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Grandma Piper’s Ice Cream Cake 🍦 recipe

I think you could do a ton of great variations on this recipe. Like a crushed gingersnap base with chocolate ice cream and butterscotch chips instead of chocolate chips. Or a Biscoff cookie base with coffee ice cream. Or a graham cracker base with quality, real vanilla ice cream.

But below is Grandma Piper’s original recipe, with some notes from my friend Sarajane Blair. Grandma preferred mint chocolate chip.

This is super simple but takes a lot of freezing, so plan to make it at least a day in advance. It’s easiest if you give it a few days and do most of the freezer time overnight.

Ingredients

  • Oreos, one 36-cookie (14.3 oz) package
  • ¾ c (1½ US sticks) butter
  • ½ gallon ice cream
  • 1 c powdered sugar (icing sugar)
  • 1 c chocolate chips
  • One 12 oz can evaporated milk
  • 8 oz Cool Whip*

Method

  1. Line a 9×13″ baking dish with parchment paper, then set aside.
  2. Place the 36 Oreo cookies in a food processor and blitz them until you have large crumbs. Remove a small handful of the crumbs before they become a fine powder and reserve these for a topping. Continue blitzing the cookies until very fine, like breadcrumbs.
  3. In a medium bowl, mix together the finely-crushed Oreos with ½ cup (1 US stick) slightly cooled, melted butter until a dough forms. Press this in to the base of your prepared baking dish in one even layer. FREEZE ❄️ completely for at least 1 hour.
  4. Slice ice cream and lay slices on top of Oreos. Working quickly, squish it together so all of the Oreo base is covered. FREEZE ❄️ completely for at least 4 hours.
  5. In a double boiler*, melt ¼ cup (½ US stick) butter, 1 c powder sugar, 1 c chocolate chips, and one 12 oz can of evaporated milk. Let it cool, then spread over ice cream. FREEZE ❄️ completely for at least 4 hours.
  6. Spread Cool Whip over ice cream. Yes, all of it. Sprinkle the reserved cookie crumbs on top if you have them. FREEZE ❄️ for at least 2 hours.
  7. Serve by letting the cake sit for 5 minutes (no longer) out of the freezer, and then run a sharp knife under hot water before cutting the cake. Wipe the knife each time for clean slices.

* If you don’t have Cool Whip where you live or want to make it ✨fancy✨ and add a little flavor or color, you can make your own! There are lots of recipes online, but basically, you need heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar, vanilla, and gelatin.

** If you don’t have a double boiler, you can use a regular pot. Cook on low and stir often to avoid burning.

One final thought: You could make this vegan by using vegan ice cream, making your own Cool Whip with agar agar instead of gelatin, and buying one of the coconut- or oat-based evaporated milk alternatives. Ben & Jerry’s has the best vegan ice cream that I’ve found, though that would be pricey and insanely decadent…