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This popular ice cream dessert has a crunchy topping made with browned butter, sugar, and Rice Krispies cereal and is layered between vanilla ice cream and topped with a homemade raspberry sauce. The best ice cream dessert recipe!
I have been making this all summer long. When my kids are looking for a quick summer treat, they get this out of the freezer and cut themselves a slice. It is a family favorite! I had to name it something because my kids were always saying can you make that “crunchy ice cream dealio.” So that’s when Crunchy Munchy Ice Cream Dessert came to be.
It is almost 4th of July and this is the perfect summer dessert to serve your friends and family.
Since raspberries are in season, I love to make a fresh raspberry sauce made simply with fresh raspberries and sugar. It is so simple yet absolutely delicious!
This dessert can be known by many names — Rice Krispies Ice Cream Dessert, Ice Cream Crunch Bars, Raspberry Ice Cream Dessert, Raspberry Rice Krispies Ice Cream Dessert, and now Crunchy Munchy Ice Cream Dessert. All I know…is that it is dang good!
Rice Krispie Ice Cream Dessert Ingredients:
This easy ice cream dessert is made with only 5 ingredients and is absolutely scrumptious!
The crunchy topping is made with Rice Krispies Cereal folded together with melted butter and sugar and baked until crunchy.
- Rice Krispies Cereal
- Salted Butter
- Sugar
- Vanilla Ice Cream: I love to use a high-quality vanilla ice cream such as Blue Bell or Costco Kirkland Brand Vanilla.
- Fresh Raspberries + Sugar
- Sweetened Flaked Coconut (optional)
How to make Raspberry Ice Cream Dessert:
- Start by preheating the oven. In a small saucepan, melt the butter and sugar over medium heat until the mixture is smooth and the sugar is completely dissolved, about 3 minutes. For a more brown butter taste, melt the butter for about 4-5 minutes longer.
- Pour the Rice Krispies cereal (and coconut flakes, if using) into a large bowl. Pour the butter and sugar mixture over the cereal mixture and coat well.
- Spread the mixture on a large cookie sheet (light colored if possible). Bake for about 20-22 minutes. Stir halfway through cooking time. Keep checking to ensure the Rice Krispies crunch topping isn’t becoming too brown.
- Remove the vanilla ice cream from the freezer to allow it to start to soften. Put half of the Rice Krispies topping into a 9 x 13 baking pan.
- Scoop ice cream scoops and carefully place on top of the crunch topping. Repeat until all of the ice cream is used. Smooth out the ice cream by using the back of the ice cream scoop, a spatula, or your clean hands to press the ice cream evenly into the topping.
- Press the remaining half of the Rice Krispies topping onto the ice cream. Cover and place in the freezer to freeze for about 8 hours.
- Make the raspberry topping. This can be done two different ways. The easy method is to just mix the fresh raspberries with sugar in a bowl and set aside for about 15 minutes to allow the sugar to dissolve. The other method is to cook the raspberries and sugar in a saucepan for about 10-15 minutes, stirring often until the sugar is dissolved. Let cool before using as a topping.
- When ready to serve, spoon the fresh raspberry sauce over each piece of the crunchy ice cream bars.
FAQ’s:
Yes, absolutely! If you want to add sweetened flaked coconut, I suggest stirring them into the Rice Krispies cereal, butter, and sugar mixture. I suggest using moist, fresh flaked coconut.
Yes! If you want to add extra crunch to this Crunchy Munchy Ice Cream Dessert, you can add in 1/2 to 1 cup of chopped pecans to the sweet crunchy Rice Krispies topping.
Absolutely! You can make this with all different types of ice cream flavors. I would suggest butter pecan or pralines and cream.
Absolutely! Feel free to top it with caramel, hot fudge, homemade fresh strawberry sauce, or cherry filling.
Yes! You can use frozen raspberries for the raspberry sauce. You will want to cook the frozen raspberries with the sugar for about 10-12 minutes to dissolve the sugar and allow it to slightly thicken. Let cool before serving with the ice cream dessert.
Storage:
Since this is an ice cream dessert, it must be stored in the freezer. It needs about 6-8 hours to firm up, so prepare beforehand. I suggest letting it freeze overnight, if possible.
More Ice Cream Dessert Recipes:
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Crunchy Munchy Ice Cream Dessert
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup Salted Butter (1 1/2 sticks)
- 1 1/4 cups Sugar
- 5 cups Rice Krispies Cereal
- 1 1/2 cups Sweetened Coconut Flakes (OPTIONAL)
- 1/2 gallon Vanilla Ice Cream
Raspberry Sauce:
- 18 ounces Fresh Raspberries (or frozen)
- 3/4 cup Sugar
Instructions
- Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees. In a small saucepan, melt the butter and sugar over medium heat until the mixture is smooth and the sugar is completely dissolved, about 3 minutes. For a more brown butter taste, melt the butter for about 4-5 minutes longer.
- Pour the Rice Krispies cereal (and coconut flakes, if using) into a large bowl. Pour the butter and sugar mixture over the cereal mixture and coat well.
- Spread the mixture on a large cookie sheet (light colored if possible). Bake for about 20-22 minutes. Stir halfway through cooking time. Keep checking to ensure the Rice Krispies crunch topping isn't becoming too brown.
- Remove the vanilla ice cream from the freezer to allow it to start to soften. Put half of the Rice Krispies topping into a 9 x 13 baking pan.
- Scoop ice cream scoops and carefully place on top of the crunch topping. Repeat until all of the ice cream is used. Smooth out the ice cream by using the back of the ice cream scoop, a spatula, or your clean hands to press the ice cream evenly into the topping.
- Press the remaining half of the Rice Krispies topping onto the ice cream. Cover and place in the freezer to freeze for about 6-8 hours or overnight.
- Make the raspberry topping. This can be done two different ways. The easy method is to just mix the fresh raspberries with sugar in a bowl and set aside for about 15 minutes to allow the sugar to dissolve. The other method is to cook the raspberries and sugar in a saucepan for about 10-15 minutes, stirring often until the sugar is dissolved. Let cool before using as a topping.
- When ready to serve, cut into bars and spoon the fresh raspberry sauce over each piece of the crunchy ice cream bars.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hi Melissa,
Love the recipes, particularly this one for the Crunchy Munchy Ice Cream Dessert.
But could you please stop the capitalization of items in the list of ingredients, unless the ingredient is a brand name.
Items in a list are not sentences and do not contain proper nouns except where the item includes a brand name product or an actual person’s name. So no capitals.
e.g.
3/4 cup salted butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
5 cups Kellogg’s Rice Krispies cereal (or 5 cups puffed rice cereal)
1 1/2 cups sweetened coconut flakes (optional)
1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream
Raspberry Sauce:
18 ounces fresh raspberries (or frozen)
3/4 cup sugar
Thank you for the great site and generally excellent recipes and guidance.
Michael
OMG! This is my new favorite summer dessert. It is actually incredible.
WOW!!! what a treat I will be making this, this week for sure. Sound delicious