Who doesn’t love ice cream? And even better, who doesn’t love treats made with ice cream? On a stick, in a bowl, in a cone, smashed between cookies, wrapped in tortillas. There are so many easy quick ideas for you and your kids, friends, family, and work, for wherever you’re going to celebrate National Ice Cream Day on July 21st. You’ve got 5 weeks to practice making these 5 easy treats to share with your friends and family.
Starting with the Sweet!
Sweet treats say summer all day every day. It doesn’t matter if you’re 5 or 5o, most people love ice cream. So, what are some different easy things that you can do with ice cream that make your treat different, unusual, and loved by all? Here are three sweet treats that you can make in your kitchen.
Ice Cream Pops
The fun part of these is you can make them whatever size you want. And they take about 20 – 30 minutes, depending on your freezer.
What you need
- Wooden sticks (or toothpicks would work for small cake pop-sized pops)
- Your favorite flavor ice cream
- Melted chocolate (I use semi-sweet chocolate chips melted in the microwave or over a double boiler)
- mini chips, nuts, or mini candies to roll your chocolate-covered pops in.
What you do
- Roll your ice cream into balls the size you want. Roll them tight, stick the stick into the center of your ball, and place them on a wax paper baking sheet for the dish you can put into the freezer.
- Freeze until very hard.
- While waiting for your ice cream to freeze, melt your chocolate and let it cool. The next step happens pretty fast.
- Cover your plate/pan with wax paper.
- Dip your ice cream ball into the chocolate, coating it well. roll it in your choice of topping and set it on the wax paper.
- Repeat very quickly for all of your ice cream bars and put them back in the freezer to refreeze.
- Once frozen, serve.
Party Sandwiches
An old Treat with a new twist.
What you need
- Your Favorite Ice Cream
- Your favorite cookies (not sandwich cookie)
- Melting Chocolate (I use semi-sweet chocolate chips)
- Your favorite sprinkles
What you do
- Spread a good dollop of Ice Cream on the flat side of your cookie, at least an inch thick, and press another cookie, flat side, onto the top of the ice cream. Place on a wax paper, baking sheet or a plate that can go in the freezer.
- Repeat for all of the sandwiches. Place in the freezer.
- Melt your chocolate in the microwave or over a double boiler.
- Dip your sandwiches into the chocolate covering about half of the sandwich up to where you ae holding it with your fingers. Roll the chocolate side I the topping/sprinkles. Place back on the wax/paper.
- Repeat until all sandwiches are coated and sprinkled. Return to freezer.
- Once frozen, serve.
5-minute Ice Cream in a Bag
This would be a great activity to do with a group of kids. Each bag will make about 1 serving. When teaching, I did this as a classroom project on the last day of school with my students. It can be a science experiment as well as a fun treat.
What you need
- 1/2 cup whole milk half and half, or cream
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 6 tbsp salt
- 2 cups ice
- sandwich-sized zipper bag
- quart-sized zipper bag
What you do
-
Add the milk, sugar, and vanilla to the sandwich bag and zip tightly.
-
Add the ice and salt to the quart-size bag
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Place the smaller bag inside the larger bag with the ice and salt and zip tightly.
-
Shake the bag as hard as you can, using caution to not pop it open.
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Continue for 5 minutes or until it looks and feels like ice cream.
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Remove the smaller bag and rinse all of the salt, especially around the opening.
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Open and eat straight from the bag or dump into a bowl or cone. Yum.
And On to the Savory
Photo by Antony Trivet Pexels
I love that savory Ice Cream is a new thing. Some of my favorites are Avocado Ice Cream which we are going to make here and jalapeno Ice Cream which is made by a small company in Oregon.
Avocado Ice Cream
This is a favorite in my house. It’s quick, easy, and doesn’t require churning. You can also add extras to spice it up once it’s mixed.
What you need
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- Pinch salt
- 2 cups cold heavy cream
- 9 x 3 metal loaf pan or something of similar size that can go in the freezer
What you do
- Chill the loaf pan for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
- Puree the avocado, milk, lemon juice, and salt in a blender until smooth, about 1 minute
- Pour into a large bowl.
- Whip the whipping cream until firm peaks form, about 2 minutes.
- Using a rubber spatula, fold 1 cup of the whipped cream into the avocado mixture until combined.
- Fold the lightened mixture back into the whipped cream until well blended.
- Pour into the chilled pan and place in the freezer until firm, 4 hours, or overnight
Maple Bacon Ice Cream Sandwich
All I can say to this one is Yum. This recipe was originally made with crumpets but as that is something you don’t see here in the U.S., I tried it years ago with Gingerbread Cookies, and soooo good. You could use a crumpet or even an English muffin, the US’s closest bread to a crumpet.
What you need
-
1 lb. bacon, cooked crispy and cut into 2″ slices
-
1/4 cup maple syrup
-
4 scoops vanilla ice-cream
-
8 larger Gingerbread Cookies
-
Sliced fruit
What you do
- Cover the bottom flat side of the cookie with back slices, top with ice cream and an additional cookie, flat side down on ice cream.
- Repeat for other cookies/bacon/ice cream.
- Drizzle with maple syrup
- Serve with sliced fruit
National Ice Cream Day Treats
Well now that I want ice cream, I think I will close this now. National Ice Cream Day is on July 21st. I hope you can enjoy all of these special treats before and then afterwards for a sweet and savory summer.
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