Ice cream cones are the world's greatest comfort food containers. A making these homemade cones is a "Coronavirus lockdown boredom buster and they are so good!
When you've got leftover egg whites after making ice cream, go ahead and make some sweet, crispy homemade cones!
Mix those egg whites with sugar until smooth, then add milk, vanilla, melted butter, cold water, flour, and salt. Spoon batter onto a Silpat-lined (non-stick baking sheets made of a blend of food-safe silicone and a fiberglass mesh. They're incredibly versatile because nothing sticks to them, they can be used thousands of times and they work at a very wide temperature range) baking sheet and bake until set, wrap around your house-made foil molds and cool until crisp. So awesome and delish, you'll never look back!
Ingredients
1 large sheet heavy-duty aluminum foil (20x12 inch)
2 large egg whites, room temperature
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed all-purpose flour, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons whole milk
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 tablespoon cold water, or as needed
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a ri
mmed baking sheet with a silicone baking mat.
Fold aluminum foil in half and bunch it up to form a solid cone shape with a pointy end and a wider end about the size of an ice cream cone. This will be used to shape the cones when they come out of the oven.
Whisk egg whites and sugar together in a mixing bowl until mixture is smooth and shiny, about 2 minutes. Add flour, milk, melted butter, water, vanilla, and salt. Whisk together until thoroughly combined.
Ladle about 1 to 2 tablespoons batter on 1 side of silicone mat on prepared baking sheet. Gently swirl the batter with the back of the ladle outwards to create a fairly thin flat circle 5 or 6 inches in diameter. If necessary, you can use a pastry brush to even the thickness. If batter seems too thin, add a bit more flour. If too thick, more water. Bake in batches, 2 per batch.
Bake in preheated oven until edges are browned around the outside few inches, about 8 minutes.
Gently loosen one of the circles. While still hot, place the aluminum foil cone mold on one end and roll the circle into a cone shape, pressing together the pointed bottom to seal it. Place on a cooking rack seam side down. You may need to put the pan back in the oven for a minute to heat the second circle; they need to be hot to wrap around the mold. Repeat for the remaining cones.
*Notes
To make these cones you will need a silicone baking mat. Baking parchment turns soft and creases minute you try to spread the batter around.
The batter should not be too runny. If it is, add more flour.
Store these ice cream cones in an air-tight container (plain ones) or in the fridge (chocolate coated ones). They should last up to 3-4 days.
The baking time may vary. This depends on your oven as well as on the thickness of each disc.
The number of the cones you will get out of this recipe will depend on how thick your cones are as well as how big. I got 8 cones (each disc was about 6 inch/15cm in diameter).
All-purpose flour
You only need 2 aluminum cones/dummies to make these. Simply reuse them for the following batches.
I used 2 large marshmallows that I tore into small pieces that fit the hole in the bottom of each cone.
Optional extras: sprinkles, chopped nuts of your choice, colored sugar, shredded coconut…
How to decorate homemade ice cream cones
The options are endless and it really depends on what you prefer. Have a look at these simple ideas:
Finely or roughly chopped nuts – hazelnuts, walnuts, peanuts …
Shredded coconut
Sprinkles
Colored sugar
Pretzels snack
No matter what toppings/add-ons you choose, you will need to coat each ice cream cone in melted chocolate first. To make 8-10 cones I used 2
