12 Fun Toppings to Try on Ice Cream
Ice cream is the delicious often dairy-based dessert that we all know and love so much, and with so many different flavors and brands to choose from, you would assume you would never get bored, right? Well, maybe not right away, but sometimes your bowl of ice cream just needs something a little different. For example, hot fudge or chocolate syrup and sprinkles are just a couple of ways to liven up a regular serving of vanilla ice cream.
When it comes to topping your ice cream, really your only limit is your imagination. So to get you started, we’ve come up with twelve fun and interesting toppings for ice cream, along with the best topping and ice cream combinations to achieve a flavorful, decadent dessert that you won’t soon forget.
Cookie Butter
If you’ve looked around your local grocery store and have happened to notice Biscoff’s Cookie Butter, this is something you should seriously consider buying to top your next bowl of ice cream with. This creamy cookie butter, as well as store brand variations, have rich and wonderful speculoos cookie flavor so good that you may start double dipping into the jar if you aren’t careful. Cookie butter as an ice cream topping goes great with vanilla, chocolate, and even chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream if you want to take it that extra mile.
Instant Espresso Powder or Ground Coffee Beans
If you like iced coffee, then this is a topping that you should try for sure! This works best with chocolate and vanilla ice cream, but feel free to experiment with more complex ice cream flavors such as Rocky Road. The powder will absorb into the ice cream, intermingling the rich coffee flavor with your ice cream of choice. Throw in a few chocolate chips as well to make it more mocha-flavored.
Peanut Butter
If you’re looking for a little extra something with your chocolate or vanilla ice cream, perhaps you should try using peanut butter as a topping. The salty, creamy flavor of the peanut butter mixes well with both chocolate and vanilla ice cream to add a deeper flavor profile and give you a satisfying sweet and salty combination. The brand of peanut butter you use is up to you!
Dry Cereal
Cereal isn’t just for breakfast anymore! If your vanilla has become too bland, seriously try throwing a handful of your favorite cereal on top. From Fruity Pebbles to Cinnamon Toast Crunch, there are many excellent cereals out there that will pair well with vanilla ice cream. The crunchiness and sweetness of the dry cereal plus the creamy sweetness of the ice cream guarantees an out-of-this-world ice cream experience.
Maple Syrup
Yes, maple syrup goes quite well with vanilla ice cream, although if you get adventurous you could definitely try it with other ice cream flavors. Add in some nuts of your choice to get a slight crunch and some saltiness to balance out the sweet syrup and ice cream combination.
Peach Preserves
So most folks know that nothing goes better with a Peach Cobbler than a nice scoop of vanilla ice cream. The same principle applies to the vanilla ice cream; if you’re looking for a thick, rich, fruity topping for your next bowl of vanilla, then we highly suggest getting some of grandma’s Peach Preserves and spooning them onto it. Juicy, sweet peaches in their rich preserve sauce mixed with vanilla ice cream will have your mouth watering!
Molasses and Granola
Molasses isn’t just for cookies! No matter what type of molasses you choose, it makes a nice choice for a vanilla ice cream topping. Drizzle some onto your next bowl and throw in a little granola for some crunch and its mild sweetness, which pairs well with the molasses.
Fresh Fruit
If you want your next bowl of vanilla ice cream to be more dressed up but not laden with calories, then go a more natural route with fresh fruit of your choice! From blueberries to raspberries and mangoes to bananas, juicy fresh fruit will go a long way in adding bursts of flavor to your ice cream.
Gummies
Worms, bears, regular, sour, whatever your preference is, gummies make a fun, creative ice cream topping that adds fruity flavor with a fun texture. Of course bear in mind that the cold of the ice cream makes the gummies slightly chewier than they normally are, but that’s part of the fun of it. Vanilla is good for this, but you could also do it on strawberry ice cream as well for an extra pop of fun and flavor.
Bacon
If you’re a bacon lover and you’re one of those folks who is willing to try bacon with just about anything, then you should give it a try sprinkled on top of your next bowl of ice cream. Sprinkling bacon on top of your ice cream will give you a salty and sweet flavor combination that could be hard to put down, depending on your love of bacon on everything, of course. Vanilla or chocolate is good for this; with vanilla ice cream, you can add a hint of chocolate syrup or even Nutella to help balance out the smoky, salty bacon flavor a bit more.
Toasted Marshmallows
Adding toasted marshmallows to your chocolate or vanilla ice cream is a match made in ice cream heaven. The smoky, toasted flavor of the airy, sweet, and slightly creamy marshmallow pairs well with chocolate and vanilla, however, you could add this easy topping to a number of ice cream flavors and end up with an absolutely divine dessert.
Peanut Butter Cups
Peanut butter cup lovers, take your favorite peanut butter cups and chop them into small pieces and throw them over your next bowl of chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry ice cream for extra sweetness from the chocolate and a little saltiness and some texture from the peanut butter. Or save yourself some time and trouble and just buy a bag of mini peanut butter cups!
No matter what you choose to top your ice cream with, as long as you’re having fun with it and it’s tasty, we say go for it! We hope that these twelve topping ideas gave you some inspiration and that you’ll experiment with topping your ice cream with different things to see what sort of combinations you can come up with!