A no-churn handmade version of Ben & Jerry’s Americone Dream ice cream. Vanilla ice cream is combined with caramel and chocolate-covered waffle cone bits for the ultimate combination of sweet, salty, and crunchy!

If you joined to my email (nudge nudge, wink wink), you’d know that an absolutely stupid video I made went viral and is STILL GOING NUTS. It continues coming up on websites and news stations all around the nation.

I’ve seen newscasts when the anchors are laughing so hard that you can’t breathe and can only let out an occasional squeak, and it makes ME chuckle.

It’s such a strange and unusual thing, but I feel like a good chuckle at something really ridiculous is exactly what we all need right now. The amount of tweets, Facebook messages, blog and YouTube comments, and emails I’ve received from total strangers expressing how much laughter it brought them brightens my cold, frigid heart.

Let’s chat about ice cream while we’re on the subject of the cold. While I think frozen ice cream isn’t really enticing, let’s assume the segue worked. Friends, just grin and nod. Nod and smile.

I’m a little (read: massive) fan of Ben & Jerry’s Americone Dream ice cream. I almost usually have a pint in my freezer, so when I heard their new Pint Slices will include Americone Dream? DROOL. But, I sometimes find that the shop is out of my favorite flavor.

If I were a normal, rational person, I would just tell myself, “Self, you don’t need that pint of ice cream.” Go on with your life. But no. I can’t simply refuse it since I evidently have the mentality of a kid. So, what do I do now? Go home and attempt to create my own to help me get through this difficult moment.

Please don’t think I’m nuts since that last bit was dripping with sarcasm.

The Verdict: It’s shockingly simple. I used the same vanilla base for my no-churn salted caramel swirl ice cream. In fact, it’s the same same caramel! You could always create your own, but since I already had this, there was no reason not to utilize it. The only drawback is that I used up the remainder of the jar and now need to buy more. Oh, dear.

Preparing the waffle cone pieces is the most difficult aspect (and I use that term very loosely). I wanted to cover them in as much chocolaty deliciousness as possible, so I double-coated them. If you’re feeling brave, you could repeat the process three times, but you could wind up with large pieces that have bonded together and are tough to spread.

But, hey, if you want a golf ball-sized lump of chocolate coated waffle cone bits, I’m not going to stop you. I’d want to double dog dare you.

I cut my into what ended out to be 1-sized pieces. There are no hard and fast rules here; just do what feels right, gold ball-sized pieces and all.

Melt some chocolate and mix it with the waffle cone pieces to coat. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and place them in the freezer for a few minutes.

Melt some more chocolate and strike them again! Return to the freezer, you waffley chocolateybites of bliss.

Beat the heavy cream in a chilly mixing basin until soft peaks form that are on their way to stiff peaks. We don’t want to whip too hard!

Stir in the sweetened condensed milk to mix. Next add the caramel (while trying not to drool in your face) and mix one more.

Pour in the chocolate-covered waffle cone pieces and give it a couple stirs to make sure they’re uniformly distributed.

That’s all! Spoon it into a container, cover with plastic wrap, and store it in the refrigerator to set. I sprinkled a handful of cocoa nibs and additional chocolate-covered waffle cone bits on top for fun, but that’s not in the recipe, so I’ll leave it up to you. I too want my ice cream to be softer (and I have little patience), so I usually take my first mouthful after a few hours.

As I took my first mouthful, I experienced a cartoon character moment in which my eyes expanded six sizes, the rest of the world vanished into a haze, and angels sang. It’s all I wanted and more, I said to myself. When I say I couldn’t tell the difference between mine and the actual thing, I’m not joking.

Look at those delicious chocolate bits. Dribbles of melty ice cream to die for.

I spent so much time admiring it that it became a touch too melty.

That was well worth it.

Which Ben & Jerry’s flavor is your favorite? Inform me in the comments, and I may try my hand at creating yours as well!