12 Great Ice Cream Cookbooks for the Best Frozen Desserts
If you’re thinking of topping off your summer afternoon (or wintry evening) with some homemade ice cream, there are plenty of incredible recipes to make that happen. From simple vanilla bean and chocolate varieties to complex and beautiful ice cream flavors like rosewater and saffron and vanilla-almond with cherries and pistachios, your ice cream maker will be put to good use this season (pro tip: this is our favorite ice cream scoop).
Related: The 8 Absolute Best Ice Cream Makers to Buy, According to the Experts
If you’re looking for inspiration or to try something new and delicious, these books are full of recipes for frozen desserts from gelato to frozen yogurt, ice cream sundaes to sorbet and everything in between. Grab some great dessert bowls and your favorite toppings and get to making cold treats from these ice cream cookbooks right away.
Salt & Straw
Portland’s artisan ice cream purveyors push the boundaries of flavors, in the best way. This book of recipes and methods shows readers how to do the same at home.
Salt & Straw Ice Cream Cookbook, $19 at amazon.com
Ample Hills Creamery
The recipes from Brooklyn’s Ample Hills are organized by mood, so you can decide exactly what flavor you’re looking for in the moment. Form classic flavors like “vanilla malted” to combinations like “stout and pretzels” and the Froot Loop accented “breakfast trash,” there is definitely something for everyone.
Ample Hills Creamery: Secrets and Stories from Brooklyn’s Favorite Ice Cream Shop, $18 at amazon.com
Big Gay Ice Cream
A Manhattan staple shares their best creations for the home ice cream maker, from basic to most complex. Find out why the Salty Pimp is a revered NYC treat, look for plenty of cheeky humor and read an introduction written by the late Anthony Bourdain.
Big Gay Ice Cream: Saucy Stories & Frozen Treats: Going All the Way with Ice Cream, $25 at amazon.com
Mexican Ice Cream
Take a trip through Mexico’s heladerias with Fany Gerson of Brooklyn's La Newyorkina and Dough. Try fresh flavors like “Red Prickly Pear Ice Cream” and “Oaxacan-style Lime Sorbet” to truly turn your summertime sadness around.
Mexican Ice Cream: Beloved Recipes and Stories, $16 at amazon.com
Jeni’s Ice Cream
The famous Jeni Britton Bauer of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams used a $50 ice cream maker to make 100 of her signature recipes, so fans can make them right at home.
Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home, $13 at amazon.com
The Perfect Scoop
New York Times best-selling cookbook author and blogger David Lebovitz covers the methods and histories of ice cream, gelato, and sorbet from top to bottom. It's complete with frozen cocktail recipes, as a cherry on top.
The Perfect Scoop, Revised and Updated: 200 Recipes for Ice Creams, Sorbets, Gelatos, Granitas, and Sweet Accompaniments, $20 at amazon.com
Incredible Vegan Ice Cream
Coconut milk takes the spotlight in this vegan ice cream book. With flavors like “Cold Brew” and “Peanut Butter Mud Pie” we are more than on board for some creamy and dairy-free frozen treats.
Incredible Vegan Ice Cream: Decadent, All-Natural Flavors Made with Coconut Milk, $15 at amazon.com
Perfectly Creamy Frozen Yogurt
Don’t be fooled by the alternative base, these frozen yogurt recipes are simply delicious. Try out “creamsicle” or “tiramisu” or even the blueberry sugar cookie ice cream sandwiches.
Perfectly Creamy Frozen Yogurt: 56 Amazing Flavors plus Recipes for Pies, Cakes & Other Frozen Desserts, $14 at amazon.com
Sweet Cream and Sugar Cones
San Francisco’s Bi-Rite Creamery shares the step by step techniques and secrets for some of their most popular small-batch ice cream flavors. Pairings like balsamic strawberry and honey lavender simply scream summer, and we can’t wait to try them.
Sweet Cream and Sugar Cones: 90 Recipes for Making Your Own Ice Cream and Frozen Treats from Bi-Rite Creamery, $15 at amazon.com
The Art of Making Gelato
Gelato expert Morgan Morano shares all the tools and tricks for making great gelato and sorbetto at home. Whip up the perfect stracciatella (chocolate chip) or try traditional Italian flavors like Olio d’Oliva (olive oil).
The Art of Making Gelato: More than 50 Flavors to Make at Home, $14 at amazon.com
Hello, My Name Is Ice Cream
If you want to geek out on the science of your favorite dessert, this book has it all. Learn how to pair flavors and make your own delicious creations from ingredients in your own kitchen from James Beard nominated pastry chef Dana Cree.
Hello, My Name Is Ice Cream: The Art and Science of the Scoop, $19 at amazon.com
Ice Cream and Friends
Cinnamon roll ice cream, anyone? These inventive and unique ice cream recipes will have your friends and family wanting dessert for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Food52: Ice Cream and Friends: 60 Recipes and Riffs, $16 at amazon.com
