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Cookies and Cream Ice Cream

Cookies and cream ice cream made with a smooth, churned vanilla custard and generous crushed chocolate sandwich cookies. Dark cookie chunks stay partly intact for a classic cookies-and-cream swirl effect.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
chilling + freezing 4 minutes
Total Time 7 hours 9 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Calories: 520
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Custard 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 ice cream maker
  • 1 saucepan
  • 1 fine mesh sieve

Method
 

Make the custard
  1. Heat heavy cream and whole milk in a saucepan until steaming, not boiling, then reduce heat to maintain a gentle steam.
  2. In a bowl, whisk egg yolks with granulated sugar until smooth, then slowly whisk the hot cream mixture into the yolks in a thin stream to temper.
  3. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the custard reaches 175F (it should lightly coat the back of a spoon).
Chill the base
  1. Strain the custard through a fine mesh sieve into a clean container, then stir in vanilla extract and salt.
  2. Cool completely at room temperature, then refrigerate for at least 4 hours until very cold.
Churn and freeze
  1. Churn the chilled custard in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions, until it thickens to soft-serve consistency.
  2. During the last 2 minutes of churning, add crushed chocolate sandwich cookies so some remain chunky and some dissolve slightly for a cookies-and-cream swirl effect.
  3. Transfer to a container, then freeze until firm.

Notes

For the smoothest custard, keep the heat at medium-low and stir constantly so it reaches 175F without scrambling the yolks. Refrigerate leftover ice cream in a sealed container for up to 1 week; freeze for up to 2 months (thaw briefly in the fridge for easier scooping). For a dairy-light swap, use lactose-free whole milk and lactose-free heavy cream to keep the same custard texture.