3 Great Ice Cream Sandwich Recipes: Tropical, Rice Krispies & Super Easy PLUS Spiced Figs Ice Cream

In fact, in our house, ice cream is a year-round staple. It’s easy to have around for last-minute guests and a treat that is loved universally.

In celebration of July being national ice cream month, I decided to pair two great things that go even better together: ice cream and Rice Krispie treats. And, let me tell you that these Rice Krispie treat ice cream sandwiches have been a hit with my daughter and her friends.

1. Rice Krispie Treat Ice Cream Sandwiches

Basically, what you do is add a layer of original Rice Krispie treats (the recipe is below if you haven’t made these before), a middle layer of ice cream, and a final layer of original Rice Krispie treats in a cake pan, one by one. It doesn’t take very long and is easier than it sounds.

Coat a square cake pan with non-stick spray. (I like Wilton’s Bake Easy non-stick spray.) You could use a 9″ square pan or an 8″ square pan. The 8″ will just have slightly thicker layers.

Remove the ice cream from the freezer to thaw slightly and make the original Rice Krispie treat recipe. Start by melting butter in a pot. I strongly prefer to make Rice Krispie treats in a cast iron Le Creuset pan because it mitigates burning and is easy to clean.

Add marshmallows, and once they melt, add in the vanilla. Next, gradually mix in the cereal until coated.

Turn off the burner. Scoop half of the cereal mix into the square cake pan and immediately cover what’s left in the pot with a lid to keep it warm.

Wet your fingers (to avoid sticking) with water to compact the cereal mix into the pan. Then, stick the pan in the freezer for 5 minutes so the cereal mix hardens.

Next, add a layer of softened ice cream to the pan. You can decide how thick you want it. Make sure to compact the ice cream to the edges evenly. I also wiped the excess ice cream off the pan so that melted ice cream didn’t junk up the sides of the second layer of Rice Krispie treats.

Pop the pan back into the freezer for 5-10 minutes. Then, add the remaining half of the warm cereal mixture to the top of the ice cream layer. If not using a cast iron pan, you may need to add some heat before scooping it out again to make it pliable, but probably not.

Voila, pop the cake pan back into the freezer for several hours or overnight. Then, cut into whatever size you like. I used an angled 2″ spatula to cut the sandwiches and added sprinkles for flourish.

This is an excellent dessert to keep on hand in the event of a summer playdate or impromptu guests. Be sure to use a tasty ice cream in any flavor as the middle layer is critical to the dessert. Smiles are guaranteed.

Recipe: Rice Krispie Treat Ice Cream Sandwiches

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Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 6 cups Rice Krispies cereal
• 4 cups mini marshmallows
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 gallon Dreyer's Grand or Slow Churned ice cream
• Sprinkles or other flourish

Instructions

1. Spray an 8" or 9" square cake pan with non-stick spray.
2. Remove ice cream from the freezer to thaw slightly.
3. Melt the butter in a pan on low heat. (I find that cast iron pots work best.)
4. Add marshmallows and melt on low heat. Then, add in vanilla.
5. Gradually stir in the Rice Krispies. Turn off the heat.
6. Scoop half of the cereal mix into the cake pan and press into shape. Cover the pot securely with a lid to keep the remaining cereal mix warm.
7. Put the cake pan in the freezer for 5 minutes to harden the cereal mix.
8. Once cooled, spread a layer of ice cream on top of the cereal mix to desired thickness. Put back in the freezer for 5-10 minutes.
9. Scoop remainder of the Rice Krispie Treat mix on top of the ice cream. Press into shape.
10. Pop the entire thing in the freezer for several hours or overnight before cutting and serving.

While you could make a thick layer of Rice Krispie treats and saw it in half before adding in the ice cream, that method takes some good knife skills and a very long blade. And, really, doing it this way doesn’t take too much extra time.

You can also make these ice cream sandwiches as small or as large as you like. Even bite-sized is also very doable.

2. Tropical Ice Cream Sandwiches Recipe

When you can’t jet off to, say, Maui for a tropical holiday, maybe an ice cream sandwich will do.

This recipe was created by Chef Antonia Lofaso, a Top Chef season 4 contender, for Breyers Ice Cream. The beauty of this recipe is that it only requires three ingredients: Breyers Natural Vanilla, one whole pineapple, and toasted coconut.

Tip: If you don’t want to buy coconut already toasted (or can’t find it in the store), just toss some flaked coconut in a pan for a few minutes, and it will easily toast to your liking.

The first thing you’ll need to do is grill the pineapple. While popping them on the barbecue for 90 seconds definitely works, I opted for my Le Creuset grill pan on the stove, which yielded exactly the same result in probably a minute longer. Let the grilled slices cool completely to room temperature.

Then, carefully (the pineapple can be slippery), sandwich about a cup of ice cream between the two slices. I didn’t let the ice cream soften because I felt it was already a good consistency straight out of the freezer. It would have dripped all over the place if it was softer. But, you be the judge.

In fact, after forming the sandwich, I popped it back into the freezer to let it harden a bit before rolling the sides in the coconut.

Recipe: Tropical Ice Cream Sandwiches

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Ingredients

• 2 (1/4-inch thick) fresh pineapple slices
• 1 cup Breyers' Natural Vanilla Ice Cream
• 2 Tbsp. toasted flaked coconut

Instructions

1. Grill pineapple slices for about 90 seconds on each side (or, until grill marks appear if using a skillet on high heat). Let slices cool completely.
2. Sandwich Breyer's ice cream between the pineapple slices.
3. Coat edges in toasted coconut.
4. Slice and serve.

3. DIY Ice Cream Sandwich Bar

The teens and tweens in my life like to make stuff, including desserts.

It occurred to me that I could buy a handful of ingredients for them to assemble ice cream sandwiches at leisure. It’s not a unique idea by any means, but it is always a hit. And, everything you need can be store-bought, which is the best thing ever.

My Instagram feed proves that basically anything can serve as the top and/or bottom of an ice cream sandwich. I highly recommend using mini glazed donuts.

The texture of the donuts meshes well with the ice cream, and I like that they’re a bit more bite-sized. We also tried soft chocolate and peanut butter cookies and I also found a box of everyone’s favorite Girl Scout cookies hiding in the freezer.

Soft chocolate chip cookies from the grocery store’s bakery section also work well for this ice cream sandwich recipe.

You basically can use whatever cookies, brownies or donuts you have around the house. We’ve even tasted muffin-top ice cream sandwiches!

Bonus: Spiced Roasted Figs with Hazelnuts and Vanilla Ice Cream

Not only does this easy dessert recipe take 10 minutes, it’s absolutely delicious and perfect for late summer and fall entertaining. Really.

It involves broiled figs coated in spices, natural vanilla ice cream, and hazelnuts sprinkled on top for a little crunch. How delicious is that? I am truly excited to share the recipe with you because it’s a personal favorite.

Breyers tasked celebrity chef Curtis Stone and his wife, actress Lindsay Price Stone to come up with one recipe per month, and this was one of the recipes. Here’s how you make them.

Position broiler rack 6″ from the heat source and preheat broiler. Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil.

In a small bowl, mix sugar and spices. One at a time, dip figs, cut side down.

Broil figs, watching closely, for about 4 minutes, or until sugar melts and begins to caramelize and figs soften slightly and begin to ooze their juice.

Divide figs among four bowls. Spoon 1/3 cup of vanilla into each bowl and sprinkle with hazelnuts.

Yield: 4-6

Recipe: Spiced Roasted Figs with Hazelnuts and Vanilla Ice Cream

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Ingredients

• 2 tbs. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/8 tsp. ground cloves
• 8 ripe figs, halved lengthwise
• 1 1/3 cups Breyer's Natural Ice Cream
• 1/4 cup blanched hazelnuts, toasted, coarsely chopped

Instructions

1. Position the broiler rack 6" from the heat source and preheat the broiler. Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil.
2. In a small bowl, mix sugar and spices. One at a time, dip figs, cut side down, in sugar mixture to coat. Then coat the figs a second time with the sugar mixture and arrange them cut side up on the baking sheet.
3. Broil figs, watching closely, for about 4 minutes, or until sugar melts and begins to caramelize and figs soften slightly and begin to ooze their juice.
4. Divide figs among 4 bowls. Spoon 1/3 cup of vanilla ice cream into each bowl and sprinkle with hazelnuts.

Then rush to take as many photos as possible before the warm figs melt the ice cream. Or, nosh away!

Bonus #2: Easy Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe – With M&Ms

This vanilla ice cream recipe is so good especially given how easy it is to make. I already had the basics on hand so while searching the internet for a recipe, I accidentally enabled the voice recognition aspect on my Nokia Lumia 900 Windows Phone. On a whim I said, “Cuisinart vanilla ice cream” and it found the perfect, egg-less recipe within seconds. So, we tried it.

Ingredients can be whisked together in just a few minutes and poured into the ice cream maker. Kids can make this recipe, easily.

Then dump the mixture into an ice cream maker. Turn it on for 20 minutes.

It’s always difficult to take photos with kids around. I now see she was snacking on M&Ms. It was 9:00am. Anyway, here’s what it looks like after you pull it off the ice cream maker.

Toss in frozen M&Ms (the cold helps keep them from bleeding color) and freeze. Done. Enjoy it as plain vanilla ice cream, toss in sprinkles, swirl in peanut butter or similar.

Easy Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe – With M&Ms

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Ingredients

• 1 cup whole milk
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• pinch salt
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup of frozen M&Ms (or as many as you like)

Instructions

1. Whisk to combine the milk, sugar and salt until the sugar is dissolved.
2. Stir in the heavy cream and vanilla.
3. Pour into cold ice cream maker freezer bowl.
4. Mix for 20 minutes, or until thickened. The ice cream will have a creamy texture.
5. Gently stir in frozen M&Ms. Combine, but with as little stirring as possible. More stirring will cause the color to fall off the M&Ms.
6. Remove from freezer about 15 minutes prior to serving.

The original recipe is here, however, the main difference is that we forgot to let the ice cream sit for an hour or two in the refrigerator prior to putting the mixture in the ice cream maker. It didn’t matter, as far as I can tell. We also made it using nonfat milk. It’s still delicious, but regular milk creates a better consistency. It’s worth a bit longer on the treadmill.