August 18, 2016

Cookie Butter Ice Cream

Biscoff is something I eat by the spoonful, delicious spoons of cookie butter. The Europeans are crazy not to like peanut butter, but they are pretty intelligent when it comes to smashing cookies into a spreadable form.

Brown Eyed Baker converted cookie butter into ice cream, so I had to give that a spin (or churn to be literal). This is a good, creamy ice cream, although it won't take my top spot. My favorite part is the crushed cookie bits. (I'll be honest, I top the whole thing with more cookie crumbles before I eat the ice cream.)

Cookie Butter Ice Cream
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup cookie butter, divided
2 cups heavy cream, divided
Pinch of salt
6 egg yolks
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup coarsely chopped speculoos cookies, about 12 cookies

Warm the milk, sugar, 1/2 cup of cookie butter, 1 cup of the heavy cream and the salt in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved and the cookie butter has melted. Continue cooking until the mixture comes to a slight simmer, bubbling around the edges of the pan.

Meanwhile, pour the remaining 1 cup heavy cream into a large bowl, and place a fine-mesh sieve on top. Whisk the egg yolks in a medium bowl. Slowly pour the warmed milk mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly. Scrape the mixture back into the saucepan.

Place the saucepan over medium heat, and stir constantly with a rubber spatula, being sure to scrape the bottom of the pan as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the spatula, a few minutes. The mixture should register 170 to 175ºF on a candy thermometer.

Pour the custard through the fine-mesh sieve, and stir it into the cream. Stir in the vanilla extract, and place the bowl over an ice bath. Stir occasionally until the mixture is cool. Cover, and transfer the custard to the refrigerator until completely chilled, at least 8 hours or overnight.

Prior to churning the ice cream, melt the remaining 1/2 cup cookie butter. Set aside to come to cool slightly while churning the ice cream. Freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions, stirring in the chopped speculoos cookies immediately after churning. As you remove the ice cream to a freezer-safe container, drop dollops of the melted cookie butter over each layer of ice cream. Once all of the ice cream and cookie butter has been placed in the container, use a butter knife to gently swirl the mixture. Store the ice cream in the freezer. Makes about 1 quart.

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