This post and recipe was created for #SummerDessertWeek! I was sent samples by some of the sponsor companies but as always opinions are 100% mine.
Circus Animal Cookie Ice Cream – homemade vanilla ice cream with frosting swirls, circus animal cookies, and sprinkles. Such a fun treat for summer!
Hi guys!
I’ve got 3 summer treat recipes coming for you this week and I’m so excited about all of them. The lovely and talented Angie of Big Bear’s Wife organizes #SummerDessertWeek every year and I’m always so excited when I have time to participate.
There will be a list of all the recipes from other bloggers below and a giveaway for some really great prizes right under the recipe.
We’re kicking off #SummerDessertWeek with this Circus Animal Cookie Ice Cream! It is my new obsession. It’s a vanilla ice cream with pink frosting swirls, my favorite circus animal cookies, and sprinkles! Literally everything I’ve ever wanted in an ice cream. You have to make it before summer is over!
How To Make Circus Animal Cookie Ice Cream
This is a custard based ice cream so it’s a little more work than the no-churn ice creams that are so popular right now but I promise it is worth the extra few minutes. The custard base just makes the creamiest, smoothest, richest ice cream.
To make the custard, you warm cream, milk, and sugar together and slowly add it to egg yolks – very, very slowly so you don’t scramble the eggs. And then it all gets heated together until it’s thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. Then you can stir in the vanilla and refrigerate it until it’s completely chilled.
I always chill my custard overnight. You want it to be very cold.
Then you can freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Now you can add the fun stuff! The chopped circus animal cookies and frosting swirl! I used a store-bought pink frosting but you can use homemade. You want to be able to see and taste the frosting, so when you add it, just do a couple quick stirs with a rubber spatula.
And then as you transfer the ice cream to your container, you can add the nonpareil sprinkles. You don’t want to stir these in because the colors will bleed like crazy. So I layer them with the ice cream so they stay bright and vibrant.
How To Store Homemade Ice Cream
You need to store homemade ice cream in an airtight, freezer-safe container.
I love this 1.5 quart container that’s meant specifically for ice cream. It’s under $8 and well worth it. Plus it’s shaped like a regular ice cream package so it’s super cute if you also take pictures of your food.
Plastic storage containers work well, too, but make sure you use a decent quality one. I’ve had cheap ones crack once frozen.
Homemade ice cream tastes best if eaten within a week of freezing.
For the best tasting vanilla ice cream, I always always always use Adams Extract. It is just the most intense (in the best way) vanilla flavor you will get from an extract. Plus, they’re a Texas brand and I do love to support Texas brands!
Adams is also a sponsor of #SummerDessertWeek and if you scroll down past the recipe, you can see all the sponsors and enter to win some really great prizes.
More Ice Cream Recipes
- Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
- Ginger Peach Ice Cream
- Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream
- Birthday Cake Ice Cream
- Banana Pudding Ice Cream
- Strawberry Sour Cream Ice Cream
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Circus Animal Cookie Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup whole milk
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 6 large egg yolks
- ½ cup pink frosting, homemade or storebought
- 1 cup circus animal cookies, roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon nonpareil sprinkle
Instructions
- Warm the heavy whipping cream, milk, sugar, and salt in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat just until it starts to bubble.
- While the cream mixture is heating, whisk together egg yolks in a large mixing bowl. Once the cream starts to bubble, slowly stream in about 1 cup of the milk while whisking constantly. Pour the egg yolk mixture into the pot with the cream.
- Heat the mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon.
- Pour the custard through a fine mesh strainer and into a large bowl. Stir in vanilla. Cover and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.
- Churn in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.
- Once frozen, quickly stir in the cookies. Dollop frosting on top and do just a few swirls with a rubber spatula. You don't want it to blend completely with the ice cream. You want swirls of frosting.
- Spoon about ⅓ of the ice cream into a freezer-safe container. Sprinkle half of the sprinkles in. Spoon another ⅓ of the ice cream and then the rest of the sprinkles. Top with remaining ice cream and place in freezer.
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Check out the amazing #SummerDessertWeek recipes from our bloggers today!
Ice Cream Recipes:
- Circus Animal Cookie Ice Cream from Fake Ginger
- No Churn Banana Pudding Ice Cream from Nik Snacks
- Butterscotch Ice Cream from Pastry Chef Online
- Individual Mermaid Ice Cream Treats from Family Around the Table
- Orange Creamsicle Ice Cream Bon Bons from Cooking With Carlee
Pies of Summer:
- Creamy Peach Pie Delight from Who Needs A Cape?
- Key Lime Coconut Pie from Doughmesstic
- Frozen Strawberry Yogurt Pie from Rants From My Crazy Kitchen
- Mini Fresh Strawberry Pies from Cheese Curds in Paradise
- Cherry Limeade Icebox Pie from Sweet Beginnings
Sweet Summertime Cakes and Cupcakes:
- Coconut Custard Almond Cake from The Food Hunter’s Guide to Cuisine
- Strawberry Ice Cream Cake from The Beard and The Baker
- Fiesta Lime Cupcakes from My Baking Heart
- Nana’s Strawberry Shortcake Cake from Daily Dish Recipes
- Ice Cream Cone Drip Cake from Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
- Summer Berries Pavlova Cake from Home Sweet Homestead
- Buttermilk Chocolate Cake from Back To My Southern Roots
- Peanut Butter and Chocolate Charlotte A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
- Mermaid Layer Cake from Love and Confections
- Vanilla Icebox Cake from Books n’ Cooks
- Peach-Basil Coffee Cake from The Spiffy Cookie
- Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes from Cookaholic Wife
- The Perfect Vanilla Cupcake from Our Good Life
No Bake Treats:
- No Bake Lemon Chiffon Dessert from Miss in the Kitchen
- No Bake Berry Cheesecake from Desserts Required
- Pineapple Pretzel Fluff Salad from 4 Sons R Us
- Easy Raspberry Cream Cheese Dessert from Blogghetti
- No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake from Everyday Eileen
- Strawberry Pretzel Salad Dessert from Creative Southern Home
Baked Desserts:
- Sea Shell Beach Cakesicles from Big Bear’s Wife
- Mermaid Splash Cookies from The Domestic Kitchen
- Blueberry Crumble Cheesecake from A Blender Mom
- Cruise Ship Strawberry Crepes from Southern From Scratch
- Blueberry Lemon Cheesecake from Eat Move Make
- Caramel Sticky Pudding Cake from Shockingly Delicious
- Blackberry Roly Poly from Nancie’s Table
- Strawberry Monkey Bread from The Bitter Side of Sweet
- Raspberry Custard Bars with Almond from My Sweet Zepol
- Caramel Corn Cheesecake from Sweet ReciPEAs
- Blackberry Cheesecake with Blackberry Compote from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
Cookies:
- Easy Mini Fruit Pizzas from Jen Around the World
- Sunflower Cookies from Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
- Orange Creamsicle Chip Cookies from Palatable Pastime
- Viennese Whirls from Kudos Kitchen by Renee
Puddings:
- Mason Jar Caramel Banana Pudding from For the Love of Food
Welcome to the 3rd Annual #SummerDessertWeek event hosted by Angie from Big Bear’s Wife. This week-long summer time event is filled with some down right amazing sweet recipes from fantastic bloggers and we’ve got some great giveaways from our generous sponsors for y’all too!! We can’t wait to share all of these summer-themed desserts with you and celebrate sweet, sweet summertime all week long!
There are 45 incredible bloggers participating in this year’s #SummerDessertWeek event! Thanks to those bloggers, we have over 168 summer time sweet treat recipes being shared this week! Grab a few recipes to try out and don’t forget to enter the giveaway below!
Scroll down to take a look!
PRIZE #1
Dixie Crystals is giving away one (1)Keurig® K-Select® Coffee Maker
PRIZE #2
Prize #2 — Adam’s Extract is giving away – 1 Gift Pack – including Adams Poundcake Kit, Adams Best, Adams Lemon Extract, Adams Natural Food Color, and Adams Cinnamon Sugar
PRIZE #3
Prize #3 —Wilton is giving away a Wilton Gift Pack – including – Bake and Bring Geometric Print Non-Stick 13 x 9 -inch Oblong Pan, Bake and Bring Geometric Print Non-Stick 8-inch Square Cake Pan, Bake and Bring Geometric Print Non-Stick 8-inch Round Cake Pan, Peach Cobbler Candy Melts Candy, Blueberry Lemonade Candy Melts Candy, Orange Crème Candy Melts Candy, Key Lime Pie Decorating Icing Pouch with Tips, Orange Crème Decorating Icing Pouch with Tips, Pop Art Triangle and Solid Cupcake Liners, Geometric Print and Solid Green Cupcake Liners, Balloon Dog Icing Decorations, Assorted Brights and Pastels Sprinkles, Blue Sprinkles Tackle Box, Coral Sprinkles Tackle Box, DIY-Lish Mermaid Kit, DIY-Lish Candy Lollipop Kit and Disposable Decorating Bags with 1M Tips
PRIZE #4
Prize #4 — Sweets & Treats Boutique is giving away 1 (one) baking supply box including an assortment of sprinkles and cupcake liners as well as one of Love From The Oven’s recent cookbooks!
PRIZE #5
Prize #5 — Anolon is giving one (1) winner an Anolon Advanced Graphite 9″ Round Springform Pan & an Anolon Advanced Graphite 9″ Square Springform Pan
Giveaway open to US Residents 18 years or older. All entries will be verified. No PO Boxes Please. Prizes will be sent directly from sponsors to winners, bloggers are not responsible for prizes. This giveaway runs from July 7th – July 14th at 12AMEST. Winners will be selected soon afterward and contacted by e-mail. Winners will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. There are a total of 5 (five) prizes and therefore we will have a total of 5 (five) winners. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited by law.
Disclaimer: These posts and recipes are part of the week-long event, #SummerDessertWeek but all opinions are 100% mine! We would like to Thank our amazing sponsors: Dixie Crystals, Adam’s Extract, Wilton, Sweets and Treats Shop and Anolon ! These wonderful sponsors provided the prize packs for our giveaways and also sent samples and products to the #SummerDessertWeek bloggers to use in their recipes.
Allyson Zea says
Wow this looks sooooo fantastic! I love these cookies!
Erin | Dinners,Dishes and Dessert says
YUM!!! I love this delicious version!!! This is so picture-perfect!
Krista says
What a sweet and colorful summer treat! I’m in!
Catalina says
This is exactly what we need for hot summer days! I love this flavor!