Do you have a favorite flavor of ice cream? Or, like me, do you stand dumbfounded in front of the ice cream counter or grocery store freezer doors peering at all of the different offerings, attempting to choose just one?
With the ever-expanding plethora of ice cream varietals, it can be tough to choose a favorite… but once you become comfortable with making your own at home, there’s no need to choose one because virtually any flavor is right at your fingertips.
Cookies & cream is a classic that appeals to kids and adults alike, and this particular recipe couldn’t be easier to make.
Just stir together coconut milk, sugar, vanilla, & crushed sandwich cookies and then dump the mixture into your ice cream maker. No tempering of eggs or heating of milk!
The coconut flavor is very slightly discernible, but the vanilla and chocolate cookie flavors definitely dominate the ice cream. If you really dislike coconut, you can try adding in double the amount of vanilla, but I can’t personally attest to how that will turn out.
What I can tell you is that this (almost) vegan ice “cream” is beautifully creamy and packed full of bite-sized chocolate sandwich cookie pieces. Using full-fat canned coconut milk ensures that the final product is scoopable straight from the freezer, (unless you keep your freezer at the coldest setting), and that the consistency is similar to that of real ice cream.
It is also insanely delicious.
For nutritional information purposes, I listed the yield as 8 servings, but I’m pretty sure I polished this batch off in less than a week.
By myself.
Hey, I am pregnant after all! (<– I’ve been using that excuse for all sorts of things, from word retrieval problems to not cleaning out the cat litter box. Let’s just say that John is a trooper).
There are so many other flavor additions swirling around my ice-cream obsessed brain right now, but I’m certain that I’ll be making this one over and over again.
Seriously so good!
Vanilla Bean Cookies & Cream Ice Cream
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Keywords: dessert vegan coconut ice-cream
Ingredients (8 servings)
- 2 (14 oz) cans full-fat coconut milk
- 1/2 cup unrefined granulated sugar, such as evaporated cane juice
- 1 Tbsp vanilla bean paste
- 20 all-natural cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookies, such as Back to Nature, roughly chopped/crushed
Instructions
Refrigerate the cans of coconut milk for 1 hour (no longer). Chilling the coconut milk will cause the coconut cream to rise to the top of the can and slightly solidify. Carefully scrape out the coconut cream and milk from both cans into a large mixing bowl. Add in the sugar and vanilla bean paste. Hand-whisk lightly to break up the solidified cream, and then whip with an electric mixer for about 10-20 seconds, or until smooth and thick. If you whip for much longer that this, you’ll start to make vegan whipped cream (not a bad thing, but not what we’re aiming for here!).
Pour mixture into your ice cream machine and churn according to manufacturer’s instructions, gradually adding in the chopped/crushed cookies during the last 5 minutes.
Transfer mixture to a freezer-safe air-tight container and freeze until desired consistency is reached (at least a few hours).
Nutritional Information Per Serving:
367.2 calories, 26.8 grams fat, 17.2 grams saturated fat, 0.8 grams fiber, 13.8 grams sugars, 2.6 grams protein.
