I Scream, You Scream

5/23/14

     I have had the biggest sweet tooth lately. I'm not sure if it's because summer is around the corner or if I just have too many ice cream shops near my apartment. One of my favorite desserts is cheesecake, and when ice cream companies started making strawberry cheesecake ice cream, it instantly became my go-to flavor. Sometimes it can be hard to find a good brand with the right amount of strawberry to cheesecake ratio, so I decided to put myself up to the challenge and make my own. I had to browse a bunch of recipes on the internet to decide what would work best. This dessert definitely put me in a happy, summer mood and I am excited to share it with all of you!

Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

Ingredients:

1 Cup Plain Low Fat Greek Yogurt

8 Oz Reduced Fat Cream Cheese

1 Cup Skim Milk

1/2 Cup Sugar (plus a few extra tbsp)

1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

10-12 Strawberries

1 Graham Cracker Pie Crust

*Make sure your ice cream maker has already been previously chilled in the freezer

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450F.

2. In a bowl, combine yogurt and cream cheese. Once mixed, add in the milk, sugar and vanilla.

3. Add mixture to your chilled ice cream maker and follow the directions according to the manufacturer. I mixed mine for about 20 minutes (You'll notice it start to thicken up).

4. In the meantime, chop up your rinsed strawberries into small but chunky pieces.

5. Add strawberries to a baking pan and sprinkle sugar on top. Bake for 10-15 minutes until they have a more vibrant red color and juices begin to run.

6. Take the strawberries out of the oven and place them in a bowl and let cool in the refrigerator.

7. Place your ice cream in the freezer and let it sit for about 1-2 hours.

8. Grab your graham cracker pie crust and crumble it up into small pieces.

9. Once you notice your ice cream start to have a heavier consistency, grab a freezer-safe container and begin to layer the ice cream, strawberries, and graham cracker crumbles. I also mixed some ingredients in previously to turn my ice cream a pretty light pink color.

10. Place ice cream back in the freezer until its completely frozen.

11. Once you have pushed through the hardest part (waiting), it's time to scoop and enjoy! Make sure to save some extra graham cracker to top off your ice cream!

If you're preparing this treat for guests, throw it in a fancy bowl and add some strawberries as a garnish.

I hope everyone has a lovely Memorial Day weekend! xo