Your family will go crazy for this Oreo ice cream cake!

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This Oreo ice cream cake recipe has been a family favorite since I was child. The recipe has evolved a bit through the years and now is a heck of a lot easier to make with only four ingredients. We still love this recipe. In fact, my daughter asks for this each year as her birthday dessert. It’s delicious, easy and is made ahead of time!

And, in the spirit of complete honesty, I’ve never made this Oreo ice cream cake recipe myself. My mom is who usually makes it these days. In spite of her moving a few states away, she ended up being in town to make it for my daughter’s birthday this week, so I had her walk me through it and took some photos. I no longer live in the land of sweet oblivion when it comes to making this dessert, but I don’t mind a bit. Because I knew I had to share this recipe with you guys and make sure I can re-create it myself in a pinch since my family loves it so much.

My mom actually made two of these this week so my daughter had one for her family birthday party last night and will have one for her friend birthday party this weekend. Her friends look forward to it every year as much as my daughter does.

Cookies and cream

This is an ice cream cake recipe, so you don’t need to preheat the oven, but you do need to let your ingredients thaw a bit. Thaw your whipped topping. Your ice cream needs to be softened. You can leave the ice cream sitting on the counter for 10-15 minutes or pop it in the microwave. We usually go for the countertop method because some of my family members think microwaving the ice cream gives it a different taste.

Once your ingredients are thawing, pull out a 9×13-inch or 3-quart baking dish. I love my glass 3-quart baking dish with a lid for this Oreo ice cream cake recipe because it’s easy to store in the freezer. And when we are finished, I can stick it in the dishwasher!

Fill the bottom of the pan with Oreo cookies. We use Double Stuf Oreos for this to have some extra cream in the mix. But regular Oreos work also! I buy the family size pack of Oreos that is 20 ounces. We usually end up with about 10 to 15 cookies left and happily eat them. But, you can get a smaller pack if you don’t want any leftover Oreos.

We added three more cookies after taking this photo. Mostly, you just want the bottom covered and then you’re ready to start smashing the cookies. Like I said, my mom is the pro of this Oreo ice cream cake recipe. Through the years, she’s found the easiest way to crush the cookies is with the bottom of a drinking glass. Then she uses a butter knife to remove the excess from the bottom of the glass. Easy as that!

You want the cookies to be crushed but still chunky. Move them around in your pan to so the bottom is completely covered. (If not, add more Oreos!)

Add the layers

Next up, you layer on the ice cream. The original recipe for this used butter pecan ice cream. We now use vanilla. But you could use chocolate, cookies and cream, mint chocolate chip or whatever sounds best to you!

Either way, make sure your ice cream is softened. Then dollop it in mounds over the top of the cookie layer.

Carefully smooth the ice cream over the cookie layer.

Put the pan into the freezer to chill and harden for about 10 minutes. While the ice cream is freezing, get out the hot fudge sauce. I got a store-brand hot fudge sauce that was 11.5 ounces in the jar. My mom usually gets Hershey brand, which is 12.8 ounces per jar. Both worked well.

In order for it to spread over the ice cream layer, the hot fudge sauce needs to be warmed up. It doesn’t need to be as hot as if you were making a hot fudge sundae. The sauce just needs to be hot enough to be pourable.

My mom says the best option she’s found is removing the lid and heating the hot fudge sauce in the microwave for 30 seconds. However you heat it, once it is nice and warm, pull your Oreo ice cream cake out of the freezer. Drizzle the hot fudge sauce all over the top. It doesn’t need to cover every inch, but should coat well.

The final layer

The warm fudge layer softens the ice cream again. So, put the cake back in the freezer for about 10 minutes to let it refreeze some more. Then carefully spread the whipped topping over the top of the fudge layer.

And that’s it for this Oreo ice cream cake recipe. Simple, easy and delicious! For birthdays, we often sprinkle some miniature M&Ms on top of the cake before serving. You can also used crushed Oreo cookies on top just before serving (any sooner and the cookies will get mushy) or chocolate chips.

Store the Oreo ice cream cake in the freezer and remove it 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

16+ Breakfast ideas you can make in 5 minutes or less!

Affiliate links are used in this post, if you make a qualifying purchase via my link, I receive a small percentage of the sale at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products and services I use and love. It helps support my blog, so thank you for your support! Read my full disclosure here.

I love breakfast food. If I had to pick one type of meal that I’d have all day every day, I’d go for breakfast food. There are so many options, and they’re all so yummy! But, making them in the morning is not as much my thing. The typical weekday morning has too much to do for me to want to cook a big breakfast that nobody has time to eat anyway! For more than a decade now, I’ve been making breakfast for my kiddos and have come up with all sorts of yummy, healthy and EASY 5-minute breakfast ideas.

These are things that make it into our lives all the time. They’re not all made from scratch; in fact, most of them aren’t. But they are ideas to get food in bellies to get the day started off on the right foot, and you can’t go wrong with that!

Continental 5-minute breakfast ideas

One of the things I enjoy about staying at hotels (aside from not having to wash the towels we use!) is the continental breakfasts. Most of them are so simple, but getting to choose from a variety of things that are premade is just special to me. (Again, I love all breakfast food, so this may not be too surprising!)

You can imitate continental breakfast at home. I’m not saying set out lots of choices for your family to pick from (though if that works for you, go for it!). But, I like having items on hand that are similar to what I’d find at a continental breakfast. Then I can mix and match them together for a healthy, 5-minute breakfast for the kiddos. Pick two or three choices from this list, and you’re set!

Yogurt

My kids love yogurt. So, we always have at least one kind of yogurt in the fridge. Strawberry, peach, vanilla and strawberry banana are their favorites. I used to buy it in individual cups, but I realized the big 32-ounce container makes way more sense. I love that yogurt adds a healthy, easy way to get some protein in their bellies before heading out the door to school.

We usually keep yogurt tubes as well both in the fridge and in the freezer. While they do eat the tubes at breakfast sometimes, they also work for lunchboxes and after-school snacks.

Granola bars

Granola bars are a staple in my pantry. Along with breakfast, they also work for lunchboxes and after-school snacks. There are a few different varieties we have liked through the years, but my kids’ all-time favorite is sweet-and-salty peanut bars.

Recently, my son has been enjoying the same types of granola bars in the cashew variety. My favorite is chocolate chip granola bars. And then we can’t forget fruit and grain bars. Berry flavors are my kids’ favorite.

When I am working ahead of time, we also love homemade oat and honey granola. It’s super easy to make; I often make it for us to snack on throughout the week. And when that happens, I almost always include it for breakfast, too!

Fresh fruit

The best fresh fruit for 5-minute breakfast ideas is fruit that doesn’t take much work. Think bananas and apples or precleaned and prepped berries or grapes. We also go for fresh peaches in season that I clean and slice up in just a couple of minutes for the kiddos. I usually pair flavors together. If I have strawberry yogurt, then I serve it with berries.

Dried and canned fruit

Fresh fruit is always good, but don’t overlook dried and canned fruits. My kids love raisins, unsweetened applesauce (Pouches and single-serving cups are super easy!) and fruit packed in its own juice for additional breakfast options. Dried and canned fruits last much longer and are easily accessible year-round no matter where you live.

Cereal

I LOVE cereal. In fact, that’s my personal go-to breakfast. Almost every single morning I enjoy a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios with a small glass of milk to get my day underway.

However, you can get creative with cereal, too. My kids don’t like milk on their cereal. They eat it dry. So, I will often include a small amount of cereal as a side for them. They can add it into their yogurt as they eat it for an extra crunch or eat it solo. My daughter tends to go for Honey Nut Cheerios like I do, while my son really loves plain Cap’n Crunch.

Another way we get creative with cereal is making peanut butter honey nut cereal clusters. just like with the homemade oat and honey granola, this takes longer than five minutes. But just like with the granola, I make these clusters for us to snack on throughout the week and they end up being a breakfast option, too!

Muffins

Because they aren’t necessarily the healthiest option, muffins aren’t in rotation all the time at my house. But every couple of months or so, I’ll either make some muffins or buy mini muffins.

Carb-y 5-minute breakfast ideas

Some of these more carb-y breakfast ideas can pair well with some of the continental breakfast options above and some stand well on their own.

Bagels

Bagels are a staple in my freezer. Yep. I buy refrigerated bagels (Lender’s is our favorite brand) and stick them in the freezer. My son will eat bagels for breakfast, lunch or dinner. But they really are a great, filling and fast breakfast food. I wrap the bagel in a paper towel and thaw it in the microwave for 25 to 30 seconds, then put it in the toaster. The go-to bagel for my son is a plain bagel with peanut butter. I prefer cream cheese and sometimes another flavor like cinnamon raisin or blueberry.

Cinnamon toast

This breakfast is a throwback to my own childhood and more in the every couple of months breakfast rotation. All you do is toast bread and spread it with some butter while it’s still hot. Then top it with cinnamon and sugar. If you don’t have a cinnamon sugar blend, just use some sugar, a bit of cinnamon and mix together on the top of the toast. It’s so easy and so yummy!

Peanut butter toast

Toasted bread with peanut butter smeared on it makes another tasty 5-minute breakfast that packs a protein punch. I serve this to my daughter as toast and to my son as a sandwich. Either way, it’s a great breakfast option that pairs well with fruit or a yogurt tube.

Avocado toast

Avocado toast has become one of my daughter’s favorite treats. Sometimes she’ll add some egg with it, but she cuts the avocado and puts it on toast, usually with a drizzle of agave syrup as well.

Hot 5-minute breakfast ideas

Just because you are going for a fast breakfast doesn’t mean it can’t be a hot one. These hot breakfasts really are ready in 5 minutes or less!

Waffles

Frozen waffles have come a long way since I was a kiddo. You can get basic ones or Belgian waffles. Either way, pop them in the toaster and within minutes they’re ready to devour. My son loves his with a bit of butter and some sugar-free syrup. My daughter prefers to dip her waffles into unsweetened applesauce. In fact, I started them both on waffles and pancakes with applesauce as toddlers to be healthier and less messy. They both still eat them that way, though my son ultimately prefers syrup these days.

Pancakes

Confession of sorts: my kids prefer frozen pancakes to homemade most of the time. It sort of flabbergasts me, but then again they have frozen pancakes more often. I stick a stack of three pancakes in the microwave for 1 minute and 11 seconds. (Notice I don’t have to touch any other number besides one!) Then they’re ready to go. Just like with waffles, you can serve them with unsweetened applesauce as a syrup alternative.

Oatmeal

This comes with another confession: I only like instant oatmeal. It’s what I had most often growing up, and I just prefer it! Much to my husband’s disdain, I make instant oatmeal with hot water, not even hot milk. But make it however you like. My mom uses quick cooking oats in the microwave to make hers in minutes nowadays, but I still go for instant oatmeal. I like sugar free maple and brown sugar. My kids both like cinnamon apple (but only the store brand, as I discovered a few months ago when they were out of store brand and we got name brand!).

Scrambled eggs

I can’t talk about 5-minute breakfast ideas without mentioning microwave scrambled eggs. This has been a game changer for me. Game. Changer! Make them plain, buttered, Italian flavored, cheesy or omelette. Add in some toast or fruit on the side and you’ve got a hearty, filling breakfast in less than five minutes!

Dinner ideas to feed your family on busy nights without hitting a drive-thru

Affiliate links are used in this post. If you make a qualifying purchase via my link, I receive a small percentage of the sale at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products and services I use and love. It helps support my blog, so thank you for your support! Read my full disclosure here.

My husband and I purposefully strive to keep our children’s schedules from being too jam-packed. But, even with that, family life is just plain busy. Yet every single night, we need to eat. Coming up with quick and easy family dinner ideas keeps us from hitting up the drive-thru or ordering pizza.

So, I’m sharing some of my best quick and easy family dinner ideas today. Give these a try!

Sandwich selections

Not much says easy meal more than a sandwich. There are so many options besides just putting some lunchmeat on bread and calling it a day. You can make hot sandwiches or “fancy” cold ones.

When it comes to hot sandwiches, subs and sliders are long-time favorites of my family. Check out these recipes for some quick and easy family dinner ideas for your crew.

These pizza subs are a recipe of my mom’s from when I was a kiddo that I took and morphed into what my family loves most. The subs are super easy to make and can be customized per person for individual preferences, which I love!

Another great hot sub you bake in the oven is these hot ham and cheese subs with honey mustard. The oven gets the edges of the ham a bit crispy and the honey mustard kicks the flavor up a notch. So yummy!

It’s not a secret that pizza flavors are popular in my family — and I’d bet they are in yours, too. Hawaiian rolls and an onion garlic topping make these pizza sliders a great family dinner idea!

The sweet pineapple mixed with the salty ham on a Hawaiian roll that’s topped with an onion garlic butter spread make these ham and pineapple sliders a super tasty family dinner!

But if you don’t have time for baking out some hot sandwiches in the oven, consider using your toaster! One my family’s favorites is toasted peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The hot bread from the toaster makes the peanut butter all melty and delicious. There are all sorts of options for this one: peanut butter alone, peanut butter and jelly, peanut butter and honey, peanut butter and banana — whatever you like!

Another super easy hot sandwich option is refrigerated (or frozen) pulled pork barbeque. My daughter and I love the pulled pork BBQ on hamburger buns. It’s easy to heat in the microwave (or on the stovetop if you really want) and serve up.

We also enjoy fancy cold sandwiches for dinner and pretend like we are at a sub shop. Buy sub bread, pretzel rolls or a loaf of bakery bread. Pair it with a variety of toppings like shredded lettuce, onion, green peppers, cheese and lunchmeat. Let your family build their own fancy cold sandwich. My guys both like sandwich size pepperoni or salami.

My favorite fancy cold sandwich is shaved turkey on a pretzel bun with Swiss cheese and garlic aioli. It’s so good!

You can pair any of the sandwiches with chips, pretzels or veggies and dip. Add in some fresh fruit on the side and you’ve got a great family dinner idea!

Easy pizza

My family loves pizza. My son would eat it daily and never tire of it. So easy pizza recipes make for great family dinner ideas around my house. I’ve made pizza dough from scratch, but there are so many easier options available that are ideal for busy nights. You’ll want to give these recipes a try!

With a crescent roll crust, this BLT pizza is a quick and easy recipe, especially if you make it with precooked bacon like I do. It’s a favorite around my house!

Starting with a canned pizza crust, these pepperoni pinwheels are a great way to get pizza flavors in a different way that’s also quick and easy for busy nights.

And then there’s premade pizza crust. While I have bought canned pizza dough or pizza crust mixes before, our favorite is the premade pizza crusts. The best thing about making your own pizza is that you can get as creative — or not — as you want with the toppings. My guys like pepperoni with pizza sauce. My daughter and I get a bit more risky.

Chicken, barbeque and onion pizza: This is my daughter’s favorite. I stir a bit of brown sugar into barbeque sauce, then spread it on the crust. I top it with cheese (Italian blend or mozzarella), diced white or red onion and precooked chicken from the refrigerated section. It’s so incredibly yummy!

Barbeque pulled pork pizza: We got this idea from a restaurant we went to while on vacation. Spread some barbeque sauce (sweetened with a bit of brown sugar if you want) onto the crust. Add the cheese and then top with barbeque pulled pork from the refrigerated section. It’s delicious!

Mashed potato pizza: My daughter was very unsure of this one, but once she tried it with me, she liked it. I had it once at a restaurant years ago and liked it. Spread a bit of ranch salad dressing on the crust, top it with refrigerated mashed potatoes that have been heated and top with shredded cheese (I usually use cheddar or colby jack) and crispy pieces of precooked bacon. Add some green onion when it comes out. You can dip it in ranch dressing when you eat it for extra flavor.

Mexican meals

Along with pizza, I know anything with Mexican flavors I make is going to be a hit. So I’ve found a few quick and easy dinner ideas that don’t have me cooking long. I do usually make extra taco-seasoned meat when I make tacos so I can make some Mexican food quickly, like nachos with jarred queso or even taco cornbread bake.

Making quesadillas in a skillet is not quick and easy when you are feeding your whole family. But, you can still get a crispy, yummy taste in the oven. These easy baked quesadillas are easy to customize for what your family likes.

Another quick Mexican meal we love is fajitas. I’ve found frozen chicken fajita mix at my grocery store. I put it on a baking sheet (covered in parchment paper for fast clean-up) and heat it up in the oven. Add in some flour tortillas, sour cream and shredded cheese and it’s a quick and easy family dinner!

Breakfast for dinner

I will eat breakfast food for any meal of the day. From cold cereal to full, hot breakfasts, I’m happy with breakfast food. So breakfast foods are definitely part of my family dinner ideas.

Eggs are the quintessential breakfast food, in my opinion. Try whipping them up in the microwave on busy nights to eat as is or add to a sandwich. (I love a scrambled egg with a bit of mayo on bread as a sandwich!)

Not only can you make scrambled eggs in the microwave, but there are a variety of flavor options you can do with them, including basic scrambled eggs, cheesy eggs, Italian flavored eggs, buttery eggs and mini omelettes.

Bagels maybe considered a breakfast food, but they make for a filling, easy family dinner idea! Peanut butter is super popular in my family. My son, especially loves bagels with peanut butter. But you could also toast a bagel and use cream cheese, which is what I do.

Another easy and quick breakfast food we have for dinner sometimes is frozen waffles. You can get regular frozen waffles or go for fancier Belgian waffles. All you need is your toaster! Add in some precooked bacon or sausage links that you heat in the microwave, and you’ve got a good family dinner. If you are worried about mess from syrup, try serving the waffles with applesauce for dipping instead! (Plus you get the bonus of added fruit.) Or if you have about 15 extra minutes, whip up this easy caramel sauce on the stove for a scrumptious topping!

And I have to include cold cereal. We totally have it for dinner sometimes. I make it fancier by adding toast alongside it.

Finally, don’t forget about instant oatmeal when it comes to breakfast for dinner. Go for a flavor or make it plain and add your own flavors. My kids like apple and cinnamon. I like maple and brown sugar. We add toast on the side to make that dinner a bit heartier as well.

Slow cooker

You can’t forget the slow cooker when it comes to quick and easy family dinner ideas. Slow cookers let you make dinner early in the day and then forget it. I’ve got two soups we eat from the slow cooker that you’ve got to try!

This slow cooker potato soup is a regular in my household. And since it uses frozen hashbrowns for the potatoes, you don’t even have to take time peeling potatoes. I can get it in the slow cooker in 5 minutes! It’s cheap, easy and filling.

I’d not had potatoes in chili until recently when we tried this slow cooker potato chili. But, I love potatoes prepared any way I can get them! While you can dice up your own potatoes to put in here, you could also use frozen hashbrowns to make this an even faster family dinner.

A pizza sliders recipe for family dinner or any time!

Last week I told you about ham and pineapple sliders my daughter and I love. However, the guys in my house don’t like either ham or pineapple. So when I make ham and pineapple sliders for dinner, I make these pizza sliders for them. They’re just as easy to make and don’t add time to dinner prep.

Pepperoni is the pizza topping of choice for my husband and son, so I use just pepperoni on these pizza sliders, but you could use any favorite pizza toppings, much like with the pizza subs recipe. The sliders are a bit different in size (obviously) and flavor with their sweet roll base and onion garlic butter topping.

Putting together the sliders

]Get started by preheating your oven to 350-degrees and spraying a 9×13-inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

Next up, you need to prepare your slider buns. You can totally buy slider buns, but I prefer Hawaiian dinner rolls since they are a bit sweeter. I just slice them in half to make them into buns. Place the bottom half of the buns into the baking pan. I used one package of 12 rolls and divided them into two sides when I was making this recipe this time because I was using half of the rolls for these pizza sliders and the other half for the ham and pineapple sliders.

Once your bun bottoms on in the pan, you want to cover them with pizza sauce. I don’t usually measure it out and just dollop it on. It’s about 1 tablespoon per bun.

Use a spoon or butter knife to spread the pizza sauce evenly over the bun bottoms.

Next, top the sauced buns with about 1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella or Italian blend cheese to cover the buns. You can add more or less depending on your family’s preference.

Top the cheese with the pizza toppings your family most likes. My guys love pepperoni, so I used pepperoni. I ended up using a bit of extra pepperoni this time around because I was at the end of a package and wanted to use it up. For pepperoni, go for one to two slices per bun.

Add the top bun and then melt 3 tablespoons of butter in the microwave. Mix in 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder and 1/2 tablespoon of onion salt. Stir until combined. (Mine usually ends up kind of like wet sand.)

Brush the garlic butter over the top of the buns.

Bake at 350-degrees for 20 minutes until the tops are golden brown and the cheese is melted.

Cut them apart and serve warm. Store leftovers in the refrigerator.