Oreo ice cream, also known as cookies and cream ice cream, is a favorite of just about everyone. My recipe is made with a traditional french egg custard base but isn't your average vanilla ice cream with oreo cookies folded in...it is an ice cream base made with oreo milk. That's right it's oreo milk is a thing and it is amazing.
A super simple ice cream recipe mixing the famous crunch and chocolatey flavor of Oreo cookies with the rich and creamy sweetness of a traditional vanilla ice cream base. This Oreo cookie ice cream will undoubtedly satisfy your sweet tooth, whether you're hosting a party this summer, making for your family or just searching for a tasty dessert to enjoy yourself.
Making ice cream from scratch is very easy and rewarding it tastes so much better and is made with simple ingredients), but it does require an ice cream maker (unless doing a no churn ice cream). Here is a great post with my thoughts on ice cream makers.
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Why you'll love this recipe.
- Cookies and cream ice cream is one of the most popular flavors in the world, and it almost always calls for Oreo cookies. Everyone loves it, kids or adults, and it’s widely available in supermarkets, ice cream shops and restaurants.
- It’s versatile. You can make sundaes with it, use it to top a brownie, throw it in a milkshake, make an ice cream cake out of it. Since Oreo cookie ice cream is so popular it can be used for all sorts of things!
- It’s nostalgic. There is just something about Oreos that reminds a lot of adults of their childhood. Dunking Oreos in milk is something I feel like everyone did as a kid. Hell, I still do it It’s a flavor that brings back happy memories and makes you feel like a kid again.
- Oreo milk is amazing. Ice cream aside making the cookie milk is always a good idea. I use this as my milk base in a cookies and cream milkshake, and sometimes, when I am feeling extra awesome, I use it in my iced coffee for a treat.
- This is as delicious as it is easy. The smooth and rich ice cream base made with the oreo milk is the perfect compliment to the crunchy and chocolatey cookie bits that get added in when churning.
Making homemade ice cream
There are three types of ice cream (if you include no-churn, which I am):
- French style ice cream. This is what I use as a base for Oreo cookie ice cream, is custard-based with sugar, egg yolks, milk, and cream. This is a great base that I use for a lot of ice creams, like my butterscotch ice cream with chocolate cake. And while this considered a french technique for making ice cream, this is largely what you will find included in all ice cream recipes.
- Philadelphia-style ice cream. This is an eggless ice cream recipe, and what I use for Speculoos cookie butter ice cream recipe. A really delicious thing and so simple that to be honest, I thought it was gonna suck. I mean, basically you just heat up heavy cream (some recipes call for milk as well) with sugar until the sugar dissolves and then chill it before putting into the machine.
After trying philadelphia style ice cream, I can honestly say I cannot tell the difference. So much so, that I have created other ice cream recipes with this base, like sour cherry ice cream. Maybe the texture is slightly less creamy (if you make it plain)…maybe. But since I added vanilla bean and sour cherry puree I could not tell even a little bit. - Last would be no-churn, which is by far the simplest of all ice cream recipes, using sweetened condensed milk, folded with whipped heavy cream and best of all, no ice cream maker. This no-churn blueberry cream recipe couldn't be easier.
Ingredients
Since this is a french-style ice cream base it is made with a cooked custard and includes these basic ingredients:
- Egg yolks
- Sugar
- Milk. Make the Oreo cookie milk. Trust me.
- Heavy cream
- Vanilla
- Salt. Just a touch.
How to make Oreo milk
For how good this is, it is unbelievably simple. It is basically steeping oreos in milk until they are soft enough to be totally combined with the milk. Add your Oreos to the milk and let them sit in the fridge for a bit, at minimum a half hour, and then shake to break them up and incorporate them fully into the milk.
Using this in place of regular milk when making the base for the ice cream distributes oreo throughout the entire ice cream rather than just the chunks of cookies that get added in at the end (which you still get).
Ingredient swaps and variations
Even though this is an Oreo ice cream recipe, that doesn't mean chocolate oreos are the only cookie you could use in these. Here is some other ideas:
- Use another flavor of oreos. If you're not a fan of chocolate, no problem, you could use golden oreos or of the other dozens of flavors available for oreo cookies (lemon or peanut butter sound particularly good for ice cream).
- Add a ripple of fudge when churning in your ice cream maker to amp up the chocolate.
- Add strawberries or bananas for an extra element and to change up the flavor of the ice cream.
Equipment needed
To make my oreo ice cream recipe you do need an ice cream maker. If you don't have one, but are certain you want to try making your own ice cream maker, it is well worth the investment. And I believe that once you start making ice cream, and realize how simple and much more delicious (and overall better for you) it is, you'll never look back.
How to store homemade ice cream
Obviously, ice cream has to be stored in the freezer. After churning, oreo ice cream will be fairly soft and need some additional time to set up in the freezer before eating. Store it in a freezer safe container covered to help prevent freezer burn.
Top tips
The custard base has to be completely cold before using. I always make my base the night before and chill in the fridge overnight. You need a minimum of EIGHT HOURS chill time before churning.
Other french-style ice cream recipes you'll love
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Additional frozen treat recipe ideas
I am huge fan of making ice cream and everything else you can make with it. Here are a few wonderful ice cream treats you'll want to try:
Equipment
- Ice cream maker
Ingredients
For the oreo milk
- 1 cup whole milk
- ½ cup oreo cookies crumbled
For the oreo ice cream
- 1 cup oreo milk use all of the recipe above (will be more than 1 cup with addition of oreos)
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 cups heavy cream
- ¼ teaspoon of salt
- 6 egg yolks
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup oreos crushed
Instructions
To make the oreo milk
- Combine the whole milk with the ½ cup of oreos in a mason jar or a container you can cover with some kind of lid. Let sit in fridge for about 15 minutes or longer. Shake the milk vigorously to create the oreo milk.
To make the ice cream
- Combine the oreo milk, sugar, salt and one of the cups of the heavy cream in a pan. Heat up and stir until the sugar is totally dissolved. Keep cooking until a bare simmer.
- While the milk is heating, whisk the egg yolks in a medium bowl. Drizzle the milk mixture into the egg yolks SLOWLY, whisking like crazy. And do this slowly - or you will end up with scrambled eggs.
- Pour back into the pan and continue cooking, while stirring the entire time, until the mixture thickens (the saying here goes 'until it coats the back of the spoon or spatula’). Don't boil it though.
- Pour the custard into a bowl and stir in the last cup of heavy cream. Then stir in the vanilla extract. Cover the bowl and refrigerate several hours, but I always refrigerate overnight.
- Bust out your ice cream maker and process. About halfway through, when it is just starting to look like ice cream, add the chopped oreos to blend in.When ready pour into a some kind of pan – I used a loaf pan lined with parchment.
Ellen P says
Made this with my kids this weekend for a fun start to summer and my goodness...the Oreo milk!! I will be making that just to have by itself. Ice cream turned out great and kids are excited to try more!
Judy says
Oreo milk is a genius idea and this turned out better than I even imagined. Great recipe.
Helen Vorhees says
Ok first of all the milk...WOW! what a great idea for all kinds of things. And it made a delicious ice cream full of cookie flavor in every bite. I think I have had more than the kids lol.
Shoba says
Instead of eggs what can I use
Katie Beck says
Hi Shoba, so I have not tested this with anything other than egg yolks as this is a French-style, custard based ice cream recipe; however you can most certainly try to make this with a Philadelphia style ice cream base...to do that I would steep the oreos in heavy cream in a saucepan until totally soft and blended into the cream (similar to making the cookie milk in the original recipe0. Chill completely before putting in your ice cream maker, and add additional oreos while churning for some chunky bits. Hope this helps!
Anonymous says
Thanks for the reply. I actually skipped the egg part and made it came out really good.
Celesta Miceli Carlson says
When do you add the cup of crushed oreos
Katie Beck says
Hi Celesta - the oreo wil go in about halfway through churning (just when the base is starting to come together as ice cream).
Thanks!
Sam says
Curious on thoughts whether this would work with a dairy free milk- almond or oat milk, for example. I’ve worked with vegan heavy cream before so am comfortable subbing that but not sure about the whole milk for the Oreo milk portion. Thanks!
Samantha says
This was soo delicious!!!
Anonymous says
I made this recipe and followed your directions exactly. It turned out AMAZING! The consistency is perfect and creamy. The Oreo milk was a great idea. The absolute best ice cream recipe ever. I’m looking forward to making more ice cream recipes from your site.
Jacob says
Fabulous!!! I made some slight adjustments and it turned out beautifully! (Definitely one of the better ice creams I’ve made!) I caramelized the sugar before adding the milk and I used a stand mixer to beat the yolks while I added the heated milk/salt/sugar…it just makes it easier to control the pour. The Oreo milk is brilliant. The final product scooped beautifully, had the most lovely flavor and mouthfeel. Phenomenal!
MEGAN NEWTON says
Did you find the ice cream difficult to process after it had completely frozen? I have the less expensive Cuisinart ice cream maker and last time I froze the ice cream before processing it was too hard and wouldn’t churn.
Katie Beck says
I have not run in to this problem, but the recipe says to put the base in the refrigerator before churning, not to freeze it first. I would not recommend freezing the base before churning 🙂
Sean Cordaro says
I make my own ice cream and I add two teaspoons of clear vodka. It prevents it from freezing solid.
Derek says
The oreo milk is a genius idea! I'm surprised I haven't seen any recipe use that before. I went ahead and also substituted chopped Milka oreo chocolate bars and basically made it a fancy chocolate chip oreo ice cream. It was divine!
Anonymous says
Prep and cook time very misleading. Pretty disappointed when we read you have to refrigerate for several hours-overnight before you can actually make the ice cream. That should be included in the prep time!!
Katie Beck says
Actually you are totally correct, that should be included. I did not think of that really before, as it was a sitting time not a prep time to me...but it is in fact a prep time to the end result of the ice cream. Sorry about that - and sorry that you had wait, hopefully you did continue with the recipe as the end result ice cream is super delicious!
Hater says
Where the hell is the recipe?????? It’s just all text about what you like about the ice cream and no actual recipe - no measurements nothing. Wtf is this???
Katie Beck says
I am not really sure what you're looking at...the recipe in full is at the end of the post.
Anonymous says
Is there really the need for all that aggression? Have you never been on a social media site before? It clearly states at the beginning 'skip to...' If it's a matter of not being able to read, perhaps ask a family member or friend first if you are missing something.?? Otherwise you risk making yourself look foolish. Just a thought.