Fried Ice Cream without frying with only 5 ingredients! Cornflakes, butter, cinnamon, sugar, and ice cream are all you need to make this classic Mexican dessert without all the oil! This easy dessert has the taste of fried ice cream balls by using crunchy cereal.

Fried Ice Cream on a plate

FRIED ICE CREAM RECIPE

Happy Cinco de Mayo! Growing up in Arizona I ate a lot of Mexican food and still could eat it everyday if I had the chance (and the metabolism). I remember as a child being astounded at the whole concept of fried ice cream. It was easily one of my favorite desserts at our local Mexican restaurant.
There was always a hopeful look to my parents after dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurants. Please? Can we get it?
This No-Fry Fried Ice Cream is a quick and easy Mexican-inspired delicious dessert that has all of the crunch of actual fried ice cream but without all of the calories and mess of the spattering oil of a deep fryer.
ice cream in a pan

HOW TO MAKE FRIED ICE CREAM

First, you want to place your scoops of ice cream in a muffin tin and freeze it so that it’s easy to roll. If you line a cupcake/muffin tin with plastic wrap it makes for easy freezing and even easier removal.

cornflakes and butter

Next, crush your cornflakes with a food processor or in a Ziploc bag with a rolling pin until you have fine crumbs. Melt butter in a pan and add the crushed cornflakes.

cornflakes and cinnamon
Add some cinnamon to the cereal mixture.
cornflakes in the pan
Cook the crumb mixture for a couple of minutes to toast the crunchy corn flakes and bloom the ground cinnamon which brings out the flavor. Remove from heat and add the sugar. Let the mixture cool completely.
cornflakes and ice cream on a plate
Once the ice cream scoops have hardened, roll ice cream balls in the corn flake mixture.
cornflakes on a plate
Done!

Fried Ice Cream on a plate

Top with your favorite toppings like chocolate syrup, whipped cream, sprinkles, honey, or maraschino cherries! You can use caramel sauce if you like.

Fried Ice Cream on a plate

This delicious ice cream is what dreams are made of!

OTHER MEXICAN RECIPES:

Fried Ice Cream on a plate

No-Fry Fried Ice Cream

4.45 from 20 votes
No-Fry Fried Ice Cream with only 5 ingredients! Cornflakes, butter, cinnamon, sugar, and ice cream. So easy!
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
chill time: 1 hour
Total Time: 15 minutes
Servings: 6 ice cream balls

Ingredients

  • vanilla ice cream
  • 5 cups Cornflakes cereal
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • (optional) chocolate sauce

Instructions
 

  • Scoop ice cream into 2 1/2 inch scoops and freeze until hard. An easy way to do this is to line a cupcake pan with plastic wrap and place the scoops in the tin. 
  • Crush the cornflakes with a food processor or in a Ziploc bag. 
  • In a medium skillet, melt the butter. Add the cornflakes and cinnamon and cook for a couple of minutes. This blooms the cinnamon and makes the flavor come out.
  • Remove from heat and stir in the sugar. Let mixture cool completely.
  • When ice cream is hard, roll in the cornflake mixture. Top with chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and a cherry if desired.
Cuisine: Mexican
Course: Dessert
fried ice cream