Is there anything better than real homemade ice cream? Of course there is. Ice cream with cookies in it. This cookies and cream ice cream recipe combines an old-fashioned ice cream method with your favorite cookie for a treat you’ll be proud you made at home.
This is a recipe for real homemade ice cream. We are using eggs, heating up a true ice cream custard from scratch, and then chilling and churning it. There are many short cuts in the world of ice cream, but there’s no substitute for the real thing.
That doesn’t mean that this recipe is hard or time-consuming, however. Most of the time, it simply involves letting things chill in the fridge or freezer. There is a little bit of stovetop tending, but nothing too extreme. And the results…sweet, creamy, freshly churned ice cream with old-fashioned flavor and loaded with big pieces of sandwich cookies…are definitely worth it.
Table of Contents
Ingredients and Tools You’ll Need
Heavy cream can be found for the best price at Costco. The price really can’t be beat! And don’t be afraid of generic sandwich cookies: many of them are very good!
A simple ice cream maker (with an insert that goes in the freezer) is the most affordable style, and a reusable strainer is very handy for this and many other recipes.
This will make 1 quart of ice cream with 8 servings. It lasts up to a week in the freezer. If you want more, you can double or triple the recipe, but check your machine’s capacity first. You can make adjustments in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Equipment
- ice cream maker
- silicone loaf pan or another freezer-safe container
Ingredients
- 1½ cups whole milk (The fat content is non-negotiable here for proper freezing and that creamy texture. Lower-fat milks will result in ice crystals.)
- 1½ cups heavy whipping cream (make sure it’s full-fat)
- ¾ cup sugar
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch salt
- 1 cup chocolate sandwich cookies, such as Oreos, crushed (about 11 cookies) (The classic store brand works perfectly fine, too.)
How to Make Cookies And Cream Ice Cream
Step One: Make The Custard
First, we begin by heating up the milk and the cream on the stove. Add 1/2 cup of sugar and heat on medium-low heat until the mixture is steaming and very warm, about 175 degrees. This takes about 5 minutes.
While the milk and cream are heating, mix the egg yolks with the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar. Use an electric hand mixer and beat until the eggs have lightened in color.
Now we have to combine these two things, but you can’t simply pour the eggs into the hot milk, or it will cook the eggs, and you’ll have bits of scrambled egg in your ice cream. Not good. So we need to mix them slowly.
Using a measuring cup, slowly scoop about 1/4 of the hot milk into the egg and sugar mixture. Stir it in, then repeat this step until you’ve added about half of the milk mixture.
Step Two: Heat And Strain
The eggs should be well tempered, and you can now combine everything back into the saucepan. It goes back on the stove and is heated to 185. It will be slightly thickened and should coat the back of a spoon.
Once the temperature is reached, remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the vanilla and the pinch of salt. Place the ice cream custard into a strainer or use cheesecloth over a bowl.
Once it’s strained, place it in the fridge until very cold. It’s best to let it chill overnight. At the same time, place the insert for your ice cream maker into the freezer and allow it to chill.
Step Three: Churn And Add The Cookies
Don’t worry; we’re almost done! The rest of this is easy and fun!
Set up your ice cream maker and pour your cold custard right in. Start churning and keep an eye on it until it becomes the consistency of soft serve. Then add in your crushed cookies, about one-third of them at a time, and let them mix in. A little extra wouldn’t hurt anyone.
Once they are mixed in, immediately transfer the cookies and cream ice cream into a container for freezing (a loaf pan for baking works very well), cover tightly, and place back in the freezer for 2-3 hours.
And you are finally done! Scoop into bowls or cones or whatever your heart desires.
Your ice cream will stay good in the freezer for up to a week.
Tips for Making Your Ice Cream Base
Watch your temperatures: A kitchen thermometer is your best friend here. Heating the custard to 185°F ensures it’s thick enough without going too far and curdling.
Be patient with chilling: Your custard NEEDS to be thoroughly cold before churning. If you’re in a rush, place the bowl in an ice bath and stir occasionally to cool it faster.
Don’t overfill your machine: Leave about an inch of space at the top of your ice cream maker. The mixture expands as it incorporates air, and overflow is a messy disaster (ask me how I know).
Cookie crumbles, not dust: When crushing your cookies, aim for a mix of small chunks and crumbles. If they’re too fine, you’ll just have gray ice cream instead of that classic cookies and cream look.
Freeze your storage container: Put your final storage container in the freezer while the ice cream churns. This prevents premature melting when you transfer the soft churned ice cream.
Make It Your Own
Try these variations:
- Swap the cookies for other mix-ins: Crushed candy bars, cookie dough pieces, or ripples of caramel sauce all work.
- Add mint extract instead of vanilla for a mint cookies and cream version.
- Drizzle in fudge sauce during the last minute of churning for a cookies and cream fudge swirl.
- For coffee lovers, add 2 tablespoons of espresso powder to the milk mixture for a cookies and cream affogato flavor.
More Ice Cream Recipes with Mix-Ins
- Candy cane ice cream is my oldest daughter’s favorite and perfect for serving at holiday movie nights.
- Prefer ribbons over mix-ins? I hear you. Caramel and fudge swirled through vanilla ice cream is never a bad idea.
- And for the 4th of July, mix in golden Oreos and berry swirls for a red, white, and blue ice cream.
Printable Recipe
Cookies and Cream Ice Cream
Equipment
- silicone loaf pan or another freezer-safe container
Ingredients
- 1½ cups whole milk
- 1½ cups heavy whipping cream
- ¾ cup sugar
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch salt
- 1 cup chocolate sandwich cookies, such as Oreos crushed (about 11 cookies)
Instructions
- Warm the milk. Add the milk, cream, and ½ cup of the sugar to a large saucepan. Over medium heat, warm the mixture until it is very warm (175℉), about 5 minutes.
- Beat the eggs and sugar. While the mixture is heating, combine the egg yolks with the remaining ¼ cup of sugar. Beat until it turns a lighter yellow in color.
- Temper and cook the custard. Remove the milk mixture from the heat, and half a cup at a time, add roughly half of it to the egg mixture. Mix after each addition. This is to temper the eggs and prevent them from cooking in the hot custard. Once you have blended half of the milk into the eggs, pour the entire milk-egg mixture back into the saucepan. Place it all back on the heat and cook over medium heat. Stir constantly and cook until the mixture is 185℉, or has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. Do not boil.
- Strain and cool. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla and salt. Strain the mixture using a strainer or cheesecloth set over a large bowl. Let it cool at room temperature, then cover and place in the fridge until very cold- at least 6 hours, up to overnight.
- Churn and add cookies. Remove custard from fridge and set up ice cream maker, according to manufacturer’s instructions. Churn until it is the consistency of soft serve ice cream, then add the crushed sandwich cookies ⅓ of a cup at a time.
- Freeze. Transfer to a container, such as a loaf pan, and tightly cover with plastic wrap. Refreeze 2-4 hours until hardened. Scoop and serve. Will last up to a week in the freezer.
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Notes
Nutrition
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