COOKIES & CREAM

Ingredients:

(Makes about 1/2 Quart)

1 cup whole milk (240 mL)

6 1/2 tablespoons sugar (80 grams)

2 cups of heavy cream (475 mL)

small pinch of salt

1/2 vanilla pod, split lengthwise with seeds scraped out or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 egg yolks

7 - 10 chocolate wafer cookies, cream removed, and cracked into small pieces

*(I straight up used Oreos because the organic imitation ones I tried just weren’t as good... It’s cookie ice cream, so let’s not be prudes, eh?)

Tools:

Heavy Bottom Pot or Double boiler (Don’t have a Double Boiler? Don’t worry, just place a medium bowl over the top of a pot with a an inch or two of water simmering in the bottom.)

Whisk

Sieve

Large bowl of Ice Water

Wooden spoon or Heatproof Spatula 

Thermometer*

Medium Mixing Bowl

Chopping board*

Large Kitchen Knife*

*Ideal, not essential

Instructions:

1. Fill a large mixing bowl with a little cold water and ice. (This will become an ice bath for cooling the custard later on.)

2. Add your milk, sugar, heavy cream, salt, and vanilla (pod & seeds!) to a heavy-bottom sauce pot or double boiler and place over medium heat. Heat gently until steam begins to rise from the mixture.

3. Whisk the egg yolks together in a bowl. Once they are uniform, add a  tablespoon of the steaming dairy mixture while still whisking. Repeat until you have added 3 - 4 tablespoons of the dairy mixture to the yolky sugar mix. Then add this yolk mixture back into the rest of the dairy mixture.

4. Lower the heat slightly to medium-low. Stir the mixture constantly with a heatproof spatula as it slowly thickens. Make sure to scrap the bottom of the pan very often to prevent the bottom from overcooking.

5. The custard will be done cooking once the mixture is thick enough to glaze the back of the spoon. Run your finger across the back of the spoon. If the custard remains separated, it is done cooking.

6. Strain the custard into the large bowl with the heavy cream. Float the bowl in your ice bath and stir until cool. (5-ish minutes)

7. Refrigerate in an airtight container for at least four hours. Letting it sit even longer, perhaps overnight, is even better.

To finish the ice cream:

1. When you are ready to churn, follow the instructions of your ice cream maker. Pour your chilled custard into your machine and let it churn until it has the texture you desire. (You can reserve some custard to pre-soak your cookie wafers in if you want them nice and soft before you fold them in later.)

2. While it’s churning, remove the cream from the chocolate wafer cookies and crack the wafers into small pieces. You can chop a few extra cookies with the cream layer still inside to add as well, if you want.

3. Once finished, transfer the custard to a chilled bowl and gently fold in the crumbled (and optional chopped) cookies bits. It’s best to do this while it the custard is still very relaxed to allow the chocolate wafers to absorb some liquid from the cream so they can soften up before the big freeze. (Additionally, If you know that your ice cream maker is very thorough and there won’t be any excess liquid once it’s churned, I would suggest reserving a little of the ice cream base before you churn and soak the wafers in that a few minutes before you fold it into the churned ice cream.)

4. Store the ice cream in a pre-chilled, air-tight container and freeze!

(This ice cream always has a better texture on the second day after the cookies have had time to soften up and absorb some of the cream around them.)

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This Cookies & Cream ice cream will keep for about one week.

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Notes :

+ You can choose to fold in your ground cookies after the custard is done churning or by adding it to your ice cream maker in the last 3- 5 minutes, but I would advise against adding the chopped cookies into the ice cream machine while it is still churning! They might damage your ice cream maker.

+ This ice cream always has a better texture on the second day after the cookies have had time to relax and absorb some of the cream around them. Consider making your ice cream at least a day ahead of when you plan to serve it.

+ You can use any kind of wafer cookie you like. I use the Oreo-style chocolate wafer sandwich cookies in this recipe because it is easy to find for most people and it’s pretty iconic. Many stores carry other types of wafer cookies as well. Use what you like!

+ If you’re using Oreos, you can easily tweak this recipe to get creative with their range of flavors. Halloween coming up? Switch out regular Oreos with their black and orange Halloween cookies. Making this recipe for a birthday party? They’ve got Birthday Cake flavored Oreos as well. Just check out your grocer’s cookie aisle for inspiration.

Great pairings for Cookies & Cream:

+ Cookies & Cream is one of those flavors that shines on its own without any help from toppings or sauces. But if you love things that are a little extra, chocolate sauce or more crumbled cookies are a good route to go. 

Cookies & Cream Ice Cream

Laura | Date

Prep & Cooking time: 20 minutes

Chilling time: 4 hours

Total time: ~ 4 hours 20 minutes

Servings: Makes about a half quart of ice cream

Level of Skill: Easy

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole milk (240 mL)
• 6 1/2 tablespoons sugar (80 grams)
• 2 cups of heavy cream (475 mL)
• small pinch of salt
• 1/2 vanilla pod, split lengthwise with seeds scraped out or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 egg yolks
• 7 - 10 chocolate wafer cookies, cream removed, and cracked into small pieces

Instructions:

1. Fill a large mixing bowl with a little cold water and ice. (This will become an ice bath for cooling the custard later on.)

2. Add your milk, sugar, salt, vanilla (pod & seeds!), and heavy cream to a heavy-bottom sauce pot or double boiler and place over medium heat. Heat gently until steam begins to rise from the mixture.

3. Whisk the egg yolks together in a bowl. Once they are uniform, add a tablespoon of the steaming dairy mixture while still whisking. Repeat until you have added 3 - 4 tablespoons of the dairy mixture to the yolky sugar mix. Then add this yolk mixture back into the rest of the dairy mixture.

4. Lower the heat slightly to medium-low. Stir the mixture constantly with a heatproof spatula as it slowly thickens. Make sure to scrap the bottom of the pan very often to prevent the bottom from overcooking.

5. The custard will be done cooking once the mixture is thick enough to glaze the back of the spoon. Run your finger across the back of the spoon. If the custard remains separated, it is done cooking.

6. Strain the custard into the medium bowl. Float the bowl in your ice bath and stir until cool. (5-ish minutes)

7. Refrigerate in an airtight container for at least four hours. Letting it sit even longer, perhaps overnight, is even better.

To finish the ice cream:

1. When you are ready to churn, follow the instructions of your ice cream maker. Pour your chilled custard into your machine and let it churn until it has the texture you desire. (You can reserve some custard to pre-soak your cookie wafers in if you want them nice and soft before you add them later.)

2. While it’s churning, remove the cream from the chocolate wafer cookies and crack the wafers into small pieces. You can chop a few extra cookies with the cream layer still inside to add as well, if you want.

3. Once finished, transfer the custard to a chilled bowl and gently fold in the crumbled (and optional chopped) cookies. It’s best to do this while it the custard is still very relaxed to allow the chocolate wafers to absorb some liquid from the cream so they can soften up before the big freeze. (Additionally, If you know that your ice cream maker is very thorough and there won’t be any excess liquid once it’s churned, I would suggest reserving a little of the ice cream base before you churn and soak the wafers in that a few minutes before you fold it into the churned ice cream.)

4. Store the ice cream in a pre-chilled, air-tight container and freeze!

{This ice cream always has a better texture on the second day after the cookies have had time to soften up and absorb some of the cream around them. }

Nutrition:

(per 1/2 cup serving)

Servings: Four 1/2 cup sized scoops

Fat: 29 grams

Calories: 403

Nutrition estimated by Happyforks.com