Circus animal cookie ice cream is a frozen take on the nostalgic cookie. This ice cream rivals anything you’d order out but with an extra playful spin that will have you making this over and over.

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Anyone else remember getting the circus animal cookies from the grocery store when they were kids?

It was one of my favorite rewards for good behavior.

And these days, those circus animal cookies are quite the reward indeed.

Gone are the days of only unfrosted animal cookies!

These days you can find bags of them covered in pink frosting and sprinkles for a really fun treat.

Those pretty pink cookies are perfect in this ice cream recipe.

They dot the vanilla base with so much festive fun that kids of all ages will love!

Ingredients

To make this you’ll need:

Milk– Make sure you are using whole milk. Lower fat milk won’t produce the creamy results.
Sugar– Granulated
Salt– To balance the sweetness
Half and half– Full fat not low fat or fat free.
Heavy whipping cream– Don’t substitute this
Circus animal cookies– Crushed into large pieces

How to Make

To make this ice cream, mix together all of the ingredients except for the cookies.

Pour them into a 2 quart ice cream maker.

Follow the instructions on your ice cream maker for churning the ice cream.

Once the ice cream is almost set, stir in the cookie pieces and process or keep stirring until they are just incorporated.

Transfer the ice cream into a freezer safe container.

Freeze the ice cream until firm.

Enjoy!

Storing Homemade Ice Cream

Store homemade ice cream covered in an airtight container in the freezer for up to a month.

Should I add eggs to this ice cream recipe?

While eggs do make extra creamy ice cream, you do not need to add eggs to this recipe.

Adding raw eggs has food safety issues like the possibility of salmonella and I don’t think it adds enough to this ice cream to make a custard first.

I don’t have an ice cream maker. Can I make no churn circus animal cookie ice cream?

Yes, but you’ll need to adjust the recipe.

Use this no churn ice cream recipe as the base but omit the cereal.

Instead add a teaspoon of vanilla and the crushed cookies as directed in this recipe.

Tips and Tricks

Do not substitute lower fat dairy. If you want to substitute the milk for anything, go for full fat half and half but not lower fat milk.
Make sure your ice cream maker is cold enough before you churn the ice cream.
Do not over churn it. Follow the instructions on your ice cream maker for the creamiest ice cream.

Other Ice Cream Recipes

Circus animal ice cream is one of our favorite treats.

Make it and enjoy!

Looking for other ice cream recipes?

Try these:

If you’ve tried this CIRCUS ANIMAL COOKIE ICE CREAM, or any other recipe on the site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK, and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and whatever else we’ve got going on!

Circus Animal Cookie Ice Cream

Circus animal cookie ice cream is a frozen take on the nostalgic cookie. This ice cream rivals anything you'd order out but with an extra playful spin that will have you making this over and over.

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 30

Freeze Time: 4

Total Time: 4 30

Servings:

Calories: 897kcal

Author: Meaghan @ 4 Sons R Us

Ingredients

1½ cup whole milk
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup half & half
1 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
2 cups heavy whipping cream
3 cups Circus Animal Cookies gently crushed into large pieces

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Mix together all ingredients except for cookies and pour into a 2 qt. ice cream maker (halve the recipe for a quart-sized ice cream maker).
Follow the manufacturer’s directions for churning.
When ice cream is almost completely set up, stir in the cookies and process, or continue stirring, enough to get them incorporated.
Transfer the ice cream to a freezer-friendly dish, cover, and freeze until completely firm.

Notes

Do not substitute lower fat dairy. If you want to substitute the milk for anything, go for full fat half and half but not lower fat milk.
Make sure your ice cream maker is cold enough before you churn the ice cream.
Do not over churn it. Follow the instructions on your ice cream maker for the creamiest ice cream.