Christmas cookie ice cream is a must make dessert this holiday season. Creamy vanilla ice cream is filled with crumbled sugar cookies, white chocolate pieces, sprinkles, and a hint of cinnamon.
This no churn ice cream captures your favorite cookie flavors of the holiday season. Crumbled sugar cookies, chopped white chocolate, festive sprinkles, and a hint of cinnamon fill this ice cream with sweet, cozy flavor.
The best part about no churn ice cream? It only takes about 10 minutes of prep with minimal kitchen cleanup. It's also a great way to use up a few leftover unfrosted Christmas cookies.
Serve this Christmas cookie ice cream during the holidays as an after-dinner dessert, for a holiday movie night, or any time your sweet tooth calls. You may also enjoy my mint chocolate chip ice cream for the holdays!
Ingredients and substitutions
- Crumbled sugar cookies - Feel free to use just about any cookies you have on hand. I used some leftover soft sugar cookies. Anything that's not overly sweet would be a perfect choice, since the ice cream and white chocolate already add a good amount of sweetness. Vanilla wafers or graham crackers are also great options.
- Sweetened condensed milk - Serves as the sweet base of the ice cream. This ingredient is a must and can't be omitted or substituted. Homemade sweetened condensed milk or the store bought canned variety will work.
- Heavy cream - Cannot be substituted with any other dairy products like half & half or milk. Heavy cream has enough milkfat to whip into whipped cream, which is why it is necessary for this recipe. For more information, check out my post on how to make homemade whipped cream.
- Vanilla extract - Could be substituted with peppermint extract to make a peppermint cookie ice cream.
- White chocolate baking bar - If you can't find bars of white chocolate at the store, white chocolate chips or almond bark can be chopped into small pieces instead.
- Cinnamon - Adds a hint of cozy, warm flavor to the ice cream.
- Salt - Enhances the flavor of the ice cream and helps balance the sweetness.
- Sprinkles - Add sprinkles to suit the season. I used red and green sugar sprinkles for a little crunch and color.
Tips and tricks
Use a mixer - To make whipped cream, you'll need a hand mixer or stand mixer with a whisk attachment. While whipped cream can be whipped by hand, it takes much longer and you'll need quite a bit of arm strength to do so.
Whip to stiff peaks - Whip your whipped cream at medium speed until stiff peaks form. Test your whipped cream by turning the mixer off, lifting the whisk out of the whipped cream, and turning it upside down. If the peak of the whipped cream holds its shape without drooping, your whipped cream is ready.
Use less sweet cookies - This ice cream base is sweet on its own, so adding overly sweet cookies (like vanilla Oreos or frosted cookies) can make this ice cream too sweet. Instead, I recommend using less sweet cookie options, like unfrosted sugar cookies, graham crackers, or vanilla wafers. This recipe is the perfect way to use up a few leftover Christmas cookies that didn't get frosted.
Storage
Homemade ice cream will keep for up to 2 months in the freezer in a tightly sealed container.
Frequently asked questions
I recommend using a 9x5 loaf pan because it is the perfect size for one batch of ice cream. However, any size pan that is freezer-safe and holds at least 6 cups will work for this recipe. Try using a medium-sized tupperware container with a lid for easy storage.
The time needed to freeze your homemade ice cream will depend on a few factors: how cold your freezer is and the size and shape of your container. When prepared in a 9x5 loaf pan, my homemade ice cream freezes solid in about 4 to 5 hours.
To help your ice cream freeze faster, try separating the prepared ice cream into two smaller containers instead of one large loaf pan.
Recommended
📖 Recipe
Christmas Cookie Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup crumbled sugar cookies
- 2 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped or grated
- 1 tablespoon sugar sprinkles, red and green
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whip heavy cream until stiff peaks are achieved, about 3 minutes.
- In a separate bowl, add sweetened condensed milk, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla extract. Stir to combine.
- Gently fold whipped cream into milk mixture until just combined. Add cookie pieces and white chocolate. Fold gently into cream mixture.
- In a 9x5 loaf pan (or other 6 cup container), layer ⅓ of ice cream mixture. Add ⅓ of sprinkles in an even layer. Repeat twice more ending in a layer of sprinkles on top. Optionally, top with more cookies or white chocolate. Cover and immediately freeze for 4-5 hours or until firm.
Equipment Recommendations
Notes
- Crumbled sugar cookies can be substituted with crumbled vanilla wafers or graham crackers. Choose a cookie that is not too sweet (like leftover unfrosted sugar cookies) to avoid making the ice cream overly sweet.
- Homemade ice cream will keep for up to 2 months in the freezer in a tightly sealed container.
How would this recipe be made in an ice cream machine? I am guessing that all ingredients, except for the "mix-ins", would be added to the mixing container, and I would churn/freeze the icream; then proceed with Step #4 of your instructions?
Thank you and Happy Holidays!
Elaine
Hi Elaine, I don't have an ice cream machine myself so I can't say for sure what changes would need to be made to the recipe to make it work.