syrup, and did half dates and half prunes. Just, wow… Will be making this again. And again, and again!! So glad I found your blog!!
You are very welcome! So glad you enjoyed!
I just made these “balls” and before I even stuck them in the freezer, my boyfriend ate half of them. They are so good he couldn’t wait π Thanks for the recipe! Can’t wait to eat them in the actual blizzard!
Hey Stephanie! That’s awesome! So glad you BOTH enjoyed them so much!
HI! This is amazing and I love everything about it but I am allergic to tree nuts π Stinks because they are used in a lot of healthy cooking alternatives. Do you know if there is anything that is not a tree nut I could substitute for the cashews in the cookie dough? Thanks!
Hmmm… can you do peanuts?
Can I say OMG?! I’ve been on a low carb diet for 6 months, with weekends to eat whatever… I haven’t had a smoothie in forever (seems like it anyway!!). This was soooo good! Love the banana ice cream. Made the cookies without maple syrup and chocolate chips though, it was sweet enough for me as is. Thank you! I’ll save this one for next weekend π
So happy you enjoyed!! π
I am trying out the paleo diet, so is there anything else to use besides oats for the cookie dough balls? Thanks! π
Hmmmmmmmm… honestly I’m not sure!! Sorry! Maybe almond or coconut flour?!
Chelisa, I’d suggest subbing quinoa flakes for the oats. They’re paleo and similar in texture to oats.
LOVE this idea!