Cookies and Cream Ice Cream is one of the best kinds of ice cream recipes you can make at home! It’s a classic flavor that everyone always loves!

A hand is holding two scoops of Cookies and Cream Ice Cream in a sugar cone.

Happy 1st day of summer!!  If there’s any ice cream flavor that brings me back to summers as a kid, it’s cookies and cream ice cream.  There is just something so simple and homey about this flavor. 

Creamy sweet cream ice cream with chopped up Oreos mixed in: so basic, yet so amazing.  Whether it was dripping down my cone on days so hot that my brother and I would walk the white “drunk” line on the edges of the boardwalk at the beach to cool our scorched bare feet.

Or scooped inside one of our plastic Ground Round Yankees ice cream hat-cups, cookies and cream will always be a huge favorite of mine. It’s such a favorite, that I’ve also made Ben & Jerry’s Milk and Cookies ice cream at home which is also so so great!

This homemade version (though not the Oreos – some things are better left untouched) just makes me so happy! And it seems to have made Kyle just as happy because he requested I make it a second time in the course of a week. 

Which, of course, I was more than willing to oblige.  

A hand is holding two scoops of Cookies and Cream Ice Cream in a sugar cone.

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Ingredients

If you’ve never made ice cream before, you might be surprised at the short ingredient list. You’ll be making a custard for this recipe, which is only a mix of eggs, cream, and sugar. Here’s what you’ll need for this ice cream:

  • egg yolks
  • granulated sugar
  • heavy cream
  • whole milk
  • Kosher salt
  • pure vanilla extract
  • Oreo cookies

Tips and Tricks

Here are a few of my favorite tips and tricks for making the best homemade ice cream:

  • Add the hot milk slowly. Be sure to slowly incorporate the hot milk into the egg yolks as you whisk so you don’t cook the eggs. I add only a ladleful at a time.
  • Use a silicone pot holder or Silpat when whisking. While you’re whisking the hot milk into the egg yolks, it will help tremendously to set the bowl on a non-slip surface because you won’t be able to hold the bowl. One hand will be whisking and one hand will be pouring so you’ll need some help here!
  • An overnight chill is best. Chilling the custard overnight allows the flavors of the ice cream base to bloom, which will make your ice cream taste better. 
  • Chill your cookies. Adding cold cookies into the ice cream after you’ve churned it will keep the ice cream colder. Simply place the chopped Oreos in a bowl and set the bowl in the freezer for an hour before you churn the custard base.

Now go celebrate summer with this ice cream – maybe in a waffle cone?!

More Homemade Ice Cream Recipes

A hand is holding two scoops of Cookies and Cream Ice Cream in a sugar cone.

Cookies and Cream Ice Cream

Yield: about 1 quart of ice cream
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Chilling Time: 12 hours
Total Time: 12 hours 35 minutes

Cookies and cream ice cream is the BEST classic ice cream flavor! And it's so easy to make at home!! This cookies and cream recipe is jam packed with flavor and of course, OREOS!

Ingredients

  • 5 large egg yolks
  • ½ cup granulated sugar, divided
  • 1 ¾ cups heavy cream
  • ¾ cup whole milk
  • ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1 ¼ cups chopped Oreo cookies (about 1 row or 15 cookies)

Instructions

  1. Set a mesh strainer over a medium bowl. Fill a larger bowl about halfway full with ice and water.
  2. Add the egg yolks to a medium heatproof bowl. Whisk in ¼ cup sugar until the sugar dissolves; set aside.
  3. In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, whisk the remaining ¼ cup sugar, heavy cream, milk, and salt together. Once the mixture starts to steam, remove it from the heat. Using a ladle, scoop out some of the milk mixture from the pan and slowly stream it into the egg mixture, whisking quickly to ensure the eggs don't cook. Repeat this two more times then whisk the egg mixture into the milk mixture in the saucepan. bBring the mixture to a low simmer and cook until the mixture thickens and just coats the back of a spoon, about 1 to 2 minutes.
  4. Pour the mixture through the mesh strainer, pressing out all of the liquid and catching any cooked egg bits that remain. Stir in the vanilla extract.
  5. Set the bowl inside the larger bowl on top of the ice bath and allow the mixture to cool while stirring occasionally. Once the ice cream base has cooled, cover the bowl tightly and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
  6. Freeze the ice cream base in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. Transfer the soft ice cream to a resealable container and stir in the chopped Oreos. Seal the container and freeze for at least 6 hours before serving.

Notes

source: adapted from Sweet Cream and Sugar Cones by Kris Hoogerhyde, Anna Walker, and Dabney Gough

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Leave a Comment

  • Tracey
    June 21, 2013 at 7:58 AM

    How did I miss this recipe on my many, many flips through that book? I just know we’d love it, especially because there’s clearly no skimping on the Oreos 🙂

  • Warm Vanilla Sugar
    June 21, 2013 at 8:19 AM

    This is my FAV ice cream flavour! Love that you created something for the home cook 🙂

  • Annie @ Annie's Cooking Lab
    June 21, 2013 at 8:37 AM

    Looks delicious! Cookies ‘n cream ice cream is on my list to try this summer!

  • June 21, 2013 at 10:14 AM

    i just received an ice cream maker as a gift last week. this recipe is perfect for my first go-round!

    • taraliptak
      June 22, 2013 at 6:06 PM

      Oh yeah, this is the perfect recipe to christen it!

  • Kayle (The Cooking Actress)
    June 22, 2013 at 10:44 AM

    This ice cream sounds SOOOO amazinggggg!!!!

  • Mary
    June 22, 2013 at 1:25 PM

    Wow – I just found your blog and all of your recipes look fantastic! I can’t wait to try them. I see some great cooking and baking ahead !

    • taraliptak
      June 22, 2013 at 6:05 PM

      Welcome and thanks, Mary!

  • June 23, 2013 at 2:08 PM

    Yum, this looks delicious, I’ve just made a batch of home made ice cream and nothing compares to it.

  • Moira
    June 24, 2013 at 3:09 PM

    This is hands down my favorite ice cream flavor! Can’t wait to try this 🙂