Men don't make passes at girls who wear glasses; Or, Strawberry Cookie Dough Ice Cream

I'm a lady. I like to get dressed up for work. I enjoy being all business/science-like, like the young professional I want desperately want to be.

Thursdays, though, are hard. The contact lenses don't want to go in, the buildings are freezing cold, and it's one of those days where my attitude is most definitely not "I am woman, hear me roar!"

Last Thursday, I looked like this:

Apparently unwashed hair, Buddy Holly glasses, and mismatched clothing are hot, because I got stopped by a total stranger on the street, who leered at me (there is no better word for it), and said, to my face, while making eye contact:

"Must be smart, with those glasses. A girl with brains. Right on!"

Little did he know I ran my gel backwards and almost ruined a three-day experiment, jammed another machine, spilled some cells, and found out that I had stupidly cross-contaminated two cell lines a few weeks ago and all my experiments with them since are now moot.

Glasses a brainy girl does not make, sir.

The one smart thing about my day? Making this indulgent, strawberry chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. The trick to making cookie dough taste like cookie dough, even without eggs? Baking soda. For reals.

Why didn't I do this earlier?

Strawberry Cookie Dough Ice Cream

Adapted from Joy The Baker

For the cookie dough:
1 cup + 4 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking solda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp almond milk
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Combine dry ingredients, minus sugars, in a bowl.

In a separate bowl, cream together butter and sugars. Add milk and vanilla and mix. Add the flour mixture and stir to combine.

Chill in the fridge while preparing the ice cream base (~1 hr). Remove dough, shape into bite-sized balls, and chill in the freezer.

For the ice cream:
3/4 cup granulated sugar
5 large egg yolks
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups whole milk
2 tbsp honey
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup fresh strawberries, chopped into bite-size pieces

Whisk together the sugar and egg yolks until light in color. Set aside.

In a saucepan, heat milk and honey until just at boiling point. Slowly pour half of the milk mixture into the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Again whisking constantly, pour egg mixture back into saucepan.  Cook mixture until it holds a line across the back of a wooden spoon (~8-10 minutes).

Pour custard into a bowl through a fine mesh strainer. Chill mixture for 2-12 hours.

Prepare ice cream in your ice cream maker per the manufacturer's instructions. Add in strawberries and cookie dough pieces towards the end. Transfer to a storage container, and place in the freezer to firm up. Eat directly from the container (recommended!) or be a lady and scoop it into a pretty bowl.