A healthier and easy air fryer fried ice cream! No deep frying in hot oil! Crunchy and crispy on the outside, smooth creamy vanilla ice cream on the inside, the best fried ice cream recipe.
Scoop out 8 medium sized vanilla scoops of ice cream, shaping quickly into a round ball (doesn’t have to be perfect) and place in a muffin pan or parchment lined baking sheet. (tip, freeze muffin pan for 15 minutes prior to placing the ice cream inside). Freeze for one hour.
In a small bowl, place flour and then working quickly, roll the ice cream balls into the flour mixture (use GF flour for Gluten-free Air Fryer Fried Ice Cream). Return to muffin tin and freeze for another hour.
Add cereal and cinnamon to a ziplock baggie, use a rolling pin or meat mallet to crush corn flakes until well crushed but some larger pieces remain.
In a small shallow bowl, whisk egg whites until foamy (use the egg yolks to make lemon curd!) Remove floured ice cream balls from freezer, working quickly, dip in egg whites to coat, then roll in the corn flake mixture. Roll until completely covered, return to muffin tin, repeat until all ice cream balls are covered (this is a great time to have kids help you out, make an assembly line!)
Return fried ice cream balls to freeze and freeze for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight until ice cream balls are frozen hard. There shouldn’t be any ice cream showing; if they need more coating, repeat the egg white and corn flake dipping and freeze another hour.
How to Air Fry Fried Ice Cream
Fold up a piece of aluminum foil with sides turned up slightly making a shallow bowl. Place in bottom of air fryer. Preheat air fryer to 400 degrees, set for 2 minutes.
Remove ice cream balls one at a time from the freezer and “fry” for 2 minutes, remove with long spoon to plate, top with hot fudge sauce and if desired, whipped cream and a cherry.
Repeat process with remaining ice cream ball, serving each one immediately. If you have a larger air fryer, or a Breville Smart Oven, you can air fry 2-4 at a time, be sure to make a little aluminum foil tray though
Notes
Can I deep fry fried ice cream instead? Yes! When ready to serve, pour vegetable oil, at least 4 inches worth into a large Dutch oven or deep fryer and heat to 375 degrees F. Using a slotted spoon or spider, carefully place 1 or two into the hot oil and deep fry for 10-20 seconds, until golden brown, remove immediately to drain on a paper towel and enjoy this delicious dessert immediately.Top Tips
For best results, star a day ahead so you make sure you have plenty of freezing time, but can even be made several days in advance.
Don’t skip out on all of the freezing steps. You want your ice cream to be very hard before you air fry it. Otherwise, it will melt too quickly and make the cereal mushy. Freezing overnight can go a really long way.
You can easily make gluten-freefried ice cream if you use gluten-free flour and cereal!
Omit the egg whites and just roll the ice cream balls in a little honey or maple syrup before rolling in the cereal.
Make Ahead InstructionsAir Fryer Fried Ice Cream can be made weeks ahead of time, freeze cereal coated ice cream balls in Ziplock baggie or airtight container for up to 2 months. Then proceed with air frying instructions as detailed.Or if you prefer them to be fully cooked ahead of time and served frozen solid, air fry each one, then immediately return to the freezer for one hour, then place in airtight baggie or container.