Up Your Ice Cream Game And Add Some Crackers Into The Mix

If you appreciate the crunchy bite of a sugar or waffle cone while enjoying a scoop of ice cream, you may want to consider adding crackers to your next cold treat. Garnishing sweet ice cream with salty or buttery crackers might seem like a unique way to serve ice cream, but the contrast of textures and flavors make for a drool-inducing combination. It's time to dig deep into your cupboards and take out the serving spoons. 

Sprinkle ground crackers on top of bowls of ice cream or create the combo using your favorite ice cream and cracker varieties to freeze and enjoy later on. Experiment by pairing water crackers and rice crackers with caramel ice cream and scoops of double fudge, or smooth out sweeter pints with Saltines or Wheat Thins. You can also use buttery Ritz crackers to make ice cream sandwiches to arrange and pop back in the freezer on a lined baking sheet for later. Or smash them into the bottom of a dish to create a cracker base that can hold ice cream to be frozen and served after dinner, cheesecake-style. 

If you want to take the cracker and ice cream idea further, you can make your own Ritz Cracker Thin Mints to adorn bowls of raspberry ice cream and chocolate gelato. Alternatively, modify our gluten-free garlic and herbs crackers recipe with the seasonings and spices of your own choosing, like cinnamon, rosemary, or flavored salts to crown a bowl of Ben & Jerry's Half Baked ice cream. Another upmarket idea is to crumble salty matzo toffee on top of a simple dish of good-quality vanilla ice cream, or please the younger guests by including animal crackers as a playful garnish that can unleash the childlike whimsy in any eater.

While salty crackers will balance out sweet scoops, sweeter graham crackers can enhance summery servings of seasonal berry gelato. Oatcakes and Cheese Nips can upgrade uniquely flavored ice cream varieties or yogurt-based ice creams, while complementing cinnamon notes and enhancing ribbons of peanut butter. Finally, modify and customize your desserts with spoonfuls of homemade honey whipped cream, layers of peanut butter and Nutella, shavings of dark chocolate, roasted nuts, or drizzles of maple syrup to create a texturally-satisfying bowl of ice cream that delivers a more savory or sweeter dessert.