This, Easiest, BEST Ice Cream Cake is one of those recipes I can’t believe I haven’t posted yet. You won’t believe how easy this delicious ice cream cake is to make. This simple recipe has become a family favorite and we owe it all to my oldest son’s pickiness.
Among other things like raw vegetables and condiments of any kind, my oldest son doesn’t like cake. I don’t understand how that is possible for someone who grew in my body, but he hates it. So weird!!!! He does have a few redeeming qualities so I’ve decided to keep him anyway, but it was touch and go for a while.
All joking aside, it used to make me really sad and every time his birthday would come around I would try to figure out what to make him for his birthday “cake”. I wanted it to be something he liked that was out of the ordinary and special. Most years I would make this Zebra Pie because it was his favorite dessert. He still loves the Zebra Pie but a few years ago he asked for an ice-cream cake. Yay, I was so excited to make something new for him.
Well, I had never made a homemade ice-cream cake before, but I figured all I had to do was make a cookie crust, slap some ice cream on it and top it with some whipped topping and some cookie crumbs. I decided to give it a go. I didn’t have a recipe so I just experimented and I couldn’t believe how great it turned out and how DELICIOUS it was. The whole family and the kids at his party were all making the mmmm, and yumm, yumm sounds while they were eating. It was a hit, a huge hit!
Easiest-BEST-Ice-Cream-Cake-Ever
So, I’m pretty sure what makes this cake extra delicious is the mixture of vanilla and chocolate cookies in the crust. It’s sooo good. You really need to give it a try.
And, I mean seriously, how can you go wrong when the ingredients are ice cream, cookies and whipped topping.
Even better then everyone loving it, I also realized how affordable it is to make. The whole thing only cost about 5 dollars to make. I bought the ingredients at ALDI. The ice cream was 1.99, the cookies were 1.19, the whipped topping was 89 cents and the stick of butter was approx 50 cents. That comes to a whopping total of about four dollars and fifty-seven cents. CRAZY!
Even if you use brand name ingredients you are still going to come out under ten dollars, such a great deal and honestly the best part about this ice-cream cake is that it literally comes together in minutes. Such an EASY dessert!
It only took one bite to realize we had a winner and my son has asked for it every year since that first go…..even my other kids have started asking for it now too because it’s soooo good. With how super easy it is to make (we’re talking like less then 30 minutes to throw it together) I’m totally in favor of everyone in my family having this yummy cake instead of decorating something fancy for them 🙂 …….AND, lets not forget how affordable it is to make. Two thumbs up all around!
Frequently asked questions:
Does it matter what kind of Cookies or ice cream I use?
No, I used store brand sandwich cookies, half vanilla and half chocolate for my crust. And I used store brand cookies and cream ice cream for the center. I chose cookies and cream because it is my son’s favorite flavor. Any flavor will turn out delicious but with the cookie crust the cookies and cream was a perfect fit.
It might be fun to use mint sandwich cookies and mint chocolate chip ice cream for another variety or vanilla sandwich cookies with cookie dough ice cream. Basically the possibilities are endless.
Can I make it ahead of time? How long can it stay in the freezer?
Yes, you can definitely make this ahead of time. Just one more reason why it is the EASIEST, BEST ICE CREAM CAKE EVER! I make it in a glass 9×13 dish that has a plastic lid. with that tight plastic lid it can be made up to 5 days ahead of time.
Leftovers have never lasted more then a day at our house, but if you have some leftover, cover it with the lid and it should stay good for 3-5 days before it starts to get a little freezer burnt. You can put plastic wrap right up to the exposed edges to help with freezer burn if ice cream seems to get freezer burn quickly in your freezer.
Do I need anything special to make this dessert?
- I use my Ninja Food Processor to crush up the cookies.
- I like to use a glass 9×13 pan that has a lid, but any 9×13 pan will work as long as it can go in the freezer.
- A good ice cream scoop (or you can cut the container off and slice the ice cream into inch sections to put on the crust)
More cakes you'll love
- 36 sandwich cookies (see picture above) 18 vanilla and 18 chocolate, divided
- ½ cup butter, melted
- 1.5 quart container of ice cream (we use cookies and cream)
- 1 (8 oz) container of whipped topping
- Chocolate syrup (optional, for drizzling over pieces when serving.)
- Place 32 cookies, half vanilla and half chocolate in your food processor and process until tiny crumbs. (Reserve the 4 other cookies to chop and sprinkle on top of the finished ice cream cake.)
- If you do not have a food processor you can place cookies in a Ziploc bag and crush them with a rolling pin.
- Pour the melted butter into the crushed cookies and pulse or mix until butter is evenly distributed in the cookie crumbs.
- Pour buttered cookie crumbs into a glass 9x13 dish and press down evenly over the bottom of the pan. Make sure to really pack it down so it won't pull up when you are adding the ice cream. I stick my hand in a sandwich baggie when I do this to cut down on messiness.
- Scoop ice cream onto crust. try to get it as evenly distributed as possible. Another way to do it is to take the container off the ice cream and cut it into even 1 inch slices and lay the slices on the crust. Either way, use the back of a spoon or your hand inside of a plastic bag to even out the ice cream by pressing and spreading it to fill in any holes.
- Once you have the ice cream evened out, spread the whipped topping evenly over the ice cream.
- Next, chop the remaining four cookies and sprinkle them onto the whipped topping.
- That's it your done. Now just cover it tightly with a lid or plastic wrap or foil and freeze for at least 3-4 hours or longer.
- Remove from freezer 20-30 minutes before serving. You can drizzle chocolate sauce over individual pieces if desired when serving.
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