Ninja Creami Cookies and Cream Ice Cream
By Emily Carter ·
Published
Quick answer
Blend 1 1/4 cups milk with vanilla protein powder, Greek yogurt, sweetener, vanilla and salt until smooth, freeze the pint for a full 24 hours, then spin on Ice Cream, re-spin once if crumbly, and run the Mix-in cycle with roughly crushed chocolate sandwich cookies. The pint carries roughly 36 g of protein from label values, about 9 g per serving across 4 servings.
Ninja Creami Cookies and Cream Ice Cream is the classic, with a protein base underneath. It is just milk, vanilla protein powder, Greek yogurt, sweetener, vanilla and salt, blended smooth, frozen solid and spun into thick vanilla scoops, loaded with chunky chocolate cookie rubble. The vanilla pint does the creamy work, and the cookies do the crunch, and neither one gets in the other’s way.
Why you’ll love it
- Tastes like real cookies and cream ice cream, not like a protein shake that got frozen.
- About 9 g of protein per serving from label values, about 36 g per pint.
- Five minutes of hands-on work, then the freezer and the machine do the rest.
- Spins thick and scoopable, with one re-spin fixing the crumbly first spin.
- Chunky cookie pieces in every bite, never grey or muddy.
Ingredient notes
Chocolate sandwich cookies: the whole point of the pint, so treat them right. Crush them by hand into pea-size pieces, never into crumbs, and keep them out of the base entirely. Three cookies is the sweet spot for one pint, enough crunch in every scoop without overwhelming the vanilla.
Milk: whole milk gives the creamiest pint, and 2% is a close second. The milk adds about 10 g of protein per 1 1/4 cups from standard labels and keeps the base from freezing rock hard. Skim milk is the one version I would skip, since it made the test pint icy.
Protein powder: vanilla is the only right choice here, since the base has to taste like vanilla ice cream first. One scoop adds about 20 g of protein on most brand labels, but check yours, since scoops vary.
Greek yogurt: the quiet texture ingredient. It adds body and about 6 g of protein per 1/4 cup from standard labels, and it is what keeps this pint thick instead of thin and icy.
Sweetener and salt: two tablespoons of sweetener is enough once the pint is frozen, and the small pinch of salt is what makes the vanilla taste rounded instead of flat and sweet.
The freeze and spin rule that makes or breaks it
Two rules decide this pint, and both are about patience. First, freeze for a full 24 hours on a level surface, with the top smoothed flat. A pint frozen for only a few hours, or frozen at a slant, spins soft and uneven. Second, do not judge the first spin. Protein bases often look crumbly after the first cycle, and that crumbly look sends a lot of people to the conclusion that the recipe failed. It did not. One tablespoon of milk and one re-spin turns it thick, creamy and scoopable. Then run the Mix-in cycle with the crushed cookies and serve right away, while the pieces are still crisp.
Variations
- Double chocolate: use double chocolate cookies for the mix-in and drizzle 1 tablespoon of chocolate sauce over each bowl for a darker, richer pint.
- Mint cookies and cream: add 1/4 teaspoon of peppermint extract to the base before blending for a cool mint version. Go easy, since peppermint gets stronger, not weaker, when frozen.
- Peanut butter cookies: swap the chocolate sandwich cookies for crushed peanut butter cookies for a peanut butter cookies and cream twist.
- Cookie sundae: skip the mix-in and serve the plain vanilla pint with warm chocolate sauce and a whole cookie on top of each bowl for a sundae style dessert.
What we learned testing it
- Cookie size decided the pint. Pea-size hand crushed pieces stayed chunky and crisp, while machine crushed crumbs dissolved and turned the whole pint grey.
- The Mix-in cycle beat stirring by hand. Hand stirring broke the pieces smaller and smeared the chocolate, while the Mix-in cycle kept them chunky and evenly spread.
- Whole milk beat 2% for creaminess in the side by side test, but 2% still worked well. Skim milk made the pint noticeably icier, so I do not recommend it here.
Read how we test recipes.
Ninja Creami Cookies and Cream Ice Cream
Makes 1 pint (about 4 servings) · 24 hr 10 min total · Easy
Ingredients
Equipment
Blender · Ninja Creami machine · Ninja Creami pint container with lid
Instructions
-
Blend the base until completely smooth
Add the milk, protein powder, Greek yogurt, sweetener, vanilla and salt to a blender, leaving the cookies aside. Blend for 30 to 45 seconds until completely smooth, with no protein powder lumps left. The base should look like a thick vanilla shake.
-
Pour into the pint and freeze for 24 hours
Pour the base into your Ninja Creami pint container, staying below the max fill line. Smooth the top with a spoon so it freezes level, which helps the machine spin evenly. Snap on the lid and freeze the pint on a level surface for a full 24 hours. A shorter freeze gives a soft, slushy spin.
-
Spin on Ice Cream, then re-spin if crumbly
Take the pint straight from the freezer, remove the lid and load it into the machine. Select the Ice Cream setting and let it run the full cycle. If the pint looks powdery or crumbly after the first spin, add 1 tablespoon of milk and press Re-spin. That one re-spin is what turns this base from crumbly to creamy.
-
Mix in the cookies and serve right away
With a spoon, dig a hole down the center of the pint, add the roughly crushed cookies and run the Mix-in cycle so the pieces stay chunky. Scoop into bowls right away, while the cookie pieces are still crisp against the cold vanilla.
Notes
- Crush the cookies by hand into pea-size pieces, not crumbs. Crumbs turn the whole pint grey and muddy, while chunky pieces stay crisp and visible in every scoop.
- Keep the cookies out of the base. Blending them in before freezing turns the pint grey and softens the pieces, which defeats the whole point of cookies and cream.
- Taste the base before freezing. A frozen pint always tastes a little less sweet than the liquid base, so the base should taste just slightly sweeter than you want the finished ice cream.
- If your freezer runs very cold and the pint is too firm to load, let it rest on the counter for 2 to 3 minutes before spinning, no longer.
Nutrition per serving
Nutrition information is being calculated.
Substitutions
- Chocolate sandwich cookies
- Use any chocolate cookie you like, roughly crushed by hand. Chocolate wafer cookies give a lighter crunch, while double chocolate cookies make the pint richer and darker.
- Granulated sweetener or sugar
- Use 2 tablespoons of maple syrup or honey instead. The base will be a touch softer after spinning, which suits a vanilla pint with crunchy mix-ins.
- Greek yogurt
- Leave it out and add an extra 1/4 cup of milk. The pint will be a little thinner, but the cookie pieces still carry the flavor.
Storage and make-ahead
The texture is at its best in the first few minutes after spinning, and the cookie pieces stay crispest right after the Mix-in cycle. If you have leftovers, smooth the surface flat, put the lid back on and refreeze. Re-spin leftovers straight from the freezer on Ice Cream, adding a tablespoon of milk if they look crumbly, and add fresh crushed cookies at serving time. Eat refrozen leftovers within 3 days for the best texture.
Frequently asked questions
Can I blend the cookies into the base before freezing?
Do not. Blending the cookies in turns the pint grey and softens the pieces completely. The cookies go in after spinning, through the Mix-in cycle, so they stay chunky and crisp.
Why is my cookies and cream pint crumbly after the first spin?
That is normal, not a failure. Add 1 tablespoon of milk and press Re-spin once. One re-spin fixes almost every pint, and a second makes it softer, almost like soft serve.
How chunky should the cookie pieces be?
Pea-size, crushed by hand. Crumbs dissolve and turn the pint grey and muddy, while chunky pieces stay crisp and visible in every scoop.
How much protein is in this ice cream?
These are label-based estimates, not lab tested numbers, and they vary by brand. The pint carries roughly 36 g of protein in total, about 9 g per serving across 4 servings. Check your milk, yogurt and powder labels for your exact numbers.
Can I refreeze and re-spin the leftovers?
Yes. Smooth the surface flat, lid the pint and refreeze it. Spin leftovers straight from the freezer on Ice Cream, with a tablespoon of milk if they look crumbly, and add fresh crushed cookies at serving time since the old pieces will have gone soft.
