un-fried ice cream

My brother just turned 29 on Friday (Happy Birthday, Brian!) and it’s always a family tradition to go out to dinner for each person’s birthday.  My brother decided on Hacienda Mexican Restaurant in Rock Hill, which was a fabulous choice.

In addition to our meal, we split some delicious fried ice cream as a family.  Crunchy, sweet, sticky, and smooth – all in one dessert.  It doesn’t get much better than that.  But, with my finicky stomach, fried anything just doesn’t sit well.

That got me thinking – how could I remake this delicious frozen dessert at home without frying it?

After much discussion with Matt in the car on the way home, we devised a plan and set out to make this work.

First, we needed a base.  Oh riiiiight… I had that AHmazing vanilla frozen custard sitting in my freezer just waiting to be made into un-fried ice cream!

Next, we needed some sort of crunchy exterior to coat the outside of our delicious custard balls.  We decided on a few things we already had in our pantry:  Honey Bunches of Oats, Kashi GO Lean Crunch, and Trader Joe’s Just the Clusters Almond Vanilla Granola.

We tried one with each different exterior. 

• HBO’s:  right-on texture, but not quite the right flavor
• Kashi:  way too crunchy
• Almond Granola:  good texture and flavor, but not quite the right flavor

   

Honey Bunches of Oats

        Kashi GO Lean Crunch

      Almond Granola

So, we were down to the HBO’s and Granola.  We decided to add a touch of cinnamon and some sweetened coconut flakes to the cereal.

Now we were talkin’!  Both had great flavor with the added sweetness of the coconut, but we thought if we toasted the coconut, it would be even better.

And, we were right!  Both cereals tasted great, but there was just something about the texture of the Honey Bunches of Oats.  It was just so much like the original, fried version that we had to go with it.  Add a touch of honey, and you have yourself a delicious, healthier version of your Mexican favorite.

UN-FRIED ICE CREAM
Adapted from this recipe.  Makes about 8 ice cream balls.

1 1/2 cups homemade frozen custard (or vanilla ice cream of your choice)
1 cup Honey Bunches of Oats cereal
1/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon honey

Take your frozen custard and form into about 8 equal-sized balls.  Place each on a sheet of waxed paper, cover loosely with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for at least 1 hour.

Meanwhile, turn your broiler to it’s lowest setting.  Spread your coconut out on a sheet pan and place under the broiler for a few minutes.  You might need to pull it out to stir it around so they toast evenly.  Keep an eye on them or they will burn.

Pour your Honey Bunches of Oats into a bowl and crush into little pieces (we used the back of the ice cream scoop to crush them, but use whatever works for you).

Once the coconut is toasted to a light brown cover, add to the Honey Bunches of Oats along with the cinnamon.  Mix well.

Take each ball and roll in the cereal/coconut mixture until fully coated with very little ice cream showing.  Drizzle with honey (heat, if you would like, but it’s not necessary) and enjoy!

So easy and so irresistibly delicious!  Seriously, it’s gotta say something that we ate fried ice cream for lunch, and gorged ourselves on un-friend ice cream as our dinner!