The thing about vanilla ice cream is that people rarely ever buy it off the shelves in the frozen food aisle. If anything, the typical go-to ice cream flavors range from chocolate fudge brownie to cookies ‘n’ cream – especially those with decadent marshmallow and caramel swirls, mmm. But who says you can only have vanilla when you buy vanilla ice cream? Here are several different ways you could spruce up vanilla ice cream, using basic ingredients from your pantry. This also saves you extra cash since you won’t have to buy more tubs of different flavored ice cream.
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes to refreeze
Total Time: 35 minutes
Servings: 1 (All of the recipes below require 1 scoop of vanilla ice cream each, and 30 minutes of refreezing after combining all ingredients.)
Photo by Anna Loh
Honey Pistachio
Ingredients:
1/4 cup of unsalted, shelled pistachios
1 spoon of honey
Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients. Drizzle extra honey if you’ve got a sweet tooth.
Photo by Anna Loh
PB-Banana-Cereal
Ingredients:
1 banana
1 tablespoon peanut butter
1/4 cup of cereal
Directions:
1. Slice or mash the banana (up to your preference).
2. Microwave the peanut butter for 20 seconds on high.
3. Combine all ingredients together.
* Sprinkle cereal on the ice cream after refreezing if you aren’t a fan of soggy cereal.
Photo by Anna Loh
Blueberry Oat
Ingredients:
1 oatmeal cookie
1/4 cup blueberries
Directions:
1. Crumble the oatmeal cookie and fold ice cream with blueberries until combined.
Photo by Anna Loh
Cocoa Strawberry
Ingredients:
1/4 cup Cocoa Puffs (or any chocolate-flavored cereal you like)
1 tablespoon of strawberry jam/preserves
Directions:
1. Pour Cocoa Puffs into a Ziploc bag and crush it gently into small crumbs.
2. Combine all ingredients together.
Photo by Anna Loh
Coconut Caramel
Ingredients:
1/4 cup coconut flakes
1 chocolate caramel bar (any brand)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Scatter coconut flakes onto a pan and toast for 3 minutes.
Let it sit for 5 minutes after.
3. Break caramel bar into smaller chunks.
4. Combine all ingredients.
If you’re a fan of easy-peasy, no-bake ice cream, check out these simple, fuss-free recipes: No-Machine Ice Cream, Ice Cream in a Bag and Super Easy Banana Ice Cream. For other unconventional and creative ice-cream articles: