Paleo Cookies and Cream Ice Cream (Vegan, Dairy-free, Gluten-free)

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Paleo Cookies and Cream Ice Cream is creamy, delicious, nostalgic … and free of refined sugars! You’ll love the easy homemade “Oreo” cookies that go into this recipe! So much better than store bought and quick to make.

This naturally sweetened classic treat is great for other real food diets, too: Keto, AIP, GAPS, Vegan, Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Ancestral … and can be made with raw cream as well, if you prefer, for Primal.

Homemade “Oreo” cookies

While it’s easy to just use Oreos and a non-dairy base of ice cream, you get a bunch of sugar and junk ingredients when you eat processed desserts.

The homemade “Oreo” cookies that go into this recipe, instead, are sweetened with pure maple syrup (with Keto and GAPS easy variations).

Coconut flour is used to make the cookies, which makes them super allergy-friendly … and you’ll love the crispy outcome!

OTHER INGREDIENTS IN HOMEMADE OREOS

The remaining ingredients in the cookies part of Cookies and Cream Ice Cream are: palm shortening (with GAPS alternative), cocoa powder (great to use carob for AIP!), arrowroot (okay to omit for GAPS and Keto), baking soda and sea salt.

How to make homemade Oreos

This recipe is based off of my friend Andrea‘s — which uses simple ingredients and just one bowl. I made a few changes to the ingredients and recipe process and also adapted it so it’s great for Keto, GAPS and other diets:

1. Combine dry ingredients in mixing bowl.
2. Add shortening and sweetener. Use an electric mixer to quickly combine ingredients.
3. Dollop cookie dough on prepared baking sheet. (A small cookie scoop [this size] makes this process really fast and easy.)
4. For each cookie, dip a spoon or three fingers in a little water. With wetted back of spoon or your fingers, press cookie dollops to flatten and smooth each one. (Now they look like Oreos! No rolling out of the dough needed!)
5. Bake for 8 to 9 minutes. Cool slightly, then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.
6. Break up and crumble cookies. (You’ll have a few leftover that you don’t need to crumble.)

How to make Paleo Cookies and Cream Ice Cream

The Paleo Cookies and Cream Ice Cream base you’ll use in this recipe is one of my most popular posts on the blog: Paleo Vanilla Ice Cream! But, you’ll make one small change, and that is: you’ll omit the vanilla extract.

So, you’ll be making Sweet Cream Ice Cream, which we simply love. And you’ll be adding homemade Oreo cookies to it!

1. Make ice cream. When it’s almost done freezing, pour in the crumbled cookies to incorporate.
2. Serve, or transfer to chilled freezer container to fully freeze, to then scoop.

To learn more about the Ice Cream base recipe itself and its ingredients, read the Paleo Vanilla Ice Cream post, which is very informative. 🙂

Variations on this recipe: raw dairy …

This section is for those on an Ancestral diet, those doing GAPS or Keto, or Primal — anyone who can have dairy but who doesn’t eat refined sugars.

Our family tolerates dairy well, and we have an ideal raw dairy farmer who delivers raw cream to our home. So, we also like to make this recipe with raw cream.

If you enjoy cream, too, even if it’s store bought cream for Keto or probiotic sour cream for GAPS — you can make Paleo Cookies and Cream Ice Cream with cream by following the recipe in the Notes section below the main recipe.

What do the homemade Oreo cookies taste like

They are very chocolate-y and not super sweet. This means: they’re PERFECT in the ice cream, which is a sweet base. Their strong cocoa flavor really comes through.

But they’re not meant for eating out of hand, unless you fill them with some nice buttercream. (Find Paleo, Keto, GAPS Buttercream here, or AIP, Paleo, dairy-free Buttercream here.)

That strong cocoa flavor is needed for the ice cream to taste just right!

You’ll have about 3 cookies leftover after making this recipe, so save them for crumbling and mixing into ice cream, or you might need to whip up a little homemade frosting …

How many people does the recipe serve

Because of the cookies, Paleo Cookies and Cream Ice Cream yields one extra serving than my other ice cream recipes — so, 5 to 7 servings, depending on their size.

How to store leftover ice cream

Store any leftovers of Paleo Cookies and Cream Ice Cream in an airtight, sealed container. Eat it within the week, for best flavor and texture.

How to serve leftover Paleo Cookies and Cream Ice Cream

You can place ice cream in the refrigerator to defrost it evenly. Or on the counter to speed it up.

Homemade ice cream recipes take longer to defrost than store bought.

Allow 15 minutes for ice cream to become scoopable at room temperature, or longer in the fridge.

Keto and Low Carb ice cream takes less time; 10 minutes may be enough.

Print Recipe

5 from 14 votes

Paleo Cookies and Cream Ice Cream

Paleo Cookies and Cream Ice Cream is creamy, delicious, nostalgic ... and free of refined sugars! You'll love the easy homemade "Oreo" cookies that go into this recipe. So much better than store bought and quick to make. This naturally sweetened classic treat is great for other real food diets too: Keto, AIP, GAPS, Vegan, Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Ancestral ... and can be made with raw cream as well, if you prefer, for Primal.

Prep Time25 minutes mins

Cook Time9 minutes mins

20 minutes mins

Total Time54 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: aip, cookies and cream, dairy-free, gaps diet, gluten-free, ice cream, keto, oreo, paleo, primal, vegan

Servings: 6 servings

Calories: 191kcal

Author: Megan

Cost: $5

Equipment

• ice cream maker
• electric mixer (ideal but not necessary)

Ingredients

• ¼ cup + 2 Tablespoons Spectrum palm shortening (or use room temperature butter for GAPS, if preferred)
• ¼ cup coconut flour
• ¼ cup cocoa powder or roasted carob powder for AIP
• ¼ cup maple syrup or honey for GAPS version, OR low carb liquid sweetener for Keto version
• 1 Tablespoon arrowroot omit for GAPS and Keto
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• 3 pinches sea salt
• 1 recipe Paleo Vanilla Ice Cream

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 325° Fahrenheit. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set aside. Also, place loaf pan or other ice cream storage container into the freezer to chill.
• In medium-size mixing bowl, stir together dry ingredients: coconut flour, cocoa powder (or carob), arrowroot, baking soda and sea salt.
• Add palm shortening and liquid sweetener, and using an electric mixer, combine well. Chill for 20 minutes.
• Use a small cookie scoop (1 Tablespoon size, like this) to space cookie dough 2" apart on the cookie sheet (or 2 spoons); the dough won't spread when baked. Wet your fingers or the back of a spoon repeatedly to press down each mound of dough. First flatten, then press and gently smooth the surface of each cookie. This goes pretty fast and isn't tricky! It's a nice way to avoid rolling out the dough, which is unnecessary. Just scoop and press with wet fingers or the back of a wet spoon. You'll have 15 cookies. (My photo only shows 12.)
  
• Bake on the upper or middle rack of the oven for 8 to 9 minutes. Remove, and allow to cool about 10 minutes before transfering to rack to fully cool (the GAPS and Keto version without arrowroot is more fragile, but it's okay if they break a little, because that's where they're headed anyway!). Once fully cool (about 30 minutes), break and crumble 12 of the cookies (you'll have 3 leftover). Set aside until ice cream is mostly frozen.
  
• Make Paleo Vanilla Ice Cream, but omit the vanilla extract.

  *If you wish (to make the ice cream base extra creamy, replace vanilla with 1 to 2 Tablespoons vodka [totally optional; don't do this for AIP or GAPS]).

  *For the GAPS version of this recipe, use honey to sweeten the ice cream.
• Freeze ice cream according to manufacturor's instructions. When ice cream is about 75% frozen (very slushy but not yet fully thickened, about 5 minutes of churning left to go), pour in cookie crumbs through the opening at the top of your ice cream maker. Once cookies are fully incorporated and ice cream has thickened, turn off machine and transfer ice cream to pre-frozen pan. Freeze until ready to eat, or cover for overnight storage. (Cover by pressing a piece of parchment paper directly on the surface.)
  

Notes

Dairy variation with cream

Ingredients

• 2 cups heavy cream (or probiotic sour cream for GAPS)
• 1 cup water
• ½ cup pure maple syrup (or honey for GAPS OR this allulose for Keto)
• ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
• optional: 1 Tablespoon vodka

Instructions

1. Simply hand-whisk the ingredients together until the sweetener is fully dissolved or incorporated into the cream base.
2. Freeze according to manufacturer's directions, and proceed with Instructions above for incorporating in your cookie crumbs.

The Nutrition facts below are for the Keto version of this recipe.

Nutrition

Calories: 191kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 140mg | Potassium: 1mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g | Calcium: 1mg | Iron: 1mg

Tips for success with your ice cream maker

If you’re new to ice cream making, be sure to follow the manufacturer’s directions and more subtle instructions:

• Have your freezer set to the coldest setting before freezing the freezer bowl.
• Place freezer bowl in the back of the freezer, where it’s the coldest for a full 24 hours. (Or leave yours in the freezer when it’s not in use.) Shake the bowl to make sure the liquid is frozen.
• The freezer bowl needs to be on a flat surface and upright for even freezing.
• When it’s time to make Paleo Cookies and Cream Ice Cream, use the freezer bowl immediately upon removing it from the freezer, because it WILL begin to defrost immediately!

AND, MORE COMMON THINGS TO CHECK:

• Turn the ice cream maker on before pouring in the recipe.
• The bowl should be spinning around the blade when you add the ice cream mixture. This keeps the ice cream from getting frozen to the sides immediately, which prevents the bowl from turning!

What kind of coconut milk to use in dairy-free Cookies and Cream Ice Cream

The best canned coconut milks for homemade ice cream are Native Forest and Aroy-D. They don’t contain guar gum and yet are super creamy. Trader Joe’s also carries an additive-free canned coconut milk.

With coconut milk, you don’t need to buy exclusively organic. Coconut is a clean crop that doesn’t use synthetic fertilizers or pesticides.

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