Ice Cream Pie Easy How to Uses ALL Leftovers
Ice Cream Pie is the ultimate NRR (No Recipe Required) treat ~ we’re using up all the leftovers we can find and making a yummy desert at the same time. Minimal baking (for the crust) means the longest part of making this sweet is waiting until it freezes!
Ice Cream Pie is a throwback recipe – it was a go to of my Mom’s that became such a family favorite that it was the prefered birthday cake for any number of my siblings. But it was born out of necessity.
Dear Old Lovable Dad was an ice cream hound.
You can read the whole adventure here, but, long story short, he was afraid I wasn’t getting enough calcium when I was pregnant with our oldest baby. So he picked me up and took me for a medicinal ice cream. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. I gained 50 pounds that pregnancy. DOLD gained 25.
He had his favorites, of course. Butter Pecan got a lot of play. But he had no trouble mixing it up – and did, constantly. What this meant for the freezer, though, was carton after carton of ice cream that was not quite gone. My Mom was not crazy frugal, but the thought of tossing 5 or 6 containers of ice cream would not have happened. So she threw together a buttery pie crust, and scooped all the containers into it. She drizzled on syrup, occasionally nuts or coconut and topped it with a cherry.
Voila! Ice Cream Pie~
It really is that easy. And I am not kidding when I say it’s a leftover haven. Mom used graham crackers, and sometimes I do too, but sometimes we don’t have any. So we’ll sub in Oreo’s or some other cookie (Nilla Wafers or Ginger Snaps are delightful) or pretzels, which add a special salty/sweetness. For this pie, all that was in the pantry was cereal. Plenty of cereal.
We go through cereal spurts.
Sometimes we can’t keep it in the house, and sometimes it languishes in the pantry. We had Honey Nut Cheerios (honestly, it was store brand: can anyone really afford name brand cereal?) so we used that.
Ready for the deets?
Get out the ice cream and let it set on the counter while you get the crust ready. It’ll make it easier to scoop. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. (Affiliate links follow – see disclaimer page for details.)
Melt butter (this was about 6 tablespoons) in a microwave safe bowl. Crush up your crust of choice. I put about two cups of the cereal in a plastic ziploc bag and bashed it with the rolling pin.
Mix it up well, then press it into a pie pan. I like to use the back of a metal measuring cup to get it in there firmly.
Pop it in the oven for 6 to 8 minutes. Take it out, and add some chocolate if you have it handy. We had it around because it’s s’mores season, but we didn’t have any graham crackers. You could skip this step, or add in whatever you can find. Chocolate chips would work great. An Easter Bunny without it’s head would make a fine addition too. Chop that up a bit first.
oops.
I forgot to take a picture, but after the pie shell is in the oven with the chocolate for a couple of minutes (seriously – like two), take it out and use an offset spatula or butter knife to smooth it out.
Now it’s time to scoop out the ice cream and fill up that pie plate. If you can wait a couple of minutes for the crust to cool, the ice cream won’t get so melty. I could not wait. I’m like that. I knew it was going back in the freezer in just a few.
Now you can add any topping you might have laying around. We had a smidge of both chocolate syrup and caramel syrup. You could add honey, maple syrup, crushed nuts, pineapple, coconut… the possibilities are endless. If you have any, a cherry is a nice touch. We didn’t have any. I think we used them all up on Manhattan night.
This HAS to go into the freezer at this point. At least 6 hours is ideal. Overnight is great too. Of course, on the other end of the wait, you have to wait again: leave the pie on the counter for at least 15 minutes before you cut it. Getting it out of the pan is a mighty chore otherwise.
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