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Lifestyle

How to Turn Ice Cream into Bread

This article is written by a student writer from the Spoon University at UC Berkeley chapter.

Put down the hot fudge and break out the flour—we’re taking ice cream from the freezer to the oven in one mind-blowing food hack of a recipe. (Except you can totally still use hot fudge as a topping. We won’t judge.)

Traditional quick bread recipes tend to be ingredient-heavy and time-consuming, but ice cream, which already contains eggs, milk, sugar and flavorings, helps us cut corners and minimize effort. (It’s efficient, not lazy. And who’s complaining, anyway?)

Feel free to experiment with your favorite flavors, mix-ins and toppings—and don’t be afraid to go crazy. This batter bakes up into a lightly sweet bread, so bold flavors work best and the more mix-ins, the merrier. One last word of caution: don’t use low-fat or low-sugar ice cream. Just don’t do it. Trust us.

Easy

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes

Servings: 12

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups self-rising flour OR 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour + 2 teaspoons baking powder (not pictured)
2 cups softened ice cream (Spoon tip: To quickly soften your ice cream, nuke it in the microwave in 15-second intervals, stirring in between, until it reaches the consistency of a thick milkshake.)

ice cream

Photo by Rachel Lee

Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 350°F and grease a 9″x5″ (or 8″x4″) loaf pan.

ice cream

Photo by Rachel Lee

2. Add the self-rising flour to a large bowl. If you’re substituting with all-purpose flour, add the baking powder now and mix well.

ice cream

Photo by Rachel Lee

3. Pour in the softened ice cream and gently fold the mixture together until just combined. The fewer the folds, the more tender the bread.

ice cream

Photo by Rachel Lee

4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

ice cream

Photo by Rachel Lee

5. Slice, devour and marvel at the fact that, holy crap, you just turned ice cream into bread.

ice cream

Photo by Rachel Lee

Spoon tip: Not feelin’ an entire loaf of bread? Make muffins instead! Grease or line a 12-cup muffin pan, fill each cup ⅔ full with batter, and bake at 350°F for 18-22 minutes, until the tops lightly bounce back when you touch them.

ice cream

Photo by Rachel Lee

Not sure how to eat your ice cream bread? Try smothering a slice with Nutella for a decadent open-faced toast…

ice cream

Photo by Rachel Lee

…or stacking another slice on top for a new kind of ice cream sandwich.

ice cream

Photo by Rachel Lee

Recipe from Daily Dish Recipes.

Need more ice cream inspiration? We’ve got you covered:

Crystal Shi

UC Berkeley '18

Crystal is a third year Cognitive Science major with an affinity for baking, dark chocolate, and Studio Ghibli soundtracks. A troubling mix of aspiring health nut and sweets enthusiast, she often finds herself torn between eating kale by the handful and downing ice cream by the carton.