You deserve dessert everyday of the week. All you’ve gotta do is swipe your Wildcard.
1. Ice Cream Sandwich
Photo by Emma Danbury
All of the dining halls on campus are equipped with the necessary tools to create this masterpiece. If you’re a minimalist when it comes to sweet treats, all you need is two cookies and a scoop of your favorite flavor of ice cream. If you’re feeling adventurous, try smearing Nutella or peanut butter between the cookie and ice cream. Note: ice cream works better than soft serve in this case because it is firmer and less messy.
2. Root Beer Float
Photo by Emma Danbury
If you’re feeling nostalgic, a root beer float is a sure-fire way to channel your inner kid. This hack is also customizable: you can use vanilla soft serve or hard ice cream and add splashes of root beer, Coca-Cola or even Dr. Pepper. Fill the cup two thirds of the way with ice cream and then add your soda of choice. You can use more or less ice cream, depending on how thick you want your concoction to be.
3. Next Day Hot Cookie Bar
Photo by Emma Danbury
You know what’s really better than hot cookie bar? Next-day cookie bar sundae. On Mondays, or until supplies last, the Willard Dining Hall has leftover hot cookie bar crumbles stationed next to the ice cream. To create a deconstructed ice cream sandwich, line the bottom of the bowl with these crumbles, layer on soft serve and then top it off with more crumbles for good measure. Add banana slices, if you feel the need to justify eating hot cookie bar twice in one week.
4. Knock-off Drumstick
Photo by Emma Danbury
Everyone knows the best part of a Nestle Drumstick is the fudge-lined cone. As a staple of any Northwestern student’s diet, Nutella is an obvious replacement for this DIY version. Just take a sugar cone, smother the inside with Nutella and then top off the cone with ice cream or soft serve as usual. This delicious hack can also work with peanut butter.
5. DIY Cake Shake
Photo by Emma Danbury
After the first time you experience the Chicago delicacy known as a Portillo’s Cake Shake, you’ll crave it everyday for the rest of your life. Luckily, you can improvise your own version at any dining hall. Mash up a piece of cake or a cupcake at the bottom of a cup and then cover it with soft serve. From there, mix the cake throughout the ice cream and add a splash of milk if you want to give it more of a traditional milkshake texture. The original uses chocolate cake, but this recipe will work with anything that happens to be at your dining hall.