Pretzel Strawberry Ice Cream Pie

A refreshing salty-sweet strawberry-vanilla ice cream pie with a sugar cone and pretzel crust, topped with fresh strawberry jam, hot fudge sauce, and more crushed pretzels.

It took until nearly the middle of June, but sweltering, disgusting heat and humidity has finally reared its ugly head here in Pittsburgh, and we are less than thrilled. Summer is, by far, our least favorite season (we know, we're the worst) unless the days are in the 70’s, no humidity, and breezy, which never happens. Summer’s saving grace, though, is that it allows you to eat an abundance of ice cream without a single judgement.

If you want to jazz up your ice cream and serve it in pie form instead of scooping cones, let us introduce you to the ice cream pie. It’s ice cream… in a pie plate… with a crust and toppings. It’s simple, rich, and the reliable solution to crazy hot days that cause you to sweat in the air conditioning.

This ice cream pie is straightforward to mix and totally versatile – change up the fruit, the crust, the toppings – anything goes!

We took chopped up strawberries and made a speedy little from-scratch strawberry jam and folded most of it into vanilla ice cream and loaded it on top of a crushed sugar cone and pretzel crust (oh our!). We love the little bits of strawberry inside the creamy vanilla ice cream. Once it’s totally frozen, spread more of that jam on top, sprinkle on a little more crushed pretzels, and drizzle with hot fudge sauce.

Do you do ice cream pies? Tell us about your favorites!

One year ago: Baking Basics: Our Must-Have Ingredients
Five years ago: German Chocolate Cake

• Yield: 8 servings
• Prep: 20 minutes
• Total: 20 minutes

Ingredients

For the Crust

• 6 sugar cones, crushed
• ½ cup ( 40 g ) crushed pretzels
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the Pie

• 2 cups ( 288 g ) finely chopped fresh strawberries, divided, (12 ounces)
• ½ cup ( 100 g ) granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 4 cups ( 528 g ) vanilla ice cream, softened

For the Toppings

• 2 tablespoons hot fudge sauce
• 1 tablespoon crushed pretzels

Method

1. Make the Crust: Combine the crushed sugar cones and the crushed pretzels in a medium bowl. Drizzle with the butter and toss with a fork until thoroughly combined. Press the mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a pie plate. Place in the freezer while you prepare the filling.
2. Make the Filling: In a small saucepan, combine 1 cup of the strawberries, the sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch; cook over medium heat until it is thickened and bubbling. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 2 more minutes. Remove from the heat and cool for 5 minutes, then stir in the remaining 1 cup chopped strawberries. Cool to room temperature, then transfer ½ cup of the strawberry mixture to a covered container and store in the refrigerator (it will be used for the topping).
3. Using a rubber spatula, fold the remaining strawberry mixture into the ice cream until mostly combined. Spread into an even layer on top of the crust, cover with plastic wrap, and freeze for at least 8 hours, or overnight.
4. Garnish and Serve: When ready to serve, top with the reserved strawberry mixture, the crushed pretzels, and drizzle the hot fudge sauce over top. Leftovers should be stored, covered, in the freezer.