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Do you love experimenting with different ice cream toppings and mix-ins? If you do, you'll love the idea I came up with last weekend. Our family was spending a special day together and I wanted to make a fun treat to help celebrate. My Cookies & Cream Extreme was a hit from young to old---and it all started with a carton (ok, two cartons) of Blue Bunny vanilla ice cream.
On Saturday, Jamie and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary! Other than the first few years when we just had one or two kids to send to grandma's for the night, we've always celebrated our special day as a family. After all, with all the ups and downs and craziness the past 17 years has brought, the kids are a major part of what has cemented our marriage. Sometimes we do something "big" like go camping or brave Chuck E. Cheese's for the day, and sometimes we do something small---like stay home, play in the pool, and eat ice cream!
Lynzie, Elisha, and I found Blue Bunny vanilla at Walmart in the freezer case. It was on rollback for $3.50---a great price for our favorite, good quality, ice cream brand. I especially like buying Blue Bunny because it comes in plastic containers, rather than cardboard, so they don't fall apart when they're half empty.
There was also a demo going on over the weekend where the demonstrators were showing how delicious peaches pair with the vanilla ice cream. Cainan tried some out and thought it was great!
It's super easy to prepare my Cookies & Cream Extreme ice cream flavor. I started by making up a concentrated coffee mixture with about three times the amount of coffee I'd normally use for the amount of water used. Make sure to let it cool in the fridge for about an hour before using it so it doesn't melt the ice cream. I then softened the ice cream on the counter for about 15 minutes and, in the meantime, prepared my chopped pecans and cookies. 
Cookies & Cream Extreme Ice Cream
1 container vanilla ice cream
4 TB concentrated coffee
1/2 c. fudge ice cream topping
1/2 c. peanut butter
1/4 c. roughly chopped pecans
24 chocolate sandwich cookies
Prepare the coffee concentrate and let cool in the fridge at least one hour. Let the ice cream soften on the counter about 15 minutes. While the ice cream is softening, chop the pecans and cookies. Scoop ice cream into a large bowl and add all the ingredients. Use a large sturdy utensil to mix it up well, using chopping motions to keep the ribbons of peanut butter and fudge from mixing in all the way. Cover the bowl with foil and freeze at least three hours for hard ice cream.
I can't think of any better way to spend my anniversary than to enjoy it with our whole family. This life is such a blessing and I don't want to miss a minute of it. I want the kids to have great memories of fun childhood family times.
How will you use Blue Bunny to make memories this summer? Let me know your ice cream mix-in ideas in the comments below!
