Oreo Ice Cream Dessert

When my extended family gets together for Christmas or Easter or - well - anything, this is the required dessert. Nothing else will do as the culmination for large dinners. My mother began this habit a number of years ago; and as we children grew up and as the grandchildren started arriving (and demanding this ice cream dessert), it became obvious that this tradition was here to stay.

What You Need

1 pkg. (15 oz.) Oreos

1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream, softened slightly

1 c. evaporated milk

2 (1 oz.) squares unsweetened chocolate

1/3 c. butter

1 c. sugar

2 or 3 c. cool whip

shaved chocolate curls to garnish

What You Do

Crush Oreos into crumbs and spread in the bottom of a 9 x 13 dish - or, if you're like me, a 10 x 15 dish (because when it comes to Oreos and ice cream and chocolate, more is definitely better). Spread softened ice cream over crumbs. Pop that into the freezer to harden while you make the chocolate layer by cooking together the evaporated milk, unsweetened chocolate, butter, and sugar. Cook that for 10 minutes. When cool, spread over ice cream. Put that back into the freezer to harden, and get your cool whip out to soften (to make it easier to spread). When the stuff that's supposed to be hard is hard, and the stuff that's supposed to be soft is soft, spread the cool whip over the chocolate layer, and then sprinkle chocolate curls on top. Put it back into the freezer until about 5 minutes before you're ready to serve it.

This dessert doesn't take long to make, but there are several steps that require some wait time. The last time I made it, I did the first two layers one evening and then finished it the next day. It's easy to divide up the tasks that way.

* This is our adaptation of Luscious Oreo Ice Cream Dessert from Mennonite Country-Style Recipes by Esther Shank, using the optional topping she suggests. When we were taking the two-bag challenge and packing our suitcases before we moved to Israel, I made room to take one cookbook...and this was it. Too bad this website didn't exist back then. ;)

Happy celebrating!

The recipe that is not shared will soon be forgotten,

but ones that are shared will be enjoyed by future generations.

~ from Country Home Cooking

by Marjorie Rohrer