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Cookies and Cream Ice Cream

Cookies and cream ice cream made with a custard base, then churned and studded with crushed chocolate sandwich cookies for dark chunks in a snow-white cream. This Oreo ice cream recipe delivers a churned cookies-and-cream texture with a subtle swirl where some cookie pieces dissolve.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
chilling + freezing 4 minutes
Total Time 29 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Calories: 430
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Ice cream base
  • 2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 0.75 cup granulated sugar
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 0.25 tsp salt
Cookies
  • 20 chocolate sandwich cookies roughly crushed (about 2 cups)

Equipment

  • 1 Dutch oven
  • 1 ice cream maker
  • 1 fine mesh sieve

Method
 

Make the custard base
  1. Heat heavy cream and whole milk in a saucepan until steaming, 2–4 minutes; keep the surface just steaming with small bubbles around the edges.
  2. Whisk granulated sugar into egg yolks until smooth, then slowly whisk the steaming cream mixture into the yolks to warm them gradually.
  3. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the custard reaches 175F, about 6–10 minutes; it should visibly thicken enough to lightly coat a spoon.
  4. Strain the custard through a fine mesh sieve into a clean bowl, then stir in vanilla extract and salt until fully combined.
  5. Cool the custard completely to room temperature, 30–45 minutes, until no warmth remains and the surface looks smooth.
Churn and freeze
  1. Refrigerate the custard at least 4 hours until very cold, 4 hours; the mixture should look thick and cold all the way through.
  2. Churn the custard in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions until it reaches soft-serve thickness, about 20–30 minutes; it should look pale and airy.
  3. In the last 2 minutes of churning, add crushed chocolate sandwich cookies so some stay chunky and some dissolve slightly for a cookies-and-cream swirl effect; watch for dark flecks spreading through the pale base.
  4. Transfer the churned ice cream to a container and freeze until firm, at least 4 hours; it should scoop cleanly with minimal melt at the edges.

Notes

For the smoothest custard, keep the heat at medium-low and stir constantly so it thickens evenly rather than scrambling the yolks; a quick visual cue is when it lightly coats the back of a spoon. Refrigerate the custard base (before churning) up to 24 hours, and once churned, freeze for up to 2 weeks for best texture. Freezing yes—once frozen, expect slight hardening, so let sit 5 minutes before scooping. Dietary swap: use gluten-free chocolate sandwich cookies to keep the cookies-and-cream effect gluten-free.