- I tried Ben & Jerry's two-ingredient ice-cream bread using four different flavors.
- I enjoyed the vanilla and Chunky Monkey breads and think they'd work great for French toast.
Ben & Jerry's has a recipe for swirled ice-cream bread made with just the company's famous pints and self-rising flour.
The ice-cream brand is not the first to share this recipe, but I was excited to make this sweet loaf with some of my favorite Ben & Jerry's flavors — Half Baked, Chunky Monkey, and Netflix & Chill'd — as well as a basic vanilla from Häagen-Dazs.
Read on to see how each bread turned out.
First, I gathered my ingredients and melted the ice cream
For the recipes, I bought a 5-pound bag of self-rising flour since each bread requires 3 cups of it.
First, I had to let the ice cream melt. Since I only have two loaf pans, I put the Chunky Monkey and Netflix & Chill'd in the fridge to slowly defrost and vanilla and Half Baked on my table to use first.
I didn't defrost the ingredients in the microwave because it could "change the molecular structure" of the frozen treat and "impact the ice cream bread's texture," according to the Ben & Jerry's website.
The vanilla loaf was easy to throw together and could be great for French toast
Once the ice cream melted, I mixed in 3 cups of self-rising flour to make a very thick batter.
I then transferred the batter to a loaf pan and popped it in the oven for an hour, per the instructions.
The vanilla ice-cream bread was nice and sweet, with crisp edges and a soft and spongy middle.
It was OK on its own, but this bread would be best topped with fresh berries and whipped cream. It also might make a good base for French toast.
The Half Baked bread didn't quite work or taste as good as the pint
Ben & Jerry's Half Baked flavor blends chocolate and vanilla ice cream with chunks of cookie dough and brownie.
I followed the same technique I did for the vanilla loaf. Stirring the batter was difficult because of the brownie and cookie-dough chunks, so I used my stand mixer.
The Half Baked loaf was probably my least favorite even though I love the ice cream.
The chocolate ice cream resulted in a weird overall flavor, and the cookie-dough bites and brownie bits led to a strange, chunky texture throughout the middle of the bread.
The Chunky Monkey loaf didn't taste like banana bread as I expected
Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey flavor has banana ice cream plus chunks of chocolate and walnuts, so I thought it would make a sweet loaf similar to banana bread.
I used my stand mixer for this batter, which was much easier and faster than trying to mix it by hand. This bread took the longest to bake — about an hour and 10 minutes.
Still, it looked great, with crisp edges and a soft, dense interior.
Although it didn't taste like banana bread, it was probably my favorite loaf of the bunch.
I loved the crunch from the walnuts, and the thick pieces of chocolate throughout wonderfully paired with the fruit's flavor. This option would be great topped with vanilla ice cream and fresh banana slices.
I'd still prefer to just eat a Chunky Monkey pint of ice cream, but this bread was pretty good.
The Netflix & Chill'd flavor made for a difficult batter and a strange-tasting bread
This flavor features peanut-butter ice cream with swirls of pretzel and fudgy brownies bits.
The batter I made with this ice cream was super thick and difficult to combine, even with the stand mixer.
The bread's final texture seemed off as well. Although I liked the slightly crispy exterior, the inside was quite dense.
Pretzel swirls might be great in ice cream, but they didn't taste the same in bread.
This option would likely be better with some added chocolate, but overall, the flavors and textures weren't quite right.
These breads were a fun change of pace, but I'd rather just eat the ice cream from the pint
With just two ingredients, this ice-cream bread is a unique treat that's easy to make.
Although some of the loaves were tasty, they weren't nearly as good as just enjoying a bowl of ice cream on its own.
Still, I'd love to try the vanilla and Chunky Monkey options again to turn them into French toast or bread pudding.