Inspired by a seasonal ice cream flavor at my local ice cream store, this rainbow ice cream has a smooth and rich vanilla ice cream base and includes chopped rainbow cookies. Who can resist?
Ice cream is one of my all-time favorite desserts. No matter what time of year or what time of day, I can always find room in my stomach for a big old scoop of the sweet stuff. My favorite flavor, dating all the way back to childhood, is mint chocolate chip.
We’ve trained our daughter to be quite the ice cream connoisseur, as she likes trying new flavor combinations and different ice cream shoppes around town. One local ice creamery offered a rainbow cookie ice cream that she’s absolutely been obsessed about. It was a simple vanilla base with chopped rainbow cookies. Well, the rainbow cookies are more green/red/white than rainbow, but that’s besides the point.
After constantly hearing, “MOM! When will you make rainbow ice cream??” I finally gave in and bought all the ingredients. Rather than making my own version of the rainbow cookies, I bought the authentic cookies that were in the original ice cream. Luckily for me, my local grocery store carries the cookies, so I painfully plopped down $4.99 for a small container of them (inside, I was grumbling about paying such an exorbitant price for a few cookies since I could do much better for a cheaper price, but, priorities).
I made a simpler variation of David Lebovitz’s vanilla ice cream base to give it a smooth, rich texture. Then I had Addie and my husband chop up some of the rainbow cookies so I could fold them into the ice cream. I finally added a few chopped up pieces on top to finish off the aesthetics.
My husband loved the ice cream, and of course my daughter was tickled pink (er, rainbow?). And I guess I was happy too, since a scoop of this stuff at the ice cream store is usually $3-$4. And now I had an entire quart of it to enjoy with my family. On a related note, Addie said that I should sell this for $3 a scoop. I think we sense a future entrepreneur here…
If you don’t have rainbow cookies, you can substitute with your favorite cookie and turn it into a classic cookies and cream ice cream instead.
Rainbow cookie ice cream
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole milk
- 3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 2 cups heavy cream divided
- Pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 6 large egg yolks
- 10-15 rainbow cookies chopped
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, heat up the whole milk, sugar, 1 cup of the heavy cream and salt on medium temperature until the sugar is completely dissolved.
- In a large bowl, place the remaining heavy cream. Put a mesh sieve on top and set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk the egg yolks and add the vanilla. Set aside.
- Once the whole milk mixture is warmed up and the sugar has melted, pour about 1/2 cup of it into the bowl with the egg yolks. Whisk constantly so the eggs don't scramble. Then pour this back into the large bowl with the whole milk and keep whisking. The mixture will thicken and coat the back of your spatula or wooden spoon.
- Pour the mixture over the mesh sieve so it combines with the remaining cup of heavy cream. Mix well. Allow the mixture to cool down and place in the refrigerator to cool completely over night.
- Once the ice cream base is fully chilled, place it in your ice cream machine and churn according to the manufacturer's directions. Fold in the chopped cookies and transfer to a container and freeze for at least 3-4 hours.