What makes an ice cream cake actually feel (and taste) like an ice cream cake? For me, it’s the crunchy, chocolatey layer running through the middle. If you’ve ever had a Carvel cake, you’ll know what I mean. It turns out it only takes three ingredients and about 25 minutes to recreate ice cream cake crunchies at home. And once you’ve made a batch, you’ll want it in (and on top of) everything.
This is one of the components I use in my Swimming Pool Ice Cream Cake. It makes up the crunchy middle layer between the two ice cream flavors. But it’s delicious as its own thing too, folded into or placed on top of scoops of ice cream.
How to Keep Ice Cream Cake Crunchies Crispy When Frozen
Regular cookie crumbs go soft and soggy fast once they’re packed against ice cream. All that moisture has nowhere to go, and it seeps straight into the crumbs. The fix is a thin fat barrier. Coating the crushed cookies in melted chocolate (with a touch of coconut oil to thin it out) creates a hydrophobic seal around each piece so moisture can’t soak in the way it would with bare crumbs. That’s how Carvel keeps their chocolate crunchies, well, crunchy—even after weeks in the freezer.
Ingredients and Equipment Notes
You don’t need anything fancy to pull this off:
- Oreo Cookie Halves: Scrape the cream filling out of whole Oreos until you end up with 175 grams of wafer halves. Save any extras to crush into a homemade Oreo swirl.
- Melting Chocolate: High-quality chocolate chips, chopped baking bars, or melting wafers all work great. I prefer dark or semi-sweet, but milk works for a sweeter flavor.
- Coconut Oil: Just a teaspoon thins the chocolate slightly for easy coating and helps it set with a clean snap.
- Equipment: A zip-top bag and a rolling pin work well for crushing to crumbs, but a quick pulse in a food processor or with an immersion blender gives you a more consistent texture.
Ways to Use Homemade Crunchies
- Layering Ice Cream Cakes: Pair with fudge chunks in frozen cakes for a multi-textured dessert.
- Ice Cream Mix-Ins: Fold extra crunchies directly into Copycat Vermonty Python Ice Cream alongside the Oreo swirl for even more texture.
- Toppings: Sprinkle them over sundaes, use them as a cupcake border, or layer them into parfaits for extra crunch.
Storage and Freezing Tips
Store ice cream cake crunchies in an airtight container in the freezer. They’ll hold their crunch for up to 1 month, so there’s no harm in making a double batch to have on hand. They don’t do well at room temperature for long, since the chocolate coating tends to soften and the crumbs lose their shape. So, pull only what you need for topping sundaes or parfaits and keep the rest frozen until you’re ready to use it.
If you’re prepping for a bigger project like an ice cream cake, you can make these crumbs days or weeks in advance. I often make them at the same time as the ice cream so everything’s ready to assemble at once.
Ice Cream Cake Crunchies
Ingredients
- 175 g Oreo cookie halves cream removed (from 20 whole cookies)
- 120 g melting chocolate bars, chips, etc.
- 5 g coconut oil (1 tsp)
Equipment
- Food Processor or Immersion Blender (optional)
Video
Method
- Remove the cream from about 20 Oreo cookies, until you have 175 g Oreo cookie halves.
- Crush the cookie halves in a ziploc bag with a rolling pin, in a food processor, or with an immersion blender until they form coarse crumbs.
- Heat 120 g melting chocolate in 20-second increments in the microwave until fully melted.
- Melt 5 g coconut oil into the chocolate and stir until smooth.
- Pour the melted chocolate over the cookie crumbs, and mix well to coat.
- Spread the crunchies in an even layer on a baking sheet.
- Chill in the freezer until solid, at least 15 minutes, before adding to your ice cream cake.
Notes
