20 Secret Dessert Hacks For Your College Dining Hall

The college dining hall can either be the bane of a student's existence or a place to express culinary creativity. In the average college cafeteria, you're likely to find several stations with various food options, including a salad bar, ice cream machine, and grill. While there are a host of premade dessert options available for students during lunch and dinner, the standard offerings can quickly become mundane after just a few weeks. With some imagination (and access to a microwave), you can transform many of these desserts into exciting creations that appease your palate and sense of adventure.

Here are some of our favorite ways to upgrade dining hall desserts with new flavors and textures. Many of these suggestions are customizable and can be tailored to a variety of foods available in the conventional dining hall. Modify the recipes based on your favorites and whatever the staff puts out for students each day.

Many colleges leave waffle irons out 24/7 so students can take advantage of the appliances throughout the day. You can make a dessert waffle in your dining hall with premade waffle batter and toppings from the ice cream bar, such as fruits and syrups. However, we recommend using waffles to make an even more creative ice cream sandwich. 

To pull this off, simply add waffle batter to the iron and cook it according to the directions. You can choose to bake only half of a waffle and use each quarter for the top and bottom of the sandwich or split a whole waffle with someone else. Once cooked, place your favorite soft serve ice cream and toppings on one piece and place the second waffle on top to complete the sandwich. Leave it open-faced for a fun twist on a banana split if you like.

For that perfect golden-brown waffle color, Consumer Reports recommends preheating the iron for at least 10 minutes before cooking. Take this time to enjoy a beverage or gather your toppings — it's worth it!

Although sushi is commonly associated with savory fish and veggies, you'll find that there are many different occasions when you can make sushi-like rolls: including dessert! To quickly craft dessert sushi, fill a tortilla with your favorite spreads, such as Nutella, peanut butter, or jam, along with fruits and crunchy elements like granola or nuts. Roll it up and, if you like, finish it with more spread on the outside before rolling it in shredded coconut, granola, or nuts. Slice the tortilla into small rounds and serve. 

The fillings for dessert sushi are entirely customizable, and you may want to include sweetened rice. To make it, mix cooked rice (available at most dining halls) with maple syrup and butter until combined; you want a tacky texture so it is pliable in the wrap. Toss the rice in cinnamon before adding it to the tortilla with sliced apples or any of your favorite fillings.

Root beer floats are a nostalgic diner classic, and the dessert is at your fingertips in the dining hall. To make this sweet beverage, simply combine fountain root beer and a scoop of hard or soft serve ice cream in a tall glass. Top it with whipped cream (and a cherry), and enjoy with good company. 

Avoid a super fizzy root beer float (and a sticky mess) by tilting the glass while slowly dispensing root beer from the tap. This simple step reduces the foam that builds up when the soda's carbon dioxide touches the fat in the ice cream. For an even more transformational root beer float experience, see if your dining hall offers chilled mugs. It's guaranteed to make the flavor of the float more pronounced. 

Always a favorite sweet treat in fall, caramel apples can be a dining hall favorite too. You'll need a sufficient supply of caramel from the ice cream station as well as fresh apples. If you have a choice in apples, try to pick a sweet eating apple such as a Gala or a firm, tart apple like a Granny Smith. You can either leave the apples whole or cut them into thin slices with a knife. You'll next want to melt the caramel in a microwave, stirring frequently. 

You can prepare an array of toppings based on the availability of your dining hall. Chopped nuts, chocolate chips, and sprinkles are all perfectly crunchy and sweet toppings for a candy apple. 

Hot chocolate is a college necessity, and you can make a delicious warm cup using only two ingredients in your dining hall. Bring milk to a simmer in the microwave (the exact time depends on the microwave's power) and stir in a tablespoon or two of Nutella. You may have to clean off the spoon frequently to mix the Nutella into the milk thoroughly, but it will no doubt be worth it. This steaming chocolate-hazelnut beverage is creamy, refreshing, and perfect for enjoying with friends while studying in the dining hall. 

To upgrade your hot chocolate, add a drizzle of chocolate sauce from the ice cream station as well as chocolate chips. Don't forget a hefty serving of whipped cream on top, either! 

It's college, so naturally, everyone needs some sort of caffeinated boost to get through long nights of studying. If you're too far from a Starbucks, try making your own Frappuccino in the dining hall with a few simple ingredients. The typical Frappuccino uses a blender, but if you don't have one available, you can use super-fine crushed ice in a mug instead. Shake or blend the ice with cooled coffee, a sweetener, and your milk of choice. It is best to drink this beverage ASAP because super-fine ice tends to melt very quickly and water down the other ingredients. 

Flavor your DIY Frappuccino with chocolate syrup, caramel, or maple syrup. Like our other dining hall hacks, don't forget to add whipped cream! 

No one disagrees that a milkshake is a perfectly engineered food product. The only thing to argue about is whether a milkshake is a dessert or a beverage! 

Make a milkshake in your dining hall by combining your favorite ice cream with a splash of milk. Add less milk for a thicker shake or more milk for a creamier concoction. You can crumble your favorite dining hall cookie, brownie, or even cheesecake into the mixture for a bit of crunch and flavor. There are some unusual milkshake add-ins to play with, too — try blending bacon into your milkshake for a savory, umami surprise. And, if you need yet another reason to dip your fries into a shake, a touch of salt will boost your taste buds' response to the sweet flavors (via Science).

Whenever someone reminisces about the ice cream truck, it seems like they forget about the sundae ice cream cone. One of the most tried-and-true novelty ice creams out there, the original Drumstick was invented in 1928 (surprisingly, Nestlé didn't add the signature chocolate interior and "nugget" at the bottom until decades later). Luckily, you can recreate that delicious chocolate cone in a dining hall. 

For a DIY ice cream sundae cone, drizzle microwave-melted chocolate or chocolate syrup inside a sugar cone from the ice cream station. Place a few molten chocolate chips in the bottom and allow the chocolate to harden for about 30 minutes before adding your ice cream and topping it with crushed peanuts.

Although the dining hall may not be your dream entertainment space, a fondue party with friends in a dining hall is the perfect way to get together and enjoy a sophisticated treat. Prepare your fondue bar by melting chocolate or grabbing a bowl of chocolate syrup from the ice cream station. Then, collect some fondue-able favorites from the salad bar like blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries, an array of cookies and desserts from the sweets station, and some crunchy pieces like pretzels, potato chips, and maybe even french fries. See which of your friends can find the best chocolate fondue combination! 

Pro tip: If you don't have access to skewers, use metal forks to dip your selections into the chocolate. 

Who said waffle makers should be reserved for waffles alone? For a quick dessert, place banana bread in a waffle maker and press gently for less than a minute. You'll get delicious waffle-ized banana bread pockets that you can fill with sliced banana and chocolate syrup. 

Before trying this hack, make sure to check with the dining hall staff to ensure that pressing foods other than waffles is acceptable. To keep all students safe, there may be standards to avoid allergens or cross-contamination that must be considered when working with a shared iron. You'll also want to be sure to spray the iron with designated cooking spray before adding your banana bread to prevent sticking.