pumpkin and vanilla oreo ice cream

Are you tired of pumpkin yet? Can I squeeze in one more recipe? I have to be honest, back in early October I was so not into pumpkin at all. Then I made that fabulous pumpkin cheesecake with nutella ganache and there in started the pumpkin cravings. So I guess I'm way behind all of the other food bloggers who are already onto egg nog, peppermint and mocha. Mocha eh? Hmm what can be made with mocha that is seasonal? Has to be a mocha-peppermint cheesecake in there somewhere right? Gosh what a fabulous idea. I'm on it people!


This ice cream came about from J.P. Licks infamous ice cream joint in Jamaica Plain, MA. They had made a pumpkin ice cream with oreos. There is a video of the place J.P. Licks here wandering foodie. They don't mention what flavor Oreo they use, but to be honest I just thought the chocolate Oreo's would be a little overpowering in the gentle pumpkin flavored ice cream, so that's what made me choose its vanilla twin. This ice cream is very rich, hence a custard-like taste. Using the 5 egg yolks create this nice custardy taste. You could easily serve this for a thanksgiving dessert, with or without the hot fudge sauce on it.
Notes: I hate storing ice cream in plastic in the freezer. I much prefer glass has a better flavor, but that's just me. Should you not want to use the Oreo's you could easily use mini chocolate chips or even white chips. Experiment is key here and have fun.


pumpkin & vanilla oreo ice cream
print recipe

1 ½ cups half-and-half
½ cup heavy cream
½ cup buttermilk
5 regular egg yolks
4 ounces sugar
1 ts pure good quality vanilla extract
½ ts cinnamon
3 dashes of pumpkin spice
2 good pinches of sea salt
½ cup pumpkin puree
1 – 2 cups of crushed vanilla Oreo’s (depends on how much cookie you want in ice cream)
A candy thermometer

In a pot, over medium heat mix the half-and-half, heavy cream and buttermilk. Bring the mixture just to a simmer, stirring occasionally, and remove from the heat.
In a medium mixing bowl whisk the egg yolks until they lighten in color. Add in the sugar and whisk well to combine thoroughly. Temper the cream mixture into the eggs and sugar by gradually adding small amounts, until about ½ of the cream mixture has been added. Once added then pour in the remainder and return the entire mixture to the saucepan and place over low heat. Keep stirring, not whisking. You want to cook this until you have a temperature of 170 -175 degrees F. Also the mixture should, by now be thicker and will coat the back of a spatula and/or spoon nicely. Recipe by dawn finicane of vanillakitchen.blogspot.com Add this point add in the vanilla extract, cinnamon, salt and dashes of pumpkin spice. You may or may not need more pumpkin spice—go ahead and taste test and see if you like it.
Pour the mixture into a container and allow to sit at room temperature for about 30-40 minutes uncovered.
Place the mixture into the refrigerator and cover tightly. Store in fridge for at least 5 to 8 hours (I’ve done this overnight and it’s fine). When you are ready to pour mixture into ice cream maker get your pumpkin and crushed cookies ready. Pour into an ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer's directions. This should take approximately 25 to 35 minutes. At the last 5 minutes of churning I add in the pumpkin puree and crushed cookies.
Serve as is for soft serve or freeze for another 3 to 4 hours to allow the ice cream to harden.
Should make little over a quart.