Melt your cookies and cream ice cream completely. You can use the microwave to speed the process up. Just make sure once melted you’re allowing it to come back to 80°F or below to use.

In a large bowl, combine the warmed ice cream, sourdough starter, and flour. Mix until no dry flour remains. The dough will feel softer and slightly tackier than traditional sourdough. Cover and let it rest for 1 hour (autolyse).

Add the salt and vanilla

After the hour rest, sprinkle the salt over the dough and add the vanilla extract. Work them in using wet hands or the pincer method. Knead for a few minutes until fully incorporated.

Over the next 2 hours, perform stretch and folds every 30 minutes. You’ll do a total of 4 sets of stretch and folds. To do this, wet your hands, grab one side of the dough, stretch it up, and fold it over itself. Rotate the bowl 90 degrees and repeat until you’ve gone around all four sides. This builds strength in the dough.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. The dough will be softer than regular sourdough, so handle it gently.

To shape a round boule:

Optional: Add extra Oreo cookies. If you want visible cookie pieces in your bread, now is the time to add them. The cookies from the ice cream will have mostly disintegrated during the stretch and folds and kneading process. Sprinkle about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of crumbled Oreo cookies evenly over the stretched dough. As you fold and shape, the cookie pieces will get incorporated throughout.

- The dough should tighten and form a round ball as you rotate and drag it

- Repeat this circular dragging motion 3 to 4 times until you have a taught, round ball

Don’t worry if it doesn’t hold a super tight shape. The softer texture from the ice cream means it will spread slightly, and that’s perfectly normal.

Place the shaped dough into a banneton or bowl lined with a floured towel, seam side up. Cover with a lid, bowl cover, or shower cap to prevent the dough from drying out. Refrigerate for 8 to 12 hours.

Preheat your oven to 450°F (230°C) with a Dutch oven inside for at least 30 minutes.

Once the dough has finished its final proof, gently turn it out onto a piece of parchment paper.

Optional: Add black cocoa powder. For a dramatic visual effect, lightly dust the top of the loaf with black cocoa powder using a fine mesh sieve. This creates a beautiful dark contrast against the light crumb when you score and bake the bread.

Score the top of your loaf with a sharp blade or lame. Carefully lift the parchment paper with the dough and place it into the hot Dutch oven, cover with the lid, and bake for 40 minutes. Remove the lid and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes until deep golden brown.

Cool completely

Let the bread cool on a wire rack for at least 2 hours before slicing. This step is crucial with this recipe. Because of the highly enriched nature of the dough from the ice cream, cutting into the loaf while it’s still hot will create a dense, gummy crumb. The interior needs time to set properly. I know it’s tempting, but patience here makes all the difference in achieving that perfect tender crumb structure.