Coffee 'N Cookies 'N Cream Ice Cream Recipe

This recipe blends fragrant, creamy Tahitian vanilla bean with ground coffee for a sweet, rich, coffee-tinged base for crushed Oreos.

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Photograph: Max Falkowitz

I may be out of touch here, but when did we get so many kinds of Oreos? I mean, peanut butter and mint were weird enough, but now what—we have to contend with anemic "golden" Oreos, snack cakey "cakesters," and Frankensteinian triple doubles? Where do we draw the line?

I wouldn't so much mind the Oreo novelty invasion, but they're starting to hit me where it hurts. The most basic Oreo my grocery store sells is Double Stuff; the classic Oreo is gone.

This isn't to say I don't enjoy innovation with my Oreos; I just prefer to do the innovating myself. After spending a recent afternoon dipping Oreos into a mug of milky coffee, and going through yet another caffeine and sugar high rant about how coffee and chocolate combined ARE THE BEST THING EVER, I decided to try the mix as ice cream. Well, first I took a nap. Then ice cream. Long story short: it's a keeper.

This recipe calls for Tahitian vanilla bean, which tastes especially fragrant and creamy. It takes the slightly bitter edge off the coffee and cocoa-rich Oreo cookies, resulting in an ice cream that tastes of your childhood, but if your parents were cool enough to let you drink coffee. Don't expect a full-on coffee buzz; this is coffee and vanilla working together as one, so it's still gentle enough for kids. The texture is pure rich dairy, with the slightly elastic chew that comes from proper premium ice cream. It's the richness you've always wanted from cookies 'n cream but so rarely find.

So yes, try this ice cream for the cookies and cream experience you've deserved all these years. And if you're listening, Nabisco, this isn't an invitation to make coffee flavored Oreos. You can leave that to us.

Recipe Details

Coffee 'N Cookies 'N Cream Ice Cream Recipe

Active 60 mins
Total 10 hrs
Serves 8 servings

Ingredients

  • 2 cups heavy cream

  • 1 cup whole milk

  • 1 Tahitian vanilla bean, split and scraped

  • 7 large egg yolks

  • 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

  • 4 teaspoons medium grind coffee

  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste

  • 1 1/2 cups crushed Oreo sandwich cookies, store-bought or homemade

Directions

  1. Bring cream and milk to a simmer in a heavy saucepan. Stir in vanilla bean, cover, and let steep for 30 minutes. Remove vanilla pod and reserve for another use.

  2. In a bowl, whisk egg yolks, sugar, and coffee together until pale in color and thick. Ladle about 1/3 of dairy into egg yolks, whisking constantly, then transfer yolk mixture back to saucepan.

  3. Place pot over medium-low heat and cook, whisking frequently, until a custard forms on a spoon and a finger swiped across the back leaves a clean line, or until custard temperature reaches 170°F. Stir in salt to taste.

  4. Strain custard through a fine mesh strainer and chill in either ice bath or refrigerator until it is very cold, about 40°F. Churn in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions, adding Oreos in last minute of churning, then transfer to an airtight container and to harden in freezer for at least 4 hours before serving.

Special Equipment

Ice cream machine

This Recipe Appears In

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
378 Calories
30g Fat
18g Carbs
9g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8
Amount per serving
Calories 378
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 30g 39%
Saturated Fat 17g 84%
Cholesterol 256mg 85%
Sodium 234mg 10%
Total Carbohydrate 18g 7%
Dietary Fiber 0g 2%
Total Sugars 13g
Protein 9g
Vitamin C 0mg 2%
Calcium 105mg 8%
Iron 3mg 16%
Potassium 199mg 4%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)