Homemade Oreo Ice Cream Recipe

Attention, fellow cookie lovers — this homemade Oreo ice cream recipe was created just for you! A sweet, decadent vanilla ice cream base is studded with loads of crushed Oreo cookies to make your dream dessert. This delicious frozen custard treat takes little hands-on time to prepare and results in the most luscious from-scratch ice cream. After one spoonful, you'll never go back to store-bought ice cream again.

Jump to:

• Why You’ll Love This Recipe
• Ingredients
• Step-by-Step Instructions
• How to Serve
• Recipe FAQs
• Variations and Substitutions
• Expert Tips
• Perfect Pairing
• Get More Homemade Ice Cream Recipes
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Features everyone’s favorite cookie: Is there a better store-bought cookie than Oreos? Everyone loves that iconic Oreo taste, so you can be sure this is one ice cream that steals hearts. You have a guaranteed crowd pleaser on your hand with this recipe.

Better than store-bought ice cream: Cookies and cream is your standard store-bought variation of this recipe. And, yes, it is a nice treat, but store-bought ice cream can’t touch the rich flavor and ultra creamy texture of a good homemade ice cream. 

Perfect party dessert: Homemade ice cream is always great for company because it requires you to prepare it ahead of time. That way, your hosting duties couldn’t be easier. Plus, it adds a comforting, nostalgic flair to any occasion.

Related: For more ice cream recipes, you'll also love this Biscoff ice cream and amaretto ice cream.

Ingredients

Oreo cookies: Of course, this is our star ingredient. While you can certainly substitute a generic chocolate sandwich cookie, I find Oreos have a much more intense chocolate flavor. I recommend sticking with Oreos for best results.

Heavy cream: Make sure you use heavy cream — not half and half — for the most luxurious texture. This is sometimes also listed as heavy whipping cream on the carton.

Whole milk: Like above, let’s use whole milk and not some lesser-fat variety. After all, homemade ice cream is all about splurging. 

Eggs: We just need the yolks for this recipe. Save the egg whites for a breakfast scramble. 

White sugar: We’re using white sugar rather than brown sugar to really let the Oreo flavor shine. Brown sugar adds a richer, more molasses flavor, which could make a fun variation. But for the standard recipe, let’s go with white sugar.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: We start by bringing the milk, heavy cream and sugar to a simmer over medium heat (photo 1). Every so often, we stir the mixture to help dissolve the sugar.

Step 2: Meanwhile, we whisk together the egg yolks and vanilla extract until it gets nice and thick (photo 2). I find that about three minutes of whisking by hand does the trick.

Step 3: Once the milk mixture reaches a simmer, we scoop some of the liquid into our egg yolks and whisk again (photo 3). We repeat this step several times. This is called tempering our eggs. 

Step 4: Now we pour the egg mixture back into our medium saucepan with the remaining cream. We continue to cook the ice cream custard until it’s thick enough to coat a wooden spoon like so (photo 4).

Step 5: From here, we pour the hot mixture into a large to medium bowl and directly cover the custard's surface with plastic wrap (photo 5). This prevents a film from forming on top. We now place the custard in the refrigerator to fully chill.

Step 6: After the custard base is properly chilled, we’re ready to churn it in our ice cream machine. Follow the ice cream manufacturer's instructions and add the crushed Oreo cookie pieces in the last couple of minutes of churning (photo 6). 

Step 7: For our final step, we spread the ice cream mixture into an airtight, freezer-safe container and freeze for several hours (photo 7). The ice cream will be more of a soft-serve consistency at this point, but it will firm up after freezing.

You now have the most perfect Oreo cookie ice cream. All that’s left is to grab a spoon. 

How to Serve

If you have some extra Oreos on hand, I recommend crumbling a few extra to sprinkle on top. After all, you can't have enough Oreo pieces here. Now drizzle the ice cream with hot fudge sauce or caramel sauce and top with some whipped cream and a cherry, and you have yourself the perfect cookie lover’s sundae.

Of course, don’t feel like you have to just serve this ice cream by the scoop. Here are a few other ways to put this recipe to use.

• Blend into an Oreo milkshake.
• Spread onto a cookie crust in a springform pan to make an Oreo ice cream cake.
• Spoon between two cookies to make homemade ice cream sandwiches.
• Layer on top of brownies and freeze to make brownie bars.
• Turn into ice cream truffles.
• Add to floats.

Recipe FAQs

Variations and Substitutions

Looking to put a fun spin on this ice cream? Here are a few ways you can do just that.

• Whisk in ½ cup cocoa powder when whisking the cream, milk and sugar to make a chocolate Oreo ice cream.
• Use one of those fun, new Oreo flavors, such as cake batter or red velvet.
• Add in a few sprigs of fresh mint to the cream mixture and steep to make a mint Oreo ice cream. (See my fresh mint chocolate chip ice cream for more detailed directions.)
• Follow the base of this recipe but swap the Oreos for another type of cookie or favorite mix-in.

Expert Tips

Do not boil the milk mixture: Whole milk can separate if it boils. Just keep it to a simmer.

Make sure the custard base is 40 degrees F or colder before churning: Otherwise, it won’t properly set up. That’s why I like to allow it to refrigerate overnight. If you need to churn it sooner, you can place the custard in an ice bath. To check the temperature, an instant thermometer works well.

Strain the custard through a fine-mesh sieve: Before you pour the custard into the large mixing bowl and cover it with plastic wrap, straining through a fine-mesh sieve helps ensure you have only the creamiest texture.

Tempering the eggs is a must: Do not skip this step. This ensures the eggs slowly cook and don’t turn into scrambled eggs.

Perfect Pairing

For beer, I love a barrel-aged imperial stout with this Oreo cookie ice cream. The barrel-aging process adds nice vanilla and coconut notes that pair well with the vanilla ice cream and cookie filling while the roasted malted is perfect with the chocolate. Plus, an imperial stout comes with some residual sweetness from the high ABV to make it delicious with desserts.

If you prefer wine, a ruby port is tasty here. This is a dessert wine with soft tannins, which helps keep the wine from tasting too astringent with our ice cream. You’ll also love how the sweet berry notes play with the chocolate cookies.

Or maybe you’d like a dessert cocktail — a chocolate martini, perhaps? It’s your lucky day because I have three variations that all work nicely.

• Baileys chocolate martini: You’ll love how the extra touch of vanilla matches the ice cream base.
• Chocolate-raspberry martini: This is a great option if you love that classic chocolate and berries flavor combination. 
• Peppermint-chocolate martini: When it’s the holiday season, this adds a festive touch, and peppermint is always a welcome addition to a chocolate treat.

When you need a sweet treat, you’ll love this decadent Oreo ice cream recipe. With that creamy vanilla ice cream base and crushed Oreos in every bite, this is one ice cream you’ll want to make each chance you get.

Cheers!

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