Ice cream treats for any occasion

By Susan McClanahan

One of my senior-center friends was in my office a few days ago, and she mentioned she and her husband have a serving of ice cream as a pick-me-up in the middle of the afternoon. I suggested she make the frozen ice cream dessert my grandmother used to make and have it on hand in the freezer for that afternoon treat, for drop-by company or a visit from the granddaughter. She looked me right in the eye and said, "Get me those recipes." Naturally, I immediately thought this was a recipe column in the making!

I got this first recipe many years ago from my grandmother, Connie Kinsey. I remember when she made it, and I loved it so much. She put this recipe in her church cookbook in the 1960s, and it is still one of my favorite frozen treats today.

Crispy Ice Cream Treat

• 2 cups crispy rice cereal
• 1 can coconut
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream

Toast the cereal, coconut, pecans and butter together on a rimmed baking sheet in a 300-degree oven for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally with a large spatula. Remove from the oven and stir the brown sugar into the hot toasted mixture. Allow to cool.

Spread half the cooled toasted mixture into a freezable 9x13-inch pan. Slightly soften the ice cream, then open carton and slice in thick slices to fit into pan, gently pushing it around to fill the pan, using the entire half-gallon. Spread the remaining half of the toasted ingredients over the ice-cream layer. Cover and freeze. Keep in the freezer until ready to serve, then return remaining back to the freezer to use as desired.

Butterfinger Pie

The nice thing about this Butterfinger pie recipe, or any of these recipes today, is that you can change them in so many different ways -- change the flavor of the crust or the ice cream or change the candy to fruit. Imagine an Oreo crust with real-fruit strawberry ice cream and Oreo crumbs on top with a drizzle of chocolate syrup -- yum!

• 1 prepared Oreo cookie crust, found in the baking aisle
• 2 packages Butterfinger pieces, in the baking bits aisle (reserve a small amount for garnish)
• 1/2 gallon good quality vanilla ice cream
• 1 carton (8 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed

Soften vanilla ice cream enough that you can stir or mash in the two packages of Butterfinger bits, reserving a little bit of the pieces for the garnish. Spread the entire half gallon of mixture into the Oreo shell. Lay plastic wrap onto the ice cream and return to the freezer as quickly as possible. Freeze until very firm. When ready to serve, cover the entire pie with 1 carton whipped topping, sealing all around the edges. Sprinkle reserved crumbs over the pie. Slice and serve with a generous drizzle of chocolate syrup or slightly warmed chocolate fudge sauce.

Note: This will keep frozen, even with the whipped topping on the pie, for a week or more. You can change the ice cream to buttered pecan or another flavor as you choose. I occasionally add a layer of fudge sauce on top of the frozen ice cream before adding the whipped topping if I am not planning to drizzle with chocolate syrup.

Peanut Buster Bar Dessert

I got this next recipe in 1985 from my cousin Sharon Powell. The recipe card is dated in her handwriting and is still a wonderful summertime treat and great to have in the freezer for unexpected company or hungry children in the evening.

• 1 bag Oreo cookies
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream
• 1 jar caramel or caramel chocolate sauce
• 1 can (12 ounces) cocktail peanuts, left whole or slightly chopped
• 1 carton (8 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed

Crush Oreo cookies and add melted butter. Stir well. Reserve some of the crumbs to sprinkle on top of dessert.

Lightly butter or spray a 9x13-inch freezable dish. Firmly press cookie crumbs into pan. Open ice cream carton and use a large knife to slice long ways into thick slices and lay in pan, then mash slightly to fill the pan. Spread caramel sauce on ice cream, then sprinkle on cocktail peanuts. Spread on whipped topping and top with reserved crumbs. Cover tightly and freeze. Best if made the day ahead.

If you can find Mrs. Richardson's butterscotch, caramel or fudge topping, it is well worth it to use in this and other recipes. This will keep very well frozen for a week or more. You also can do a few more crumbs and divide the ice cream, putting a layer of ice cream, then the sauce, peanuts, some Oreo crumbs, then more ice cream, and topping it with whipped topping to make a thick layered dessert.

Frozen Raspberry Pie

For the crust:

• 15 graham crackers, broken into pieces
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:

• 3 cups raspberries
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt

Make crust: Combine graham crackers and sugar in a food processor. Process until finely ground. Add butter; pulse to combine. Transfer to a 9-inch pie plate. Press evenly over bottom and sides. Freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.

Make filling: Wipe out processor's bowl and add 2 cups raspberries, lemon juice and sugar. Process into a thick puree. Strain through a fine sieve into a medium bowl. Discard solids.

In a separate medium bowl, beat together cream and yogurt with an electric mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form. Stir in berry mixture. Pour into crust and top with remaining berries. Freeze until very firm, at least 6 hours. Let stand for about 15 minutes at room temperature before slicing and serving.

Malt Shop Ice Cream Pie

Think of this no-bake pie as a deconstructed hot fudge sundae in an ice-cream cone; crushed cones form the crust, cradling the malt-flavored ice cream and toppings.

• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 12 sugar cones, crushed (about 2 cups)
• 2 cups strawberry ice cream, softened
• 1/4 cup malted milk powder, divided
• 1/2 cup strawberry topping
• 2 cups vanilla ice cream, softened
• 1/2 cup hot fudge topping
• 1 1/4 cups canned squirt whipped topping

Combine first three ingredients, stirring well. Firmly press mixture into bottom and up sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Freeze 30 minutes or until firm.

Place softened strawberry ice cream and 2 tablespoons malted milk powder in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Spoon mixture evenly into crust; spread with strawberry topping. Freeze 30 minutes or until firm.

Place softened vanilla ice cream and remaining 2 tablespoons malted milk powder in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Spread mixture evenly over strawberry topping. Cover and freeze 4 hours or until firm. Top with hot fudge and whipped cream just before serving.

Ice Cream Cookie Dessert

• 1 package (15 1/2 ounces) Oreo cookies, crushed, divided
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream, softened
• 1 jar (16 ounces) hot fudge ice cream topping, warmed
• 1 carton (8 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed

In a large bowl, combine 3 3/4 cups cookie crumbs and butter. Press into a greased 13x9-inch dish. Spread with ice cream; cover and freeze until set.

Drizzle fudge topping over ice cream; cover and freeze until set. Spread with whipped topping; sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs. Cover and freeze 2 hours or until firm. Remove from the freezer 10 minutes before serving. Yield: 12 servings.

Have a great week and, until next time, happy cooking.