10 DIY Frozen Desserts to Keep You Cool This Summer

10 DIY Frozen Desserts to Keep You Cool This Summer

We don’t know about you, but for us, the sweet tooth cravings don’t stop in the summer. But, we don’t want to turn on the oven to bake cake or cookies when it’s a hundred degrees outside.

We suppose that’s why some brilliant person invented frozen desserts. Here are some of our favorite frozen dessert recipes, from light and fruity to rich and decadent. Try a few this summer!

1. Fruit Salad Ice Pops: You only need two things to make this recipe. An ice pop mold and Popsicle sticks. From there, it’s all about your own customization. You can include any of your favorite fruits, from strawberries to kiwis plus everything in between. Then you pick a liquid base to hold it all together and voila; a frozen treat to enjoy on a hot day.
2. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream Sandwiches: Leave all of your ideas about cookie ice cream sandwiches behind. Everyone secretly, or not-so-secretly, loves eating raw cookie dough and now you can without worrying about getting sick because this recipe has no raw eggs. Plus, the ratio of equal parts cookie dough to ice cream is the perfect mix of sweet and cool.
3. Pineapple Bourbon Shake: Put a boozy twist on refreshing summer desserts with the help of this recipe. It’s super easy to make, using store-bought vanilla ice cream, pineapple, and bourbon to form the base of the shake. Then layer it with caramel sauce and cubed pound cake for a truly tasty grown-up dessert.
4. S’mores Shake: You don’t want the kids to get too jealous of your adult summer shakes and try to steal a sip, so have this recipe on hand for them to enjoy. It’s everything that you’ve come to love about campfire s’mores without the heat of the campfire. To keep it to only three ingredients while still getting all of the s’mores flavors, combine store-bought rocky road ice cream, milk, and graham cracker crumbs. Take it up a notch by topping with toasted marshmallows and chocolate sauce. Pssst: If you’re more a fan of chocolate rather than fruity dessert, you can still have a grown-up shake. Make this recipe a little tipsy by substituting some of the milk for Bailey’s Irish cream.
5. Watermelon Ice Pops: These pops are almost too cute to eat. Kids and adults alike will jump up to snatch one when you pull them out of the freezer on a hot day. Plus, they’re healthy so you can feel great about enjoying them poolside.
6. Frozen Key Lime Pie: These individual key lime pies are perfectly portioned for handing out on a summer night when you have friends over on a whim. They’ve got everything that we’ve grown to love about traditional key lime pie, from the graham cracker crust to the tart but sweet creamy filling. Plus, they require no oven or stovetop so your kitchen will stay cool as a cucumber.
7. No-Bake Strawberry Ice Box Cake: You really only need three ingredients to make this delectable concoction; it’s as simple as assemble, freeze, and serve. Use store-bought whipped cream to speed the process when putting together layers of fresh strawberries, whipped cream, and graham crackers. It’s a more refreshing and lighter version of strawberry shortcake. If you want, you can also add blueberries or sliced banana for another layer of flavor and texture.
8. Classic Vanilla Ice Cream: The base recipe for this vanilla ice cream is rich and decadent. Once you start adding all of your favorite flavors and mix-ins, you’ll realize once and for all that homemade really is better than store bought. This recipe calls for an ice cream maker, but you can always use the science experiment method with ice and salt. Get the kids involved in shaking so your arms don’t get tired!
9. Watermelon Granita: Making fruit granita is probably the easiest thing you’ll ever do in the kitchen. All you need to do is pick the fruit of your choice (we recommend watermelon, melon, peach, or kiwi) blend it with some sugar and a little lemon or lime juice then stick it in the freezer. Pull it out every once and a while and mix it up to get that slushy texture. Then, you can eat it plain or use it as ice in any number of virgin or alcoholic beverages.
10. Affogato Mocha: Affogato is an Italian dessert meaning drowned ice cream. While there are a number of flavor combinations to choose from, like lemon sorbet with grappa, we want to introduce you to this recipe that lets you get your caffeine fix in cold dessert form. Begin with chocolate ice cream as the base, sprinkle with chocolate chips and then pour over hot espresso as soon as you’re ready to enjoy. For the adults, you can also add a splash of rum.

We know that while most people enjoy the actual process of cooking, it’s the daunting clean up afterward that keeps ’em out of the kitchen. Why don’t you enjoy the best of both worlds?

Home Clean Heroes will take care of cleaning your house so that you can enjoy your time by the pool or around the fire pit enjoying some of these delicious desserts. Call us to learn more about our home cleaning services or to make an appointment.