How to Make Homemade Ice Cream Cones (Bold Baking Basics)
Save RecipeHi Bold Bakers!
We make our own 2-ingredient, No Machine Ice Cream on Bigger Bolder Baking so why wouldn’t we make our own homemade ice cream cones? No store bought cones for us thanks very much. Best thing is you don’t need a waffles cone machine or any special equipment to make them.
The cones are made with a vanilla batter that can be mixed by hand and cooked off straight away. There is really no fuss here. Make your batter in advance so when you are ready for your ice cream, you can cook off your cones and they will be ready in minutes.
Once off the heat the cones crisp so you have to roll it fast. So the trick is be ready to roll them. Shape the bottom first and get that nice tight cone shape.
You know when you walk by a Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Shop and you can smell the waffles cones? Well imagine your own kitchen smelling like that…it’s the stuff dreams are made of.
This recipe is one of many in my Bold Baking Basics repertoire. This section is full of essential recipes I want my Bold Bakers to know like How to Make Homemade Food Coloring and Homemade Marshmallow Fluff.
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- 2 large egg whites
- 1/2 cup (4 oz/115g) sugar
- 3 tablespoons whole milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch salt
- ⅔ cup (3 ⅓oz/100g) all purpose flour, sifted
- 2 tablespoons (1oz/30g) butter, melted
- melted semisweet chocolate
- Sprinkles
- Toasted nuts
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Place egg whites, sugar, milk, vanilla, and salt into a mixing bowl and whisk together. Stir in flour and butter until fully incorporated and batter is smooth.
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Place a nonstick skillet, cast iron pan or frying pan on low heat.
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Pour 1 ½ tablespoons batter into the warm skillet and spread into a thin even layer. Move it around fast to get a nice round shape. Spread it out roughly 6 inches x 6 inches.
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Place skillet over medium heat and cook for 4 to 5 minutes or until base has set. Flip and continue to cook for 1 to 2 minutes.
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Lift the disc off the griddle and QUICKLY and carefully roll from the bottom of the cone to shape it. Pull out the shape at the top to make it a wider cone. If you can lay the cone onto a clean towel and roll into a cone shape and hold, seam side down for 1 to 2 minutes or until cone cools and hardens. (this must be done quickly as the disc will begin to harden almost immediately after leaving the skillet)
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Tip: Focus on rolling the bottom of the cone first and that makes it easier to shape the rest of the cone. Take care not to roll it tight, you want a night opening on top to fill with ice cream.
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Dip the cones in chocolate and cover in nuts or sprinkles. Set the cones on parchment until the chocolate hardens.
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These cones are best eaten the day they are made. If you have any left over carefully store in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
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Gemma, so many thanks go out for all of your help. So many GOOD questions arise. Thanks yo out for all of those as well.
Hi Arthur,
actually, this is what really helps here, the questions are common to other bold bakers, so the answers are found here. I get great tips and hints here too from you guys, and that too is a big help, particularly when it comes to different regions of the world, traditions. cultural issues etc. Very interesting to me.
Thank you for your kind words,
Gemma 🙂
Gemma I want to fill up the cone with the ice cream like the store bought one but I am not sure how to do it and I just dont want a scoop of it
Hi there,
if you are using the mold you just slightly soften it and pack it in. Do not melt it, just get it slightly soft so that you can mold it, then back in the freezer.
I hope you enjoy this!
Gemma 🙂
Gemma can I use oil instead of butter ?
Hi Zoya. It should work, but it will affect the overall taste of the cone. Butter will give a taste that oil will not. Gemma
hello my name is wayan from bali,how long the cone stay after making,one day one week?
Thank you
Hi,
So they are best eaten in 24 hours but they will be ok for 2 days in an airtight container at room temperature.
best,
Gemma.
Hi Gemma!
I tried making these cones but they came out of the pan soft and sticky, almost like a sweet tortilla. I tried shaping them into a cone but they never hardened, even after keeping them out and then trying them in the refrigerator, and wouldn’t hold their shape – they kept deflating. Where did I go wrong?
Thanks! 🙂
Oh Austin, I’m really sorry to hear that.
I honestly have no idea why they wouldn’t crisp because that is the characteristic of the batter.
Any chance you live in a humid climate? or was it humid the day you made them.
Best,
Gemma.
115 grams of sugar to 100 grams flour seems very disproportionate (1:0.86). I have been making cones for years with 80 grams of sugar to 220 grams of flour (1:2.75). These are better with no milk, no butter, no egg. Oil, sugar, flour, baking soda, water and vanilla for flavour.
Hi Finn,
thank you for this input, I guess this is another way to do it, I will try it when I get a moment,
Gemma 🙂
Hi Gemma, can we make it the cones without eggs. Please do share an eggless recipe too
Hi,
maybe you can use a flax egg but I’m not 100% sure that will work. I get asked this a lot but haven’t heard of anyone having suggest.
Sorry if that’s not much help 🙁
Gemma.
Hi Gemma! Will this recipe work without whole milk, or should I pick some up? Already have 2 percent, but I didn’t know if that would work. Thanks!
Hi Ashley,
full-fat milk is 3.5% fat content in general. I think you will manage this recipe well with the 2%. You may need a little less, add it gradually,
Gemma 🙂
I formed a cone out of cardboard. Took a while to get it right but it wasn’t hard. Taped it and let it set. I bought a few silicone trivet-type round pieces and laid it over the cone. Lifted the upper flap piece and glued it to the bottom piece. Once dry, I cut the excess silicone off and pulled out a perfect cone! Repeated this again and now I have two washable cone forms. I substitute Splenda for sugar, skim milk for whole milk and have various flavorings and extracts to substitute vanilla. I’m going to try painting the inside of the cone with melted sugarfree chocolate once they cool. No leaks, more flavor and protects the cone from getting soft.
WOW, great job and great tips, thank you for sharing! Enjoy these 😀
Fantastic recipe.. made ice cream with my kids, didnt have a waffle cone maker… found this website and about 20 min later delicious waffle cones.. very impressed
I’m delighted to hear that, enjoy!
Cool. This recipe is awesome . Can’t wait to try it❤️
I am delighted to hear that, thank you!
Substitute of Egg whites?
I would recommend flax egg for this one.
Best,
Gemma.
This recipe works well for the Norwegian Krumkake maker. THANK-YOU!!!
Glad to hear it 🙂
Best,
Gemma.
Perfect waffle cone recipe… Thank you..
Hi Aline,
Good! I am happy to hear that you like this one,
Gemma 🙂
I .she the 2 ingredient vanilla ice cream today and it worked out perfectly delicious. Next up , tomorrow I’m going to try the cone mixture to see how they turn out. I’m thinking I might just lay them over a bowl to make “waffle” cups for sundaes. Glad I ccameacrosx your website.
Thanks
I’m thrilled to hear it was a success 🙂
Best,
Gemma.
Delicious….
Ended up eating it just by itself😁
Delighted you liked them 🙂
Best,
Gemma.
Could your recipe be adapted to use almond flour or a mix of regular and almond flour?
When I was a kid in S E Asia, there was a Chinese restaurant that sold off their freezer ice cream sandwiches that were two wafers shaped like two shallow custard cups holding ice cream in the middle. This was ideal for the hot weather, and for keeping drips contained.
Our family would buy a bag of a dozen and keep them in our freezer where they stayed delicious for the week.
I find our American ice cream sandwiches awkward to eat, and only work for Americans who take two bites out of their ice cream sandwiches. This habit is not healthy and not relishing.
Hi,
I’m honestly not sure if you can add almond flour or not because I haven’t tried it. You could try 1/2 almond and 1/2 white flour and see if it works.
Best,
Gemma.
Wow. Lovely homemade cones. Will try them out. One easy tip. Instead of using the spatula, how about using a steel or aluminium cup or glass with a little broad bottom. Use this to spread the batter round. We use this method to make dosas.
That is a really great idea, and probably will work better than what I did.
Thanks for the great tip,
Gemma 🙂
Can you use egg whites out of a carton for this?
Can’t wait to try!
Hi Cassie,
Yes, you certainly may. Egg whites are a great ingredient. If you have some leftover you can freeze them, and use after defrosting. They really are versatile!
thank you for being in touch,
Gemma 🙂
Will this work in a waffle bowl maker!
Hi Lauren,
I think it will, cannot see why not. I presume it is an upside down form!
Let me know if you try it,
Gemma 🙂
Hi Gemma 💖
Just finished making these and they are out of this world 😍. They taste just like a store bought one but better. Although the hard step was to shape these in a cone shape because they were so hot, my mom helped me a bit and everything was perfect 😍. Let me just tell you that you are a genius, like how do you even come up with these recipes. Thank you so much 💗😍😘.
I’m really thrilled to hear you like it, Nicole!!!
Thanks,
Gemma.
Hi Gemma,
Can I use one of your egg substitute instead of egg whites?
Could you please suggest which substitute would be ideal other than bananas. Thank you.
Hi Manjari,
I’m not 100% sure if you will get the same result if you leave out the eggs from the recipe. I’m honestly not sure which substitute you should use as this isn’t a cookie or a cake.