After rushing like mad to clear the driveway from another snowfall before it froze, I came inside and had a craving for ice cream. I found a carton of Cookies ‘N Cream, but was sadly disappointed. First off, someone had gouged into the ice cream and eaten all the big chunks of cookies. The resulting cream flavored ice cream just tasted… off. Not creamy. Kind of stale. I even found some slivers of ice within the ice cream. All in all a disappointing evening. To rectify this sad state of affairs I vowed to make my own version. Here’s what I did.

Ingredients

• 8 oz Whole Milk
• 12 oz cup Heavy Cream
• 5 Egg Yolks
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• Sandwhich Cookies to mix-in

Method

In a medium saucepan, slowly heat (medium low) the Milk and Heavy Cream to a simmer.

 

While that is heating up, gradually whisk the Sugar into the Egg Yolks. Add the Salt and mix well.

 

Once the milk mixture is simmering, temper the eggs. Take a ladle of hot milk, pour it into the eggs while whisking. Do this a couple times, making sure to constantly whisk so that the eggs don’t scramble. Once the eggs have heated up, mix it into the saucepan with the milk.

 

Continue stirring. Don’t forget to scrape along the edges and bottom of the pot so that nothing burns. Unlike the Vanilla Bean recipe where we basically made a custard, this mixture will not become thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Instead use a candy thermometer and heat until 175 degrees or for 5 – 10 min.

 

Strain into container. Stir in the Vanilla Extract. Allow to cool before refrigerating for at least 3 hrs to overnight. Put in the ice cream maker for 40 min.

 

Cookie add-in: Take 3 cookie sandwiches and remove the cream filling (not with your tongue, please). Then smash the chocolate cookies into a coarse powder. Break 5 cookies into chunks and keep them in the freezer until needed.

Add 5 tsp of the cookie powder. One tsp at a time while the ice cream machine is churning.

 

Fold in the big chunks after the ice cream is done. Freeze for at least 3 hrs. before serving.

Garnish with your favorite toppings or more cookies. Enjoy!