Favorite Ice Cream Desserts

Crème Fraîche Ice Cream Sundaes Recipe

Though the ice cream is fantastic on its own, chef and cookbook author John McReynolds of Stone Edge Farm Estate Vineyard and Winery in Sonoma, California, turns it into a sophisticated dessert with the addition of caramelized walnuts and a drizzle of saba--ripe wine-grape juice cooked down to a fruity syrup.

Coffee Chocolate Crunch Fantasia Ice Cream Sundaes Recipe

Inspired by the artfully deconstructed ice cream creations of Food Network star Elizabeth Falkner.

Churro Waffle Ice Cream Sandwiches Recipe

Plug in your waffle iron for a sinful, sweet treat!  Prepare yourself, these decadent ice cream sandwiches are next level. Mouth-watering, cinnamon-sugar churros (waffled) pair perfectly with large scoops of ice cream and a chocolaty drizzle.

Strawberry Ice Cream Pie with Pretzel Crust Recipe

This summer-centric pie makes is a so-easy, yet impressive, cool and creamy treat. Use your favorite brand of prepared strawberry ice cream or fill the crust using your your best homemade recipe. Set your ice cream out at room temperature about 25 to 30 minutes before you plan to start scooping it into the cooled crust so that it has enough time to soften. This recipe would work equally well using raspberry sorbet and a blend of fresh raspberries and strawberries on top.

Mexican Hot Fudge Sundae Bowls Recipe

To prepare this decadent dessert, spoon frozen yogurt into homemade tortilla bowls and drizzle with chocolate sauce. 

Peach Cobbler Ice Cream with Bourbon-Caramel Sauce Recipe

Here's a delicious ice-cream recipe that has all the flavors of traditional peach cobbler and doesn't require an ice-cream maker: Just stir the ingredients together, and freeze. Fold the whipped topping in with as few strokes as possible while making sure everything is well blended.

Hot Fudge Sundae Shake Tout

Forget the drive-thru—there's no need to leave home when you can create a hot fudge sundae shake in your own kitchen in just 10 minutes. First, mix perfectly sweet vanilla ice cream in a blender until it's a thick, irresistible consistency. Then, layer in a glass with ooey-gooey hot fudge and caramel. Top with whipped cream and crumbled up brownies as an added treat.

Brown Butter-Pecan-Bourbon Ice Cream Tout

This rich, decadent, grown-ups-only ice cream is absolutely divine. Why? The custard features the usual suspects–cream, egg yolks, sugar, and milk–with rich, browned butter, nutty toasted pecans, and warm bourbon. There's no need for an old-fashioned ice cream churn, since this recipe can be prepared with the ice cream attachment on your trusty stand mixer.

Ice Cream, Sorbet and Froyo Terrine Recipe

Jeni Britton Bauer of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams in Columbus, Ohio, says the secret to a perfect layered terrine is the "clash of color and texture."

Ice Cream Truffles Tout

If you're searching for the perfect bite-sized ice cream treat–look no further. These little gems are super easy to make and combine the best of all worlds: candy bars, melted chocolate, and vanilla ice cream. Simply scoop vanilla ice cream to form 1-inch balls, then roll or dip each one in the topping of your choice, freeze again, and serve.

Hot Date Ice Cream Sundaes Recipe

This is our banana-enriched version of the Hot Date sundae, served at Poppy restaurant in Seattle. Add a shot of rum to make this even more provocative.

Brownie Ice Cream Sundae Cake Recipe

This layered ice cream and brownie cake is drizzled with hot fudge and butterscotch sauce.

Ice Cream Sundae Pie Recipe

Spread vanilla ice cream over graham cracker crust and drizzle with caramel and fudge sauce to prepare this pie.

Pineapple and Basil Sundaes Recipe

Although basil is more commonly used in savory dishes, its sweet, aromatic flavors work beautifully with caramelized pineapple as a topping for frozen yogurt.

Chocolate Turtle Brownie Sundaes Recipe

Decadent, warm, and gooey turtle brownies meet creamy vanilla frozen yogurt drenched in a drool-worthy fudge sauce. Licking your screen yet? This dessert is perfect for any occasion and will always leave you begging for seconds.

Double Chocolate-Raspberry Sundaes Recipe

Get your chocolate fix with this chocolate ice cream sundae topped with chocolate shavings and sprinkled with toasted almonds.

Frozen Yogurt Sundae with Bananas and Chocolate Sauce Recipe

This intense sauce, which uses cocoa for its base, will make you forget the fattier store-bought variety. Opting for frozen yogurt over ice cream cuts even more fat.

Bluebarb Pie Ice Cream Sundaes Recipe

No need to haul out the ice cream maker or pie plate for this ode to summer pies. Store-bought vanilla ice cream swirled with sweet-tart rhubarb compote, plus shortbread "crust" crumbles, gives new meaning to pie à la mode. Use other berries if you like.

Banana Split Sundaes Recipe

Believe it or not, banana splits are a great way for children to have a well-balanced sweet treat. My secret? Go heavy on the fruit!

No-Bake Peanut Butter-Fudge Ice-Cream Pie Recipe

With its creamy filling and crispy crust, this frozen peanut butter pie is made for summer cookouts. Nothing cools you down in the summertime like a slice of a creamy, frozen pie. A secret to keeping the pie neat is to use a hot knife for slicing each serving. Dip the blade in a glass of very hot water, then wipe it off before slicing into the pie. Repeat before cutting each new slice.

Green Tea-Ginger Ice Cream Recipe

Creating the coolest scoops is as easy as 1, 2, 3.

Popcorn Ice Cream Sundae Recipe

This decadent sundae delivers the best of salty, sweet, creamy, and crunchy all in one bowl. 

Marcona-Rosemary Ice Cream Sandwiches Recipe

Salt is essential in desserts; here it enhances all the herby-nutty flavors. If you can't find Marcona almonds, use toasted blanched almonds.

Champagne Ice Cream Float Recipe

As a kid, Johnathan Sundstrom’s favorite ice cream-truck treat was a Creamsicle. The author of Lark: Cooking Wild in the Northwest loved the magic combination of vanilla ice cream wrapped in orange sherbet. As a grown up, he’s expanded his palate to include strawberry sorbet and buttermilk ice cream in this ice cream float recipe. Sundstrom finds the contrast of sweet and creamy with tart or tangy the most to his liking. Celebrate the last of the season’s bounty and use up strawberries and raspberries at their prime in this berry float recipe. Champagne—or your favorite sparkling wine—tops it all off for a fizzy refresher for any hot summer day.

Berry Float with Buttermilk Ice Cream, Strawberry Sorbet, and Champagne

Ingredients

Excerpted from Lark: Cooking Wild in the Northwest by permission of Sasquatch Books. Copyright © 2016 by Johnathan Sundstrom. All rights reserved.

Waffle Cookie Ice Cream Tacos Recipe

If your ears still perk up at the sound of the ice cream truck rolling down the block, prepare yourself. We gave of our favorite taco-shaped ice cream truck treats a breakfasty-twist. Similar to a Choco Taco, these blueberry and white chocolate waffle cookie ice cream tacos aren’t necessarily a light breakfast option, but we’re not mad about that. A slightly more colorful version of the packaged treat, any fruit-flavored ice cream will kill it inside a waffle cookie taco.

Want to know how to make that perfect shell? A sweet batter is smushed into a thin, golden brown waffle, then shaped into a taco shell (use a thin condiment bottle) while it’s still warm. Fill it with blueberry ice cream or frozen yogurt, then top with a shower of shaved white chocolate.

White Chocolate Waffle Cookie Tacos

Mango Ice-Cream Sandwiches Recipe

Hangover Ice Cream Sundae Recipe

Ah, houseguests. Those loved ones who help remind you just how small your apartment is. They can also inspire some epic evenings—and rough mornings. Not long ago I had a couple of good friends stay over. As a proper host does, I took them to my favorite bar around the corner, a spot where I tend to stay until the lights come on. The next morning-ish, with the sun unforgivingly attacking our eyelids, we awoke with a collective groan of regret. The motivation to move was somewhere between “nope” and “ouch,” so going to to brunch was not an option. We needed help, stat.

My hungover guests were unprepared for how utterly unprepared I was as a host. My fridge was full of its usual supplies—take-out boxes and condiments, which are not exactly the makings of brunch or bloody mary. I did have fresh coffee (I’m not a monster), so as I started to brew it I scrambled to scrounge together food to start the healing process. There was about half a package of bacon, which wasn’t enough, and in my freezer there were two incredibly sad frozen waffles.

But in the freezer there was ice cream, and plenty of it. And that’s when I got my genius idea. I started frying up the bacon.

When science dubbed ice cream OK to eat for breakfast, we all appropriately rejoiced. It was this logic that led me to the conclusion that ice cream could also be a good hangover cure. It’s got protein, vitamin D, stomach-settling qualities, and in this case, it was the perfect canvas for which to build my hair of the franken-dog. 

Vanilla ice cream works fine for this recipe, but at the time I just so happened to have Big Gay Ice Cream’s Salty Pimp. Since all good hangover remedies include a little of the poison that got you into this mess, I mixed cold coffee with sherry and poured it over the ice cream, affogato-style. The bacon and waffles provide the salt, fat, and carbs, and I threw some cheerios on top for good measure. The final ingredient that brought it all together was maple syrup mixed with cayenne. The spice helps get those endorphins going so you can start to have some semblance of a day.

After the initial shock that I was indeed serving everyone a boozy, bacon-filled ice cream sundae for breakfast, we all quickly realized how awesome (and necessary) it was. My concoction left us all feeling a little more human-like, and of course left my guests thinking that I'm an impeccable host.

Hangover Ice Cream Sundae

Ice Cream-Only Ice Cream Cake Recipe

For some, a typical ice cream cake is a wonderful, frozen amalgamation of two of life’s great desserts: ice cream and cake (obviously). However, for others—those who truly prefer ice cream over cake—the fact that most ice cream cakes still contain layers of frozen cake is… a disappointment. And it is for these ice cream loving people that we created this “cake,” made purely of frozen dairy goodness. We use fresh whipped cream fortified with gelatin to “frost” the cake, holding the layered scoops together and coating the exterior, because a stabilized whipped cream holds its texture incredibly well (without becoming rock-hard) in the freezer. You can use any number and variety of flavors/colors to create your own take on this ice cream-only cake; we opted to go with a rainbow of colors to achieve a festive feel in every slice. Use any custom combination to create the perfect frozen cake for a birthday party, gender reveal party, college game day event, etc. You can even dress the concept up to create an adorable Ice Cream Princess Cake. 

Churros and Smoked Chocolate Ice Cream Recipe

Swap out your traditional summer desesrt for this fun show-stopper. 

Smoked Honey and Fig Tart With Pink Peppercorn Ice Cream Recipe

This elegant dessert recipe comes from Chef Zach Meloy of Pulpit Suppersin Atlanta, Georgia.

Coffee and Doughnuts Ice Cream Sandwiches Recipe

Take a tip from cartoon policemen and have doughnuts and coffee for breakfast. But instead of a latte and a chocolate-sprinkled taking up both hands (so difficult to balance while driving to work!) smash both together, add some ice cream for good measure. We take full responsibility for the deliciousness of coffee and doughnuts ice cream sandwiches; you only have to tackle to sugar rush.

If you’re feeling ambitious, fry up a batch of your own doughnuts—here we’ve opted for pre-made. As for the coffee ice cream, you can DIY that as well, or just reach for the carton in your freezer. Soften the ice cream slightly, then smear it onto a halved doughnut. And just in case that wasn’t enough for you, we rolled the exposed ice cream sides in our favorite cereals. Yeah, we’re not holding anything back.

Coffee and Doughnuts Ice Cream Sandwiches

Pickle Ice Cream with Crunchy Peanut Butter Topping Recipe

As unconventional as it may sound, this unlikely flavor combination is one for the books. Tangy-sweet bread and butter pickle juice against a salty peanut butter topping makes for a an incredibly rich, balanced ice cream-eating experience. For anyone that lives for a signature sweet and savory combination, this is one that you’re not going to want to miss out on. Depending on how much you love that briny pickle flavor, feel free to intensify the flavor by adding more juice; however, you don’t want to go over 1 ¼ cups of juice.

Chocolate-Black Cherry Soda Ice Cream Float Recipe

Oatmeal Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches Recipe

With all due respect to San Francisco's iconic It's-It, this version's light, crisp oatmeal cookies are even more addictive. That's why we've made sure you wind up with extra cookies here. If you want to use them all for ice cream sandwiches, just double the other ingredients.

Funnel Cake Ice-Cream Sandwiches  Recipe

Make these for your next party and watch them disappear faster than you can say "funnel cake." The ice cream add-ins are suggestions, but you can use whatever you like--such as chopped candy bars, toasted and chopped nuts, or marshmallows. You can also roll the edges in toppings like sprinkles, graham cracker crumbs, or crushed Oreos. Keep in mind that hot oil is critical to a crispy funnel cake, so use a candy thermometer to monitor and maintain the oil's temperature.

Candied Orange Walnut Ice Cream Pie Recipe

Ice cream pies make ideal desserts for big holiday dinners, because you can make them days in advance and just haul them out of the freezer right before serving. Plus, they're easy to make.

Red Velvet Ice-Cream Cake Recipe

You are sure to set off the fireworks when you serve this eye-catching layer cake at the Fourth of July cookout.  Don’t worry about the frosting wilting in the summer heat. We added a teaspoon of unflavored gelatin to the frosting recipe to help it  stabilize, so it won’t melt down before you cut into the cake.

Banana Split Ice-Cream Sandwiches Recipe

This, crisp vanilla cookies add a textural twist to conventional banana split ingredients in this delightful sweet treat.

Sparkling Ice Cream Floats with Berries Recipe

Who knew the ultimate summer dessert would be the simplest you’ve ever made? These delightfully sweet and boozy floats take only a few ingredients and about two seconds to whip up, but trust us—they are always sure to impress. Rossini is a sparkling wine beverage, usually Prosecco-based, that is mixed with strawberries and raspberries. It is sweeter and fruitier than a rosé or other sparkling wine so it makes a delicious combination with rich vanilla ice cream (we especially love Häagen-Dazs brand here). We found a great one at Trader Joe’s for just about $6, but if you have a hard time finding rossini, you can definitely use your favorite rosé. 

Ice Cream Tacos Recipe

Yes, these are a lot more work than unwrapping a store-bought Choco Taco, but every bite will make you want to dance with joy. You'll need a hardback book with a 1-in.-wide spine to shape the warm cookies into shells. The shells are best when the weather is dry (humidity softens them).

Peach Melba Ice-Cream Pie Recipe

This summer pie looks difficult, but thanks to store-bought ice cream and a press-in cookie crust, it's a cinch to assemble. All you need is enough time for it to freeze so the layers look nice and neat.

Beignet Ice Cream Sandwiches Recipe

Coffee and beignets belong together, so coffee ice cream and beignets...? Yeah, that's a no-brainer. This easy, but impressive, New Orleans-inspired dessert recipe is the perfect treat for your Mardi Gras celebrations. With only five ingredients, you'll be surprised by how easy these ice cream sandwiches are to whip up (especially if you go with store-bought beignet mix).