I’ve been exploring the world of minimal-ingredient celebrity recipes lately, from Julia Child’s best dinner party desserts to Drew Barrymore’s vegan salad dressing.
These low-effort recipes are especially convenient during the summer, the most physically exhausting season of the year. The less shopping, measuring, and mixing, the better.
So when I stumbled on Ree Drummond’s 3-ingredient Icebox Cake from a 2018 episode of The Pioneer Woman, I knew I had to try it. Combining chocolate cookies and whipped cream, the cake is a crowd-pleaser for adults and kids alike.
Why I Love Ree Drummond’s 3-Ingredient Icebox Cake
Ree Drummond’s icebox cake layers smooth whipped cream with crunchy chocolate cookies. The heavy cream and powdered sugar took just minutes to whisk into a cloud-like homemade whipped cream.
Layering the cookies with the whipped cream was oddly satisfying, especially evening out the cream. Once the cake was set, it was even more fun to slice and see the alternating black and white layers.
While the original recipe recommends a springform pan, I used an 8×8-inch square pan lined with parchment paper. Ree calls for chocolate wafer cookies, which can be hard to find in stores. Thankfully, Oreos worked just as well.
To make this work, I twisted the Oreos apart and placed 16 face-down cookie halves on top of the first layer of whipped cream. After repeating this process, I topped the cake with eight whole, crushed-up cookies. I used 24 Oreos in total, eight per layer.
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Tips for Making Ree Drummond’s 3-Ingredient Icebox Cake
- Crushed cookie topping: I used a plastic zipper bag and a rolling pin to make cleanup easy.
- Setting the cake: I froze the cake overnight instead of refrigerating it, based on comments from Food Network viewers who said it was too soft otherwise. This gave it a firmer, sliceable texture.
- Serving: I let the cake sit on the counter at room temperature for 20 minutes to slightly defrost before serving. Then I cut it into squares with a chef’s knife.
- Variations: Substitute fresh berries for one of the cookie layers and add vanilla extract to the whipped cream. Instead of Oreos, use Biscoff, lemon, or crispy chocolate-chip cookies.
One comment on the original recipe said this icebox cake “just tasted like a bunch of whipped cream and cookies.” They’re not wrong about the taste—that’s exactly what it tastes like. What’s not to like about a bunch of whipped cream and cookies?
