Food & Cooking Recipes Dessert & Treats Recipes 25 Frosty Treats That Start With Store-Bought Ice Cream Purchasing a gallon or two of your favorite flavors makes these delicious dessert recipes so much easier. By Victoria Spencer Victoria Spencer Victoria Spencer is an experienced food editor, writer, and recipe developer. She manages the Martha Stewart recipe archive and is always curious about new ingredients and the best techniques. She has been working in food media for over 20 years. Editorial Guidelines Updated on July 18, 2022 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Photo: Nico Schinco Go ahead and trade your usual scoops for a milkshake, sundae, ice cream sandwich, or a celebration bombe—thanks to store-bought ice cream, they're easy to make and entirely impressive. A good place to start is by concocting refreshing drinks, like the ice cream floats pictured here. They're riffs on the root-beer float that sub in surprising soda flavors like O-So Orange with coconut sorbet to make a tropical dream-sicle, mix cherry Cheerwine with vanilla ice cream for a slushie-inspired sensation, and drop chocolate ice cream into a Cafello espresso for a frosty mocha. That's not the only way to up the ante on store-bought ice cream treats. You can also top scoops with a simple, but special homemade sauce, create a layered sundae, or put together a masterpiece cake. Get started by stocking up on your favorite flavors next time you're at the store, then get creative with mix-ins, pour-overs, and our hands-on techniques (fair warning: some of these desserts require assembly). With ice cream treats this magnificent, brain freeze is a beautiful thing. 20 Absolutely Delicious Homemade Ice Cream Recipes 01 of 25 Frozen Cafe-Mochaccino Tart Con Poulos Consider this your dream frozen cappuccino drink in dessert form. Simply smooth a blend of two parts store-bought coffee ice cream and one part chocolate ice cream into our chocolate-shortbread shell, then whip up an airy top layer of caramel meringue from egg whites, sugar, and cream caramel. The confection is finished with cocoa nibs and more caramel. View Recipe 02 of 25 Chocolate-Sea-Salt Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches Con Poulos For these irresistible ice cream sandwiches, the cookie is actually a brookie (or a brownie cookie). The chocolately rounds are dense and fudgy on the inside and amazingly crackly on the outside. Use them to sandwich scoops of your very favorite ice cream(s). View Recipe 03 of 25 Homemade "Drumstick" Cake Cones Con Poulos If you feel a pang for a King Cone, Strawberry Shortcake, or Choco Taco when an ice cream truck rolls by, go ahead and indulge your inner child with these cake cones that are dipped in a quick homemade shell and rolled in chopped nuts. Once you add your scoops, drizzle on more glaze before freezing. When it's time to enjoy, everyone will discover the surprise ending: a spoonful of fudgy chocolate ganache and even more nuts at the bottom. View Recipe 04 of 25 Cherry Cheesecake Celebration Bombe Con Poulos Four components get layered into a large mixing bowl for this frozen opus. There's a tangy no-bake cheesecake filling made from cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk first; a crunchy blend of freeze-dried- cherry-spiked cookie crumbs; store-bought ice cream amped up with cherry syrup; and a tender round of sponge cake (made with oil, not butter, so it stays soft when chilled). After unmolding, gently pat more cherry cookie crumbs on top. View Recipe 05 of 25 Green Tea Profiteroles Con Poulos With a nod to the offerings at Taiyaki NYC, a cult ice cream shop known for its matcha-green-tea soft-serve swirled into fresh-baked taiyaki (Japanese waffle cakes shaped like fish), this elegant dessert stars green-tea ice cream tucked inside a golden profiterole with a black-sesame-flecked craquelin—French for "cracker"—baked on top. View Recipe 06 of 25 Bananas Foster Milkshake Bryan Gardner Appeal to everyone's inner child with a decadent milkshake like our Bananas Foster creation. It starts with vanilla and coffee ice cream, then adds banana, milk, homemade caramel sauce, with pretzels and whipped cream for garnish. View Recipe 07 of 25 Tropical Sorbet and Meringue Stack Cake Con Poulos Our frosty spin on Appalachian stack cake calls for homemade meringues (baked into four rectangular slabs) and three layers of store-bought fruit sorbet; we're partial to mango, blood orange, and passion fruit for their intense color and tropical punch. On top is frozen whipped cream—a cool cloud that instantly melts in your mouth. View Recipe 08 of 25 Strawberry-Shortcake Sundaes Marcus Nilsson Make the most of strawberry season by swirling a quick sauce into vanilla ice cream and spooning more on top. Add in homemade or store-bought pound cake for a parfait worthy of a party. View Recipe 09 of 25 Fudgy Ice Cream Cake Three pints of vanilla ice cream, graham crackers, and fudge sauce are the recipe for ice cream cake-success. View Recipe 10 of 25 Watermelon Bombe This centerpiece dessert requires creative assemblage but all the ingredients are store-bought. Simply put, it's the bombe. View Recipe 11 of 25 Snowy Peak Pops Turn store-bought vanilla into next level chocolate- dipped pops decorated with nonpareils. View Recipe 12 of 25 Tropical Sorbet Terrine Topped with toasted coconut, this three-layer terrine is oh so easy to make. Just pick up three brightly colored sorbets at the store, then layer them in loaf pan. The hardest part is waiting for this frosty treat to freeze firm. View Recipe 13 of 25 S'mores Milkshake Bryan Gardner For anyone who loves campfire s'mores and a frosty milkshake, this has to be the ultimate treat. View Recipe 14 of 25 Mini Chocolate Chip Ice-Cream Sandwiches Sandwiching chocolate chip cookies around store-bought vanilla ice cream makes a wonderful dessert. Rolling them in mini chocolate chips before freezing takes them to the next level. View Recipe 15 of 25 Almond Crunch Ice Cream Cake Mike Krautter Inspired by Good Humor's Toasted Almond Bar, the whipped cream frosting of this almond-to-the-max ice cream cake covers layers of almond cake brushed with amaretto syrup and sandwiched with vanilla ice cream and sugared almonds. View Recipe 16 of 25 Coconut Bonbons A scoop of store-bought coconut sorbet is placed on top of a chocolate wafer as the base of these dainty, decadent treats. A dark chocolate coating is the finishing touch. View Recipe 17 of 25 Ice Cream Cupcakes The best of both worlds—cake and ice cream come together in these party-ready treats. We used vanilla cupcakes but feel free to go with your favorite cupcakes and favorite flavor(s) of gelato or ice cream. View Recipe 18 of 25 Classic Ice Cream Sandwiches Classic for good reason, these homemade ice cream sandwiches are made with store-bought ice cream and a soft, thin cake-like chocolate cookie. Try using coffee or strawberry ice cream, though vanilla is wonderful too. View Recipe 19 of 25 Inside-Out Strawberry Ice-Cream Cake Ice-cream replaces frosting in this must-try dessert. A homemade buttermilk layer cake is filled with jam and fresh berries plus softened vanilla ice cream. More ice cream is used to frost the cake for an unexpected and totally delightful sweet. View Recipe 20 of 25 Ice Cream and Mixed-Berry Pops Victoria Pearson Simply swirl store-bought vanilla ice cream with your favorite berry purée, then freeze in popsicle molds for these pretty as could be pops. (We love blueberry or raspberry best.) View Recipe 21 of 25 Strawberry-Rhubarb Sundaes An easy strawberry-rhubarb sauce makes the best spring ice cream sundae when paired with store-bought vanilla ice cream. View Recipe 22 of 25 Coconut-Chocolate Sundaes Marcus Nilsson Ice cream is coated in shredded coconut then served with a bourbon-spiked butterscotch sauce and a crunchy chocolate-almond topping. It's like an ice cream-version of a coconut-chocolate candy bar. View Recipe 23 of 25 Butterscotch Banana Splits An all-time favorite and for good reason, our butterscotch take on the banana split calls for chocolate ice cream, homemade butterscotch sauce, bananas, and plenty of whipped cream. A cherry on top is optional. View Recipe 24 of 25 Watermelon and Coconut Sorbet Parfaits Fresh tasting and fresh looking, this super easy parfait pairs store-bought coconut sorbet with cubes of fresh watermelon. The resulting dessert tastes as good as it looks. View Recipe 25 of 25 Gelato Affogato Its name means "drowned ice cream," and that's what happens with this sophisticated Italian dessert: scoops of ice cream are doused in espresso. View Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit