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Weeknight Cooking

You Can (and Should) Meal Prep Your Ice Cream Sundaes

And all you need is an ice cube tray.
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Published June 10, 2022.

You Can (and Should) Meal Prep Your Ice Cream Sundaes

I am a firm believer that a nightly microsize hot fudge brownie sundae is a big reason that I’m a happy person.

And it’s easy. To make the brownies, I spray an ice cube tray with plenty of vegetable oil spray and fill each divot with brownie batter. Then I freeze the tray until the batter cubes are firm (at least 2 hours), pop them out, and store them in a large zipper-lock bag. 

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When I’m ready for my sundae, I microwave one frozen cube in a small bowl or mug until it’s cooked through, about 30 seconds. Then I top it with ice cream, hot fudge, and whatever other toppings I'm feeling and dig in! 

The texture is a little different from that of a standard brownie, but it’s still warm and fudgy and delightful! 

I often use our Basic Brownies recipe and add 4 ounces of chopped chocolate after mixing the batter for extra chocolate. This recipe fills up two standard ice cube trays, meaning I have 24 nights of sundaes to look forward to. 

Basic Brownies

Moist brownies with rich chocolate flavor that hold up well in a child's lunchbox, on a picnic, or at a bake sale.
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In moments of desperation (or just busy times), I’ve also used boxed brownie mix. Sometimes, especially when the recipe or mix calls for oil, the batter won’t freeze totally solid, but you still follow the same principle. You can either leave the batter in the ice cube trays or transfer them to a zipper-lock bag knowing you may need to separate any that stick together while freezing. 

The concept also works well with cookie dough; you can freeze the cookie dough in 1-tablespoon balls (no ice cube tray necessary). Microwave them whenever you’re ready for ice cream with a hot cookie-like blob underneath.

Vanilla No-Churn Ice Cream

With help from an heirloom recipe, we made a no-churn ice cream that made us melt.
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And if you’re feeling überprepared you can even make your own ice cream without an ice cream maker. It gives you a chance to have so much fun with flavor. Here are a few of my favorite combinations.

Loaded S'mores Cookies

A great cookie base loaded with chocolate, marshmallows, and graham crackers.
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See, even just thinking about it makes you happy.

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