ice cream

ice cream cookie bars

There are just no excuses for this dessert. It’s cookies. Layered with ice cream. Layered with more cookies. Layered with more ice cream. Layered with more cookies. Layered with chocolate sauce.

See? No excuses. It’s purely evil. Plan on adding an extra mile to your run. Another 200 push-ups. Twenty more flights of stairs. Whatever you have to do to justify it, do it. Because this concoction is just worth it. I like to serve it at parties so I have partners in dessert crime. Kids love it, too.

It begins as all calorie-laden items do: with cookies. Oreos and Nutter Butters, to be exact.

And then, because cookies aren’t nearly enough, there’s ice cream. Chocolate peanut butter and cookies & cream.

And in addition to the cookies and ice cream, butter. I know, I know.

And then chocolate syrup. For good measure.

Begin by melting the butter. Whirl some Oreos around in a food processor.

…mix with the butter, and press into the bottom of a pan. Freeze for 15 minutes, or until the crust is nice and solid.

Meanwhile, remove the ice creams from the freezer to let soften.

While you’ve got the food processor out, whirl around a few more Oreos until they’re coarsely ground. Not powdery, but no big hunks either.

Do the same with some Nutter Butters.

Remove the pan from the freezer and spread on a layer of ice cream.

Sprinkle on a nice layer of cookie crumbs and pat down. A little helper can assist you with this step (with clean hands, of course. No strawberry jam hands, as my wee one often has. And yes, those are legwarmers on her arms. What can I say? She inherited my love of Flashdance). Freeze again to give the ice cream a chance to solidify.

Next, spread on another layer of ice cream…

…and finish with the rest of the cookie crumbs. Pat down once again.

Drizzle with chocolate sauce. Attempt to make a pretty design and fail miserably. Freeze for 1 hour.

Cut into bars. Serve. Swoon.

This is such a fun, easy dessert for a party, especially for kids (although adults will lick their plates clean, too). Mix and match your favorite cookies and ice creams to create a personalized treat for your little person’s birthday or end-of-the-school-year extravaganza.

Some flavor ideas:

Thin mints with mint chip ice cream
Chips Ahoy! with chocolate chip ice cream
Samoas with caramel ice cream
Oatmeal cookies with rum raisin ice cream
S’mores: graham crackers with rocky road ice cream
Vanilla creme cookies with strawberry ice cream

It’s tastier and easier to make than an ice cream cake (and cheaper than ordering one!), and makes a sinful, chilly treat on a hot summer day. What flavor would you make?

Ice Cream Cookie Bars printable pdf

Makes one 9×13″ pan, or roughly 15-18 servings. Halve the recipe if you’re not serving a crowd. Mix and match your favorite cookies and ice creams to create unique flavors!

4 tbsp butter
16 oz package Oreo cookies
8 oz Nutter Butter cookies (half of one 16 oz package)
1.75 qt cookies & cream ice cream
1.75 qt chocolate peanut butter ice cream
chocolate sauce for topping

1) Melt butter. In a food processor, blend 24 Oreo cookies until finely ground. Mix crumbs with butter and press firmly into the bottom of a 9×13″ pan. Freeze 15 minutes or until solid.

2) Let ice cream soften at room temperature for 15 minutes. Pulse remaining Oreos in food processor until very coarsely ground. Repeat with Nutter Butters.

3) Spread chocolate peanut butter ice cream on top of frozen Oreo crust. Sprinkle half of Oreo crumbs and half of Nutter Butter crumbs on top and press down. Freeze for 15 minutes.

4) Spread chocolate peanut butter ice cream on top of cookie layer. Sprinkle the remaining cookie crumbs on top and press down. Cover and freeze for at least 1 hour. Cut into squares and drizzle with chocolate sauce before serving.

parfait

Watch out Seattle. There’s a new gourmet food truck puttering around these pot-holed streets. And this time, it’s not a diner on wheels or the best food cart in the grand ole U.S. of A. The Parfait ice cream truck serves up spoonfuls of the sweet variety: organic, homemade ice creams.

Right off the bat I was a little in love with this joint. Er, truck. I have such fond memories of Popsicle Joe when I was young: chasing after him in flip flops, spraining my ankle, the 16 year-old pimple-faced driver laughing at me as he drove off into the sunset with his Strawberry Shortcakes and Firecrackers. I figured that if nothing else, Parfait would be stationary, serve me ice cream that was not on a stick, and not necessitate an injured joint to enjoy it’s frozen bounty.

We were lucky enough to have them near our neighborhood this weekend, so Husband, Little Bear, some pals and I absolutely had to make the short trip to give these cones a try. The truck is gorgeous, the menu cute and simple, and the staff incredibly friendly and cordial. But what to order?

Our friend Dave, a parfait junkie, went with the mint stracciatella: mint-flavored ice cream with Dagoba chocolate flakes. But this was no ordinary pseudo-mint flavoring—it was made with real, fresh mint leaves. The result was quite a different flavor than your run-of-the-mill chocolate chip mint. It was fresh, earthy, and (as we all remarked with curiosity and laughter) tasted remarkably similar to another green leafy plant.

Yes, that one. Maybe that’s why Dave hangs outside this ice cream truck every Sunday.

For me? I went the herb-free route cuz that’s how I hang. The meyer lemon had my name on all over it, and I was pleasantly surprised by it’s soft lemon flavor. Parts of the ice cream were a little, well, icy; I found a few ice chips lurking in my compostable cup. But overall it was good.

Husband, because he needs chocolate like he needs air and internet, went with a bowl of decadent chocolate ice cream. It was creamy. It was rich. Smooth. Dare I say the best chocolate ice cream in Seattle?

It’s the best I have tasted in a long while. Are there any other new contestants that I need to know about?

When Lucy became aware that there was ice cream to be had, she got a little excited.

And I do believe that as she tasted Daddy’s chocolate, she said “mmmmmm.” I’m not even joking. I have no idea where she gets it from.

Check out Parfait’s schedule to see if they’re headed to your neck of the woods sometime soon. When you go, just make sure that you have a designated driver. The mint stracciatella has quite a kick.

And tell Dave I said hi. He’ll be the one begging on hands and knees for more ice cream. And eating cheetos. And ding dongs. And beef jerky.

-RDG