Eggless ice cream recipe with ice cream maker

Q: Is homemade ice cream better with or without eggs?

You can make tasty ice cream without them, but theres a reason that almost every recipe published in the last 50 years calls for them. Heres why: After water, egg yolks are mostly fat and protein. Fat, which freezes differently and less hard than water, makes ice cream soft and creamy.

Q: Can you use milk instead of cream in ice cream maker?

Dont worry too much if you dont have whole milk or heavy cream. Nearly any milk will work, and you can substitute half-and-half for the cream. Ideally you want ingredients with a high fat content because these will create a creamy texture when cooled.

Our crew totally loves this Cookies & Cream ice cream recipe, and I especially love how fast it is to make since there are no eggs in it!

Table of Contents Show

Regular size recipe
Gallon size recipe that fills a Thermal Cooker perfectly:
What can I use to replace eggs in ice cream?
Is homemade ice cream better with or without eggs?
Can you use milk instead of cream in ice cream maker?
Can I use milk instead of condensed milk in ice cream?

I’ve included two different recipe sizes here for you. One is a normal sized recipe, and the other is a full GALLON size recipe. Why, do you ask?

The regular size recipe for your regular ice cream cravings.

And the gallon size recipe for when you want to take it on the go with you in your thermal cooker! (One important tip about using thermal cookers is for maximum efficiency, they need to be full or nearly full.)

What’s a thermal cooker? This is a thermal cooker:

You see, here at the Johnson house we always make 2 huge batches of homemade ice cream every 4th of July and cart it around with us on our adventures in a thermal cooker and eat perfectly cold & scoopable ice cream it when it gets dark and we’re watching fireworks. (You’re SO gonna want to read about how we do that!)

Here I explain how you can transport your homemade ice cream around during the day and a few hours later, still have perfectly scoopable ice cream to enjoy.

Think of this-

a day at the beach, and have perfectly scoopable homemade ice cream.
going on a campout, setting up your tent, and then having perfectly scoopable homemade ice cream to enjoy.
going kayaking, taking one thermal cooker with you that is filled with your dinner, and another thermal cooker filled with your delicious homemade cookies and cream ice cream that you can enjoy as soon as evening hits.
Oh. My. Soooo good, and soooo cool!

Have you ever heard of a Thermal Cooker? Here are a few articles where you can learn more about them:

What is a Thermal Cooker & How do They Work?
How to Use a Thermal Cooker
How to Make Yogurt in a Thermal Cooker
Easy Meals to Make While Camping Using a Thermal Cooker
Homemade Ice Cream on the Go with a Thermal Cooker
Yummy Homemade Strawberry Banana Ice Cream

Ok, on to the yummy recipe!

Regular size recipe

Cookies & Cream Ice Cream

Ingredients

1 c cold whole milk
3/4 c white sugar
2 c cold heavy cream
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 c coarsely chopped Oreos (or any brand chocolate sandwich cookies)

Instructions

TIP: freeze the Oreos beforehand, this will make them easier to break up
In your ice cream maker container, or in a separate bowl, mix together the milk and sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Then add the cream and vanilla and mix them in.
With these ingredients in your ice cream maker, start it and let it run for about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, put the Oreos in a large ziploc bag, squish out the extra air and seal it. Then you can lay the bag on the floor and step on it to crush the Oreos, or lay the bag on your counter and use your rolling pin to crush them. You can decide the size of the pieces you want to have in your ice cream.
When the 20 minutes are up, add the chopped Oreos and run your ice cream maker 5-10 minutes longer or until your ice cream is done.
Transfer the ice cream to another container and freeze for a couple hours until it has firmed up.

Gallon size recipe that fills a Thermal Cooker perfectly:

Cookies & Cream Ice Cream (gallon size recipe)

Servings: 1 gallon

Ingredients

4 c cold whole milk
3 c white sugar
8 c cold heavy cream
8 tsp vanilla extract
4 c coarsely chopped Oreos (or any brand chocolate sandwich cookies)

Instructions

TIP: freeze the Oreos beforehand, this will make them easier to break up
In your ice cream maker container, or in a separate bowl, mix together the milk and sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Then add the cream and vanilla and mix them in.
With these ingredients in your ice cream maker, start it and let it run for about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, put the Oreos in a large ziploc bag, squish out the extra air and seal it. Then you can lay the bag on the floor and step on it to crush the Oreos, or lay the bag on your counter and use your rolling pin to crush them. You can decide the size of the pieces you want to have in your ice cream.
When the 20 minutes are up, add the chopped Oreos and run your ice cream maker 5-10 minutes longer or until your ice cream is done.
Transfer the ice cream to another container and freeze for a couple hours until it has firmed up.

SPECIAL TIP: If you make the same mistake that I did (or you might purposely want this outcome) of putting the crushed Oreos in the ice cream maker right at the beginning, what you’ll get is pretty much chocolate ice cream.

I did this one time, not realizing my mistake, and all of the Oreos got completely blended up in the ice cream and turned it all a chocolatey-brown color. No oreo chunks. Everybody still loved it! So don’t stress if you do this, it’s still delicious! 🙂

What can I use to replace eggs in ice cream?

Here is a very basic, very simple, nearly foolproof recipe for making ice cream. Instead of the traditional egg custard base, it uses cornstarch and a few tablespoons of cream cheese to thicken the base. It's not enough that you taste the cream cheese, but just enough to give the ice cream a creamy, silky mouthfeel.

Is homemade ice cream better with or without eggs?

You can make tasty ice cream without them, but there's a reason that almost every recipe published in the last 50 years calls for them. Here's why: After water, egg yolks are mostly fat and protein. Fat, which freezes differently and less hard than water, makes ice cream soft and creamy.

Can you use milk instead of cream in ice cream maker?

Don't worry too much if you don't have whole milk or heavy cream. Nearly any milk will work, and you can substitute half-and-half for the cream. Ideally you want ingredients with a high fat content because these will create a creamy texture when cooled.

Can I use milk instead of condensed milk in ice cream?

If you want to cut back on the fat and calories, you can use whole milk instead of heavy cream. If you do, combine all the ingredients (rather than beating the milk alone) and mix well until thickened.