Snickerdoodle Ice Cream

A few months ago, one of the flavors I tried was Snickerdoodle. Cookies. Cinnamon ice cream. Girl living 1723 miles away from home at Christmas. It was all I could do not to eat the whole thing in one sitting.

While some of their flavors stick around all year, others only pop up every once in awhile. Since I had never seen Snickerdoodle before and haven’t seen it since and don’t know when I’ll see it again, I resorted to making my own snickerdoodle ice cream. And I’ll tell you what–I think it might be just as good. And cheaper (probably…I didn’t actually price it out…) than $7 for a 1/2 gallon.

Really, it couldn’t be easier.  I used Sara’s legendary sugar cookie recipe, rolling them a little thick and leaving them on the soft side so they’ll freeze up nicely and won’t break your teeth. If you’re short on time, I would recommend getting those little, softish shortbread cookies in the cookie aisle. Keebler, maybe? You could also use actual snickerdoodles, but I’m afraid they might not stand up to being churned in ice cream. And…now…don’t shoot me, but I don’t actually love snickerdoodles. I love the IDEA of snickerdoodles, hence the delicious, delicious ice cream, but I have NEVER had a snickerdoodle that doesn’t have a metallic aftertaste. I think it’s the cream of tartar. So maybe I’m the wrong gal to ask about putting snickerdoodles in your ice cream.

Anyway, apparently I’m feeling quite chatty, so I’ll shut up and get on with the recipe.

Snickerdoodle Ice Cream
Recipe by Our Best Bites

1 1/2 c. 2% milk
1 c. sugar
2 egg yolks
1 c. heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. cinnamon
About 1 1/2-2 c. chopped high-quality sugar cookies, snickerdoodles, or shortbread cookies

Combine milk and sugar in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium until bubbles form around the edges. Remove from heat.

In a small mixing bowl (or really big cereal bowl), whisk egg yolks thoroughly. Very slowly, add 1/2 of the hot milk mixture, whisking the yolks constantly. Return pan with remaining milk mixture to stove top and then whisk the egg and milk mixture back into the saucepan, whisking constantly. You need to be careful here to not get the eggs too hot too fast, or else they’ll curdle. So just relax and take it slow.

Add whipping cream. Over medium-low heat and stirring constantly, continue heating the custard mixture to 160 degrees. It will start to thicken quickly; remove from heat when your finger leaves a track on a spoon coated in the custard mixture.

Whisk in cinnamon and vanilla. Place the custard in an airtight container and chill in the refrigerator several hours.

When ready to make ice cream, pour chilled mixture into ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. When the ice cream is almost done (like maybe the machine’s struggling a little…it looks like really firm soft-serve…), add chopped cookies.

Remove from ice cream freezer and place in another air-tight container and freeze a couple of hours at least to firm up.