Strawberry Crunch Ice Cream Bars
Strawberry crunch ice cream bars are a creamy, nostalgic frozen treat with sweet strawberry flavor and a buttery crunchy coating in every bite. Make them whenever you crave that classic ice cream truck treat!
Did you have an ice cream truck in your neighborhood when you were a kid?
We sure did and chasing it down was one of the best parts of summer!
These strawberry crunch ice cream bars taste just like the ones I used to buy from the trucks with the same creamy strawberry center and crunchy coating.
But making them at home means you don’t need to wait for the ice cream truck to roll through your neighborhood and hope you have cash.
So you get to enjoy that creamy filling and sweet crunchy topping any time
They’re also surprisingly simple to put together and super fun to do with the kids during a rainy summer day.
Ingredients
To make these you’ll need ingredients for the ice cream and another set for the crumb coating.
For the ice cream, you’ll need:
- Fresh strawberries– Hulled and diced small
- Sugar– Granulated
- Heavy cream– Straight out of the fridge
- Vanilla extract– Real vanilla tastes best
- Sweetened condensed milk– Not evaporated milk!
And for the crumble topping you’ll need:
- Golden Oreos– You could sub any shortbread cookie
- Freeze dried strawberries
- Butter– Unsalted butter melted
You’ll also need popsicle molds, or waxed Dixie cups, and popsicle sticks.
How to Make
Let’s go through how to make these strawberry crunch ice cream bars.
Start by blending the diced strawberries and sugar to a blender and blend it all together until it’s fully pureed.
Set it aside.
Blend until fully pureed and set aside.
In a stand mixer whip the heavy whipping cream with the whisk attachment for for 4 to 5 mins until you get soft peaks.
Keep the mixer on while you whip in the vanilla and slowly stream in the sweetened condensed.
Whip everything until a stiff peak forms or about 10 mins.
Then fold in half of the strawberry puree, careful not to knock out all the air in the whipped cream.
Once the first half is incorporated, fold in the remaining puree.
Spoon the mixture to your popsicle mold and stick a knife down the center to make sure the ice cream fills the entire cavity.
Tap the filled molds on a table or countertop to get out any trapped air bubbles.
Adding the sticks and freeze the ice cream bars for 7-8 hours.
While the ice cream bars are in the freezer, pulse the golden Oreos in a food processor until they are well blended.
Take half of the cookie crumbs out and set them aside.
Mix the freeze dried strawberries into the cookie mix in the food processor.
Then stir the strawberry/cookie mix into the plain cookie crumbles.
Once they are combined, stir in the melted butter until the crumble is wet.
Put the crumble on a plate or parchment paper.
Take the ice cream bars out of the freezer and run mold under warm water to release the pops.
Remove the pops from the molds and roll the ice cream bars in the crumble.
Freeze the coated bars for 30 more minutes to set.
Serve and enjoy!
Storing
If you have leftover bars, wrap the pops themselves individually in plastic wrap and put them in a freezer safe bag.
Freeze them for up to 3 months.
Tips and Tricks
- Take note that there are two freeze times in the recipe. The ice cream needs freeze fully before you release the bars so they come out all in one piece. Test this by squeezing the top of the bar.
- Do not dump in the vanilla and sweetened condensed milk as it could deflate the whipped cream. If you deflate the whipped cream you will need to start over.
- Mix just until stiff peaks form. If you over mix it, it will curdle.
- Strain the puree if you don’t want seeds in the ice cream base.
- If you want a really sweet ice cream, add 1 additional tablespoon of sugar to the strawberry puree but don’t sweeten the cream more.
- I highly recommend using a stand mixer since it will take much less time for stiff peaks to form.
- Using a knife helped push the ice cream into the mold without deflating it. Before we begin let me point out there are TWO freeze times in this recipe.
- If the crumble will not stick you can add a tiny bit of water to the pops to adhere the crumble.
Other Strawberry Crunch Recipes
Strawberry crunch ice cream bars are a sweet recreation of the ice cream truck classic.
Make them and enjoy!
Looking for other strawberry crunch recipes?
Try these:
If you’ve tried these STRAWBERRY CRUNCH ICE CREAM BARS, or any other recipe on the site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK, and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and whatever else we’ve got going on!
Strawberry Crunch Ice Cream Bars
Ingredients
For The Ice Cream
- 2-3 cups fresh strawberries diced small
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
For The Crumble
- 2 cups about 5-6 golden oreos (or any shortbread cookie)
- 1/2 cup freeze dried strawberries
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter melted
Instructions
- Add diced strawberries and 2 tablespoons sugar to a blender.2-3 cups fresh strawberries, 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- Blend until fully pureed and set aside. (If you dont want seed, strain the mixture and then set aside)
- In a stand mixer whip the heavy whipping cream with the whisk attachment. Whip for 4-5 mins until you get a soft peak.1 cup heavy whipping cream
- Add in the vanilla and SLOWLY add in the sweetened condensed milk while whipping. Whip until a stiff peaks form (total of about 10 mins).1 tbsp vanilla extract, 1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
- Fold in half of the puree, careful not to knock out all the air in the whipped cream. Fold in the remaining.
- Using a spoon add the mixture to your popsicle mold. Stick a knife down the center to make sure the icecream fills the entire cavity.
- Tap on a table or countertop before adding the sticks and placing in the freezer.
- Freeze for 7-8 hours.
- Add the oreos or shortbread/vanilla cookies to a food processor and mix until well blended. Remove half of the cookies and set aside.2 cups about 5-6 golden oreos (or any shortbread cookie)
- Add in the freeze dried strawberries and mix fully.1/2 cup freeze dried strawberries
- Now add the strawberry/cookie mix to the regular cookie crumbles and mix together, add in the melted butter and stir to get all the crumble wet.2 tbsp unsalted butter
- Place on a plate or parchment paper.
- Remove the ice cream from the freezer and run mold under warm water to loosen it and remove the pops.
- Roll the icecream bars in the crumble. IF the crumble will not stick you can add a tiny bit of water to the pops to adhere the crumble.
- Place into the freezer for 30 mins to set.
Notes
- Take note that there are two freeze times in the recipe. The ice cream needs freeze fully before you release the bars so they come out all in one piece. Test this by squeezing the top of the bar.
- Do not dump in the vanilla and sweetened condensed milk as it could deflate the whipped cream. If you deflate the whipped cream you will need to start over.
- Mix just until stiff peaks form. If you over mix it, it will curdle.
- Strain the puree if you don't want seeds in the ice cream base.
- If you want a really sweet ice cream, add 1 additional tablespoon of sugar to the strawberry puree but don't sweeten the cream more.
- I highly recommend using a stand mixer since it will take much less time for stiff peaks to form.
- Using a knife helped push the ice cream into the mold without deflating it. Before we begin let me point out there are TWO freeze times in this recipe.
- If the crumble will not stick you can add a tiny bit of water to the pops to adhere the crumble.
Nutrition
