double dip - vegan cookies 'n' cream ice cream

Droppin' a little double fantasy on ya, here. I wrote my original cookies 'n' cream recipe last year, and never got around to posting it. Then, the other day, I decided it was time to bust out the ice cream maker, so I did what I call an "inverse cookies 'n' cream" since it's a chocolate ice cream with vanilla Oreo-type cookies. Down at the bottom is a little collection of Instagram stories I made when I was making one of the recipes. Sorry but the live video I mention in the video is not available, but at least you can see some of the process. So here are both of the recipes. Enjoy!

Quick notes:

• Make sure you have an ice cream maker.
• Also to make this recipe right, you need about half a day or so. So plan for that.
• If you don't have a high-powered blender, you can use a regular blender, then, after the blending step, pass the mixture through a fine mesh strainer to remove any unprocessed cashew pieces. Then proceed with the heating/thickening process.
• If I forget to soak my cashews, I place them in a microwave safe container and cover with water. Then nuke for 2 minutes and let rest another 5 minutes. Then they're ready to go.

Classic Cookies 'n' Cream

​Makes about 3 cups

1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked at least 1 hour (overnight, if you don't have a high-powered blender), drained, and rinsed
1/2 cup water
14 ounce can coconut milk (regular, not the "lite" stuff)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon arrowroot powder/flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
Pinch salt
1 1/2 cups roughly crushed up Oreo cookies

Into a (preferably) high-powered blender, add cashews, water, coconut milk, sugar, vanilla, arrowroot, and salt. Blend until smooth, about 1 minute, scraping down the sides, if necessary, to mix in any stray cashew pieces that jumped up onto the side.

Transfer to a medium saucepan and heat on medium, stirring continually, until it just begins to bubble, at which point the arrowroot will activate and the mix will thicken to an almost pudding like consistency, 4 to 6 minutes.

Once thickened, immediately transfer to a wide, high-sided vessel, and stir it around for 3 to 4 minutes to promote quick cooling. Once cooled (it can still be a little warm), transfer to a container and cover tightly. Refrigerate at least 4 hours.

Add the chilled cashew/coconut mixture to your ice cream maker, and do whatever the maker's instructions say you have to do to make it into ice cream.

Once that is done, in a large bowl make an ice bath with ice and water. Place a smaller bowl inside the ice bath. Remove the ice cream from the machine, place it in the smaller bowl. This is simply to keep the ice cream from melting too much while you're transferring the ice cream from the machine. Depending on style of machine it could take a couple minutes to scrape ice cream off the sides and such. Remove the bowl from the ice bath as it will be too wobbly to stir the cookies in while it's floating in the ice bath. Add the crushed up cookies and fold them in with a spatula as quickly as possible. The ice cream will melt fast!

Once the cookies are mixed in, add the ice cream to a container, tightly cover and place in the freezer at least 4 hours. It's fairly easy to scoop right out of the freezer, but letting it rest at room temperature for 5 minutes will make it a lot easier. Enjoy!

Inverse Cookies 'n' Cream

Makes about 3 cups

1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked at least 1 hour (overnight, if you don't have a high-powered blender), drained, and rinsed
1/2 cup water
14 ounce can coconut milk (regular, not the "lite" stuff)
3/4 cup, plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 cup dutch process coco powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon arrowroot powder
pinch salt
1 1/2 cups roughly crushed up vanilla Oreo-style cookies (like vanilla Joe-Joe's from Trader Joe's)

Into a (preferably) high-powered blender, add cashews, water, coconut milk, sugar, coco powder, vanilla, arrowroot, and salt. Blend until smooth, about 1 minute, scraping down the sides, if necessary, to mix in any stray cashew pieces or coco powder that jumped up onto the side.

Transfer to a medium saucepan and heat on medium, stirring continually, until it just begins to bubble, at which point the arrowroot will activate and the mix will thicken to an almost pudding like consistency, 4 to 6 minutes.

Once thickened, immediately transfer to a wide, high-sided vessel, and stir it around for 3 to 4 minutes to promote quick cooling. Once cooled (it can still be a little warm), transfer to a container and cover tightly. Refrigerate at least 4 hours.

Add the chilled cashew/coconut mixture to your ice cream maker, and do whatever the maker's instructions say you have to do to make it into ice cream.

Once that is done, in a large bowl make an ice bath with ice and water. Place a smaller bowl inside the ice bath. Remove the ice cream from the machine, place it in the smaller bowl. This is simply to keep the ice cream from melting too much while you're transferring the ice cream from the machine. Depending on style of machine it could take a couple minutes to scrape ice cream off the sides and such. Remove the bowl from the ice bath as it will be too wobbly to stir the cookies in while it's floating in the ice bath. Add the crushed up cookies and fold them in with a spatula as quickly as possible. The ice cream will melt fast!

Once the cookies are mixed in, add the ice cream to a container, tightly cover and place in the freezer at least 4 hours. It's fairly easy to scoop right out of the freezer, but letting it rest at room temperature for 5 minutes will make it a lot easier. Enjoy!