Cookies And Cream Ice Cream

Did you know that Cookies and Cream is one of the top 5 most popular ice cream flavors in America? But of course who can resist the deliciousness that is this tasty treat. Sometimes formatted as cookies ‘n cream, this flavor has quite the history, with plenty of people claiming to be the original inventor.

The earliest claim of creation of cookies ‘n cream ice cream belongs to Malcom Stogo, who says he invented the ice cream in 1977. Of course, there’s no real way to confirm this as 0 evidence exists he didn’t get the combination from another person. As far as commercial production goes, Blue Bell creameries claims to have invented the cookies and cream flavor in 1980, although currently their website only shows they claim to have created it and no date is added.

Whatever the true history of this frozen dessert happens to be, no one can deny it is one of America’s most loved flavors. And truth be told, it is a lot easier to make this ice cream than some others due to the ease of finding the flavoring ingredient.

What Gives Cookies And Cream Ice Cream Its Flavor

The main flavor in cookies and cream ice cream comes from Oreo sandwich cookies. While you don’t have to use the Oreo brand, it is the most commonly used – and for good reason. There really isn’t another mass produced sandwich cookie that will give the ice cream it’s distinct flavor.

The other prominent ingredient is vanilla, since the base is usually a simple vanilla cream. And don’t think this is a recipe where you need some fancy whole vanilla beans – it’s not. If you want to make a wonderful French Vanilla Ice Cream then you can absolutely do that, but I wouldn’t suggest making that for this recipe. For example I just use a little sachet of vanilla powder and it does the trick!

How To Make The Best Homemade Cookies And Cream Ice Cream

This recipe only calls for a few ingredients, and they’re likely things you already have at home. Okay, maybe you don’t keep a pantry full of Oreos like I do, but they’re at many stores so quite easy to find. As for the vanilla powder feel free to substitute it with about a tsp of vanilla extract or even a full vanilla bean. The latter two options are of course more expensive and really not necessary.

Ingredients

• 500 ml Heavy Cream (full fat)

• 250 ml Milk

• 120 grams Sugar (white, granulated is fine)

• 2 grams Vanilla Powder

• 10 Oreo Sandwich Cookies

What You Will Need

As with all of my ice cream recipes on Scoops of Delight, you need an ice cream machine. The exact style and brand does not matter too much but you do want one that is decent quality. While there are plenty of recipes for no-churn ice creams, I often find a properly churned ice cream magnitudes better.

Some other things you will need for this cookies and cream ice cream recipe are:

• Mixing Bowl
• Whisk or Immersion Blender (I recommend the latter and I’ll explain why down below)
• Rubber Spatula
• Sealable Container
• Kitchen Scale (optional, but recommended)

This is the best way to make cookies and cream ice cream because it uses one of the ingredients to its actual potential. Many recipes just call for crushing up the Oreos and adding them in at the end – do not do this.

Step 1: In a mixing bowl add the heavy cream, milk, sugar, and vanilla powder. Then open up all of the Oreo cookies and use a knife to scrape the filling into the bowl. Don’t let the cookies get in there, you just want the filling. Then whisk for a while or use an immersion blender to immediately combine.

Step 2: Next add the entire bowl of base to your ice cream machine and run according to your device’s instructions.

Step 3: While the ice cream has begun to churn place your scraped cookie pieces in a bag and bang it around a bit with a rolling pin. This will give the cookies a variety of sizes so when they are added your final ice cream will look quite professional. If you were to add whole cookies they would get soggy and create a weird consistency in the end.

Step 4: Once your ice cream has been churned properly add in your crushed cookie pieces. Let the machine run for another minute to fully combine the pieces.

Step 5: Lastly move the contents of your ice cream machine to a sealable container. I suggest using a rubber spatula to get as much as you can out from the machine – this ice cream is thick, thick, thick. Place the container in the coldest part of your freezer until you have that perfect ice cream consistency.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Why Do You Separate The Cookies Before Making Cookies And Cream Ice Cream?

A: There are two reasons for doing this, and it really only applies to cookies and cream ice cream. For example my Kit Kat ice cream doesn’t have you separating the chocolate from the wafers.

Did you know that Oreos are completely vegan? That’s right – the creme inside the sandwich cookies isn’t cream at all. It’s primarily a mix of oils and syrups. There are three ingredients in the filling that help the final ice creams consistency. That’s why using the Oreo filling in ice cream actually makes a better tasting ice cream. I’ll explain why here:

1. High Fructose Corn Syrup – This ingredient is not just a sweetener. It also acts as a stabilizer which will help your ice cream stay frozen longer and assist with an extra creamy mouthfeel.

2. Soy Lecithin – Lecithin may sound like a bad chemical additive, but in fact it has so many great uses. This ingredient is an emulsifier, which helps the ice cream in the churning process by trapping air. I know a lot of people are against ‘additives’ in ice cream but you know what else has a lot of lecithin in it? A very common ice cream ingredient called Egg Yolks!

3. Hydrogenated Palm or Canola Oil – I know palm oil is kind of a no-no ingredient these days, but it is what it is and apparently Oreo still uses it for the filling. Regardless, this ingredient helps the ice cream form smaller ice crystals when it churns making your homemade cookies and cream ice cream have an amazing creaminess and mouthfeel.

Q: My homemade ice cream doesn’t trap air when it churns. What gives?

A: There can be a few reasons for this but the most common reason your ice cream isn’t churning correctly is that your base was not cold enough. If the stuff you pour in your machine is not as cold as possible, it has the ability to warm up your ice cream machine thus not developing tiny ice crystals which give this frozen dessert it’s smooth and airy consistency.

Q: A lot of recipes on your site use eggs in the ice cream, why doesn’t this one?

A: Eggs, or more specifically egg yolks, are used in a lot of ice cream recipes to assist with the creaminess. Something like my really popular Tonka Bean Ice Cream uses eggs since it is basically a French style frozen custard. With this cookies and cream ice cream, it is actually the center filling which creates the creaminess in this recipe foregoing the need or desire for egg yolks. Not to mention it would change the color from white and black to yellow and black and that would not look at all like what people expect from a classic cookies and cream ice cream recipe.

Cookies And Cream Ice Cream

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