One Is Never Too Old for Circus Animal Cookies! {Recipe: Frosted Circus Animal Cookie Ice Cream}

There are few store-bought cookies that will make there way into our house. My daughter and I both love to bake cookies so there is rarely a reason to buy them. But there is one store-bought cookie that the whole family is loves, and that is Frosted Circus Animal Cookies. There is probably a bit of nostalgia in the reason my husband and I like them so much, we both had them growing up. But, my kids devour them anytime they are around!

The first time I ever bought them for the kids was for Lili's first birthday party. I think these bright cheery cookies are perfect for kids parties. At the party, I soon noticed that my then 2 1/2 year old son kept going back to the bowl of them and grabbing a hand full at a time. I don't think he even bothered with the birthday cake. So ever since Lili's first birthday, both kids have been fans of this colorful little frosted treat.

Both kids are teens now and may claim that they are too old for circus animal cookies, but neither one objected when I made this ice cream. They also wanted to know if there were any cookies left over. I say one is never too old for circus animal cookies!

Frosted Circus Animal Cookie Ice Cream

2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract*
1 1/2 cup roughly chopped frosted circus animal cookies
1/4 cup rainbow jimmies

In a medium bowl, dissolve sugar and salt in milk. Once dissolved, stir in heavy cream and vanilla until well combined. Pour mixture into a one quart ice cream maker and freeze according to your ice cream makers instructions. When the ice cream is just about finished processing in the ice cream maker, add the chopped cookies and jimmies. For example, my ice cream maker takes about 25 minutes to process, after 20 minutes I add the cookies and jimmies. Once ice cream is processed, place it in an air tight container(s) and freeze until firm-at least 2 hours.** 

Makes about 1 1/2 quarts of ice cream

*Vanilla amount can be adjust to taste, but keep in mind that flavorings can dissipate a bit in the freezer.

**Freezing ice cream until firm is what a recipe means if it says to "ripen" ice cream.

Enjoy!