I started wondering one day what would go together with cinnamon and chocolate in an ice cream. The combination with oatmeal cookies just seemed to be a perfect match, so I tried it. It’s become the most-often requested ice cream I’ve made, and one of the easiest to make. It turns out Ben & Jerry’s beat me to the idea with their Oatmeal Cookie Chunk [1], although I haven’t tried it yet to see how it compares to mine.
Cinnamon, Oatmeal Cookie, Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup whole milk
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup milk chocolate, coarsely chopped
8 crispy oatmeal cookies, cut in sixths or eighths (about 1/2 cup)
(makes about one quart)
The first four ingredients are the Sweet Cream Base [2] I’ve mentioned before. After following the directions in that post to get the base mixed together, mix in the cinnamon and chill the whole mix to 40 degrees F (5 C) or below before churning.
I’ve found that the really dry and crispy oatmeal cookies, without icing or raisins, work great in this recipe. My favorite is “Mother’s” brand, and I try to keep the pieces fairly large so they don’t get lost in the ice cream. Chop the cookies and the chocolate and put both in the fridge to chill while churning the ice cream. Then add them to the ice cream at the very end of the churning.
I’ve tried adding ingredients like this into the machine just before extracting the ice cream, but invariably the machine stops too early or the dasher grinds up the cookies. My (current) favorite way to do this is to pre-chill a Corning Ware (or ceramic would probably work) bowl in the freezer, along with the spoon I plan on using to extract the ice cream, and the containers I plan on putting it all into. I then move the ice cream from the machine to the chilled bowl and fold in the cookies and chocolate, before filling the containers and getting them into the freezer as quickly as possible.
Give it a try and let me know how it compares to the Ben & Jerry’s version.