Trader Joe's Ice Cream Hack - PB & J Ice Cream Cones

 
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Every time we go down to Portland, I LIVE to go to Salt & Straw. Like literally it is the one place I request we go every trip, and I find myself Apple mapping where the closest Salt & Straw is when we’re out putzing around. It’s literally the BEST ice cream spot on the West Coast, & totally worth every the long lines & pricey cones. I get so hell bent on going there because ice cream is a rare treat. Frankly, I just don’t trust myself to have a carton of ice cream in my freezer because the self control needed to just not dig into the carton with a spoon every time I walk by the fridge is non-existent. I’m incapable of that kind of willpower, so I just don’t tempt myself. But this week is an exception - we decided to go all in on the Trader Joes’s Ice Cream contest, which means bending my typical pantry rules & bringing ice cream into the Zehner House. & doing so only 24 hours after my PDX Salt & Straw date. It’s simply one hell of an ice cream weekend & I’m just embracing it.

The TJs Ice Cream Contest is an Instagram contest where you’re challenged to make a super yummy ice dessert with 5 different TJs ingredients (ice cream of course being one of them). Jordan suggesting we do it chop style & both spend our Sunday evening creating ice cream desserts is one of the best things that’s ever come out of his mouth. So we spent a good portion of our Saturday night at Trader Joe’s screwing around & mapping out our concoctions, and on Sunday we had ice cream for dinner.

 
 

I really don’t give a fuck if I win, and I’m more in this to go hard on creating the most decadent ice cream dessert of my dreams. & use my most favorite TJs snack to make it happen - peanut butter pretzels. Those peanut butter pretzels are fire, & they fall in the same category as ice cream for me - I can’t be trusted around them so I don’t bring them into this house. But this is a special occasion - it’s ice cream date night, I’m not going to cheat myself, and I did two Peloton rides to fully prepared to dive into the ice cream cone of my dreams. & that ice cream of my dreams includes decorated cones, salted caramel ice cream, & PB & J Cones that are salty & fruity & just fucking great.

 
 

For the Cones

  • TJs Salted Caramel Gelato

  • TJs Peanut Butter Pretzels

  • TJs Frozen Strawberries

  • TJs Organic Dark Chocolate Bar

  • TJs Waffle Cones

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler, and crush a handful of the peanut butter pretzels. Dunk the tops of a few cones in the chocolate so about a quarter of each cone is dipped. Roll the cones in the pretzel pieces and set in the fridge to harden up. Let a few of the pretzels soften so you can cut them into bite size chunks. Mix the strawberries with the gelato just like they’d do it a cold stone. Place the gelato back into the freezer to firm up. Pile the ice cream into the decorated cones, and top with 3 peanut butter pretzels. Eat up!

Lesley Zehner