Transform Vanilla Ice Cream Into A Churro-Inspired Treat With 2 Simple Toppings

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Looking to elevate a simple scoop of vanilla ice cream? Give it a churro-inspired flavor with cinnamon and dulce de leche, a caramel-like sauce made with sugar and milk, or sweetened condensed milk. Mixing a bit of each into plain vanilla ice cream turns an ordinary dessert into one that tastes like the fried dough served at Spanish cafes and markets.

While cinnamon grounds vanilla ice cream in a deep, warm flavor, dulce de leche adds a sweetness and a smooth consistency that melts into perfect little rivulets. The result is a soft, irresistible taste and texture just like churros. The cinnamon nods to the cinnamon-sugar coating on traditional churros, while dulce de leche matches the thick, sweet sauce they're often served with.

If you're eating a single serving of grocery-brand vanilla ice cream, sprinkle a light dusting of ground cinnamon on top. Then drizzle some store-bought dulce de leche sauce, like Nestle's La Lechera Authentic Dulce de Leche Milk-Based Caramel. Of course, if you're going the homemade ice cream route, add a couple of teaspoons of ground cinnamon to your ice cream mixture, then follow a dulce de leche recipe to make the sauce yourself.

Churro-flavored ice cream sounds delicious as-is. But to take this dessert up a notch, consider some tasty add-ins. For an unexpected crunch, top it or mix in broken pieces of cinnamon graham crackers. Or buy actual churros and chop them into bite-sized chunks, blending them straight into the ice cream or using them as a topping. Costco sells twisted churros at its food court that would be excellent for this, but you can get frozen ones, too. Cover it all in rich chocolate sauce.

And instead of serving it in regular bowls, try making homemade churro ice cream cones. Use Tasting Table's simple churro recipe and pipe the dough around upside-down cone molds, which you can purchase on Amazon. Let the cones freeze, then deep-fry them in the molds until they're perfectly crispy. Once they're cool, remove the molds and scoop ice cream directly on top.