Cookies and Cream Ice Cream

I live in Minnesota, and January in Minnesota is C.O.L.D. Not only is it cold, but it is bitterly cold. The last thing a lot of people think of when it is this cold is eating ice cream, but I’ve never let that stop me before. My mother-in law gave me an ice cream attachment for my KitchenAid mixer for Christmas and I knew I wouldn’t be able to wait for warmer weather to use it for the first time.

On the various different food blogs I read, most of the ice cream recipes come from David Lebovitz, so I knew this was where I needed to start. I had a really hard time deciding on exactly what flavor I wanted to try first, but I finally settled on cookies and cream. This was one of the staples of my childhood and to this day is still one of my favorite flavors. I adapted David’s basic vanilla ice cream recipe and added chopped Oreo cookies.I didn’t have any vanilla beans so I just used the vanilla extract, and I thought the flavor was still great. It’s truly hard to put into words just how delicious this recipe is!

I never realized how much of a time intensive process making ice cream is, but it is well worth it in the end. Everything I have read recommends fully chilling the custard in the refrigerator overnight for the best results. This doesn’t make a huge quantity of ice cream (about 1 quart) so it only took about 15 minutes in my ice cream maker. The consistency will be very much like soft serve (which is how I like my ice cream). Be sure to have the cookies chopped and ready, or you will have a melted mess on your hands. I hand chopped my cookies instead of using a food processor, and I think the larger chunks add a lot of great flavor. The ice cream will be best served after being in the freezer for a few hours. Unfortunately this doesn’t lend itself to being a great last minute dessert, but the time put in it is well worth the taste. Enjoy!

Cookies and Cream Ice Cream
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1 cup whole milk
Pinch of salt
¾ cup sugar
2 cups heavy whipping cream
5 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
18 Oreo cookies, chopped (more or less to taste)

Set up an ice bath by placing ice water into a large bowl. Pour the heavy whipping cream into a smaller bowl, then place the small bowl in the ice bath of the larger bowl.

Heat the milk, salt and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Do not let the mixture boil. In a small bowl whisk together the egg yolks. Pour some of the heated milk mixture into the egg yolks, whisking the entire time. Pour the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan with the remaining milk. Cook over medium low heat, stirring constantly until the mixture begins to thicken (about 10-15 minutes).

Pour the custard into the cream and stir until cooled. Add the vanilla extract. Cover and chill overnight in the refrigerator.

Remove the custard from the refrigerator and freeze in your ice cream maker according to manufacturers instructions. Meanwhile, coarsely chop the Oreo cookies. Once the ice cream is ready stir in the cookie pieces. Place in a freezer safe, airtight container and place in freezer for several hours before serving.