Lemon Cookie Gelato.
Oh heck yes I’m making it a thing.
The amount of love I have for this gelato is rivaling the love I have for any other dessert at the moment.
Actually, any other meal. I could eat this five times a day and call it, well… a day.
A happy day.
I’m actually questioning how I lived without this in my life for 32 years. Because it seems quite impossible.
Um, so let’s talk about why this is gelato. At least I think this is gelato. It’s the whole milk to cream/fat ratio that makes it gelato, right? And something about churning it more? I’m honestly not positive, but this is ridiculously better than ice cream, in which case I deem it gelato.
Anyhoo – there is another reason why it HAD to be gelato.
The day that I went to the grocery store hungry, I sort of did so with a purpose. Well, not really, but I knew that my cousin Lacy was coming over and that we could dig in to six pints of ice cream together. I didn’t intend for it to be six, of course, but I was severely lacking self control. We could have a little taste test, if you will.
So we did just that. We tried the three twins lemon cookie ice cream first that I’ve been raving about and OH MY GOSH neither one of us could stop eating it. I think we both had two bowls – which totally isn’t a big deal unless you have five other pints of ice cream that you want to eat.
We also both love Talenti (especially pistachio… yes please) – so in between bites of the lemon cookie ice cream, we were taking spoonfuls of Talenti tiramisu too. And we realized, since we were eating both at that exact moment, just how much creamier and richer the gelato was. The consistency was so much better. Slightly softer and just so thick and creamy. It didn’t taste as great as the lemon cookie ice cream, but the texture beat it.
And that’s how this was born.
[high five for sweet lemon sugar!]
I first searched out lemon sandwich cookies. Which you don’t even need, to be honest, but the original ice cream we had was filled with cookie pieces and I wanted to try to recreate it as best that I could. I easily found these dare lemon sandwich cookies at my local grocery store. And let me tell you – just go ahead and buy three boxes. Because if you liked those lemon girl scout cookies? These are just as authentically perfect. FABULOUS.
Brb, I have to go eat one right now.
(It should also be noted that in the same trip, I noticed that there were lemon Oreos so I grabbed those too. Not a fan at ALL. They didn’t taste anywhere near as delicious and I made my mom take them home just so I didn’t trash them. Can’t stand wasting food.)
I went with this lemon gelato recipe as my base with a few minor changes.
GUYS. I personally think this is better than the lemon cookie ice cream. It is SO much creamier. You can control the lemon flavor. It truly tastes very similar but the texture is what wins. I did crush some of the cookies and added them in, which is how the recipe is written below. And while the cookie chunks were incredible, I think it’s equally as great without the cookies? You do you. It’s just SO good.
And yeah, I know. I always used to say that growing up, I thought lemon desserts were for the elderly but hello, I’m elderly at heart. You are looking at the girl who listened to two hours of Barry Manilow yesterday while planning what flowers to plant this year and then eating the early bird special at 4:30PM. Lemon desserts were MADE for me.
No, but really. There is quite the time and place for lemon. The time is now and the place is in your face.
Lemon Cookies and Cream Gelato
Ingredients
- 4 lemons
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup half and half
- 7 large egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract, oil or emulsion
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 12 lemon sandwich cookies, chopped and crushed
Instructions
- Take one of the lemons and peel the rind off the a vegetable peeler. Take the remaining 3 lemons and finely grate the zest with a microplane.
- Add the finely grated lemon zest and the sugar to a food processor and blend until combined.
- Heat 1 cup of the heavy cream, the half and half and the thickly peeled rind in a saucepan over medium low heat. You want it to just bubble at the edges – do NOT scald or cook it! With the mixture is heating, whisk together the eggs and sugar in a large bowl until pale yellow and smooth. Remove the warmed cream from the heat and slowly stream it into the egg yolks and sugar while whisking the entire time. Remove the thick lemon rind. Then pour the mixture back in the saucepan. Heat over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens slightly and can coat the back of a spoon. Stir in the lemon and vanilla extracts.
- Transfer the mixture to a bowl and let it cool completely. Whisk in the other cup of heavy cream, then cover it with plastic wrap. Refrigerate it until cold, at least 6 to 8 hours or overnight.
- Add the cold mixture to your ice cream maker and churn according to the directions. I use the kitchenaid attachment and churn for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, stir in the crushed cookies. Spoon the gelato into a freezer safe container and freeze for 4 to 6 hours. EAT.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Be sure to follow @howsweeteats on instagram and tag #howsweeteats. You can also post a photo of your recipe to our facebook page.
I appreciate you so much!
I can.
54 Comments on “Lemon Cookie Gelato.”
Cookies AND Gelato IN ONE BOWL? I think you just blew the taste buds right off my head.
I have never made my own gelato, but that needs to change.
P.s: Pistachio gelato? BEST. Pinned!
Oh my goodness. Where has this been all my life? Why have I never tried to make gelato before? You make it sound so simple!
OK, good to know about the lemon Oreos. I’ve seen them, but I have resisted buying them. Now I don’t have to bother with that. Done and done. THIS ice cream…err…gelato is just everything. Love it!
I go to the grocery store all the time hungry, and I buy way too many snacks!! In this case it totally worked out, this looks amazing! Perfect for summer coming up, Looks soooooo rich and delicious!!
Well isn’t this just a tub of sunshine!! That gelato — YES, those cookies — yyyyyeeesss!! Time to bring out my ice cream maker!
oh. my. goodness. I’m a huge fan of lemon desserts, fellow old lady at heart here, and this just sounds too good to be true. I’m drooling a bit just thinking about it. I am 100% going to try and make this the next time I’m within reach of an ice cream maker.
Ahhhhh!! This is spectacular. I’ve been eating elderly lemon desserts since forever ;)
Cookies in gelato?? I’m all for that idea :) This looks amazing, I bet it would go fabulously with a white chocolate sauce drizzle :D
This gelato = AMAZING. Best dessert for the warmer weather.
My freeze is packed full and my need to eat through it is for one reason only…to make room for my ice cream bowl. Ice cream here we come!
Talenti Sea Salt Caramel is a gift from above!! And I’ve always loved lemon cream sandwich cookies, the kind my mom would get in the bulk candy section at the grocery store. Off topic but it was quite a shock to learn that not all grocery stores have bulk candy sections, why?!?
Waiiiiiit a minute …..what do you do with the second cup of the cream? The WS recipe says to whisk it in after the mix is chilled… do I do that with this one?
oops so sorry – yes I did the same! added it in, thank you!
Ok, I think I need to finally break down and get an ice cream maker. I simply cannot resist this gorgeous bowl of sunshine! Huge lemon dessert fan here.
Oh, man! I need this in my life…STAT!
Can I just forget about all the work I need to do and make this gelato and eat and eat it? YUM!
“The time is now and the place is in your face.” This may become my new philosophy in life :)
I am so excited for this! Definitely making it for girls night next week. Thank you!!
I always thought ice cream was creamier than gelato, you’ve proven me wrong once again. Lemon EVERYTHING!
Of course you would put delicious cookies in delicious ice cream! I need to get an ice cream maker stat! This looks like the perfect summer time treat :)
I will take a cup of gelato over ice cream any day! and adding in lemon is just icing on the cake. yum!
YUM! I’m thinking about making this minus the cookies and making it into an gelato sandwich with some big fat sugar cookies. :-) Thanks!
Yummy!! My Kroger here in texas carries a flavor of their store brand called “lemon sugar cookie”. I CANNOT get enough of it. And yes i prefer this store brand over more upscale ice creams-it just seems so much creamier. Cant wait to try your version.
Haha, just noticed that my above comment says it was posted at 4am, but its 11am here. Then i looked at all the above comment’s time and it looks like all the times are off. Why would that be? I thought the correct times were all built into computer type stuff. Oh well just thought I would let you know :)
I adore this, Jessica. Love. Love. LOVE!
At some point, do I remove the thick lemon rind, or does it get churned with everything else?
yep, remove it! :)
Oh yum! This looks fan-tastic! I can’t wait to make this! Love the lemon cookies!
This looks SO GOOD! I’m slowly coming on to lemon desserts. I used to hate them, now I enjoy them. And I WANT some of this!
Someone told me that gelato is made out of milk instead of cream, but who the heck knows. I once tried to determine the defined difference between ice cream and frozen custard (because I adore some frozen custard), but even though I was first told the difference was that custard had eggs in it while ice cream does not, that is also not true. So call it whatever the heck you want. Maybe we should call them all frozen deliciousness from now on to be transparent.
I am totally that girl who goes to the gelato place and orders the lemon in the sea of chocolate flavors. So thank you and thank you.
That lemon gelato looks unreal! So creamy, I want some right now, even though it’s cold and windy outside! Love cookie chunks in my ice cream too so that’s perfect!
This sounds amazing…DARE COOKIES! AHH my grandma always buys the double chocolate ones….they are AHMAZING.
You HAVE to try the Sara Snacker Lemonade Cookies. OMG, I ate an entire bag once before I even knew what was happening and then I actually thought about immediately getting into my car to go buy another bag!
I would DEVOUR this right now. Like, no joke. My mom used to make this super delish lemon cake thing and a glaze for it with lemons and man oh mannnnn did I just dig into that! hahaha
OMG i LOVE this idea!! Lemon desserts are amazing, but I always feel like lemon gelati gets a bit boring without much texture – add cookies = perfect!!
Pingback: love, in this moment. | Floptimism
I love the fragrance of lemon and that too with lemon cookies with creamy gelato tastes super and thanks for sharing the recipe.
One of my favorite cookies growing up were lemon creams! Love the idea of this ice cream!
Ooookayyy….I’m dying over this…right into the must make pile. I don’t usually buy oreos anymore and if there’s a new flavor that I think I have to try…I’m usually disappointed. So I feel you on the lemon ones. And, I still have that darn Talenti pistachio on my list to buy…I know that’s going to be a winner…
Pingback: Eats & Reads 16-2015 - Savory Nothings
This stuff is AMAZING. I made it this weekend for our weekly “Game of Thones” dinner party with friends and there is barely a serving left for me to enjoy today. I ended up using lemon shortbread cookies that I found at Earth Fare and they worked great. Thanks for the tip about not using the lemon Oreos; that’s probably what I would have gone with!
I’ve only had an ice cream maker for a few months (best wedding gift I ever gave to myself!) but this is the best recipe I’ve made so far, especially in terms of future repeat-ability. Can’t wait to make it again!
This. Beautiful. Happy Tears. Yes.
(that is my reaction)
This looks so fresh and bright and just perfect.
Seriously drooling over all the lemony goodness! I’m going to try this out with Trader Joe’s Meyer Lemon Thins Cookies- maybe even make little gelato sandwiches? Heck, if I go the gelato sandwich route, I bet TJ Coconut Thins Cookies would be heavenly with the lemon gelato too. Have you tried the new(ish) Lemon Milanos? I have to buy 2 packages at a time so they aren’t noticeably absent from the pantry the very next day… :)
Technically, gelato is lower in fat (higher milk ratio) than ice cream, and frozen differently, so this is definitely ice cream. Really tasty looking ice cream!
Pingback: Friday Favorites (On a Saturday) | Cupcakes and Commentary
Dudes. All of y’all should make this. Here’s some pointers though:
1) Chasing the rind around the pot when you’re pouring into the sugar/egg bowl stinks. Have more skill than me; peel your lemon rind in one stroke. (Sleepless in Seattle… anyone?)
2) Chasing my sugar/egg bowl around my butcher block as I’m trying to slowly add the cream: HILARIOUS. Don’t know how you’d avoid this, but it’s comical nonetheless.
3) Chasing dregs of cream+sugar+eggs out of the nearly empty bowl = WORTH IT.
4) PSA: Lemon Extract tastes like Taaka Vodka (or your fave cheap vodka). DO NOT open the top with your mouth.
And now a question: What the heck am I supposed to do with these 4 lemons??
Luv ya Jessica. Your recipes ALWAYS make my weekly list since 2009 <3 Christine
This looks amazing and i am so happy you have a kitchen aid ice cream maker that you use!! i can ask you a question!! yipee! what speed do you put your mixer at? I lost the instructions and can’t nail that step down. thanks so much!!!
the lowest speed! i believe the “stir” is speed is comparable to churning. :)
Pingback: Summer Bucket List 2015 - Christen Allocco
I have the custard for this chilling right now, and plan to put it in the ice cream maker tomorrow…based on the taste of the custard, I think I’m in for a treat! I’ll Instagram it!
Pingback: ModStock Friday Favorites: From Bell Pepper Crabs to Rainbow Spaghetti - ModStock