Ice Cream Week: A week full of nothing but ice cream

If I had to pick my favorite ice cream recipe of this bunch, this one might be it.

I think we can all agree that the Strawberry Shortcake Bars you get from the ice cream truck are one of the best desserts out there. I'm not here to say that this homemade version is better, because the original bars are just so amazing, but these are surprisingly close.

Each bar is 135 calories, has 5g of protein, and is packed with real strawberries! What's not to love?

Years ago I experimenting with making my own high-protein Magic Shell, and I haven't revisited it since. For Ice Cream Week, I figured there would be no better time to revamp that recipe.

Coconut oil is the secret to this chocolate shell, and it is absolutely necessary. It's a truly magical ingredient that is liquid at room temperature, then hardens into a shell immediately upon touching something frozen.

By using some high-protein ice cream as the base of these popsicles, we're left with a protein-packed version of those ice cream bars you'd buy from the store.

It wouldn't be fair if I dedicated an entire week to ice cream and didn't consider all of my dairy-free friends. Whether you follow a completely vegan lifestyle, or you just like to avoid eating too much dairy, this Blizzard is not going to disappoint you.

I am not dairy-free, but I truly enjoyed this recipe! We're making a coconut milk ice cream that comes out nice and thick, so this one passes that Blizzard upside-down test no problem.

We're also going to whip up a VERY simple peanut butter cookie dough to add to this one, but the beauty of this recipe is that you can add whatever kinds of mix-ins you want. Don't worry, there are plenty more details on it inside the recipe.

If you've never had Mexican Fried Ice Cream, it is an amazing dessert. They take a scoop of ice cream, coat it in a delicious cinnamon-sugar coating, and then give it a quick deep fry. You end up with a warm, crunchy exterior and a soft (yet still totally frozen) ice cream center.

We want easy recipes here, and we're not messing with a deep fryer. Not to mention, I cannot imagine the disaster I would create if I dropped ice cream into a deep fryer (cue all the thoughts of people dropping frozen turkeys into deep fryers).

For this, we're putting together a simple Cornflake coating to give us that sweet crunch without the need to fry anything up.

We're using a protein cookie dough to put together these amazing vanilla froyo pops with big ol’ chunks of cookie dough inside!

I was worried that the cookie dough would freeze solid, but don’t you worry your cookie-dough-loving butt. It stays super soft, and it is incredible. Each popsicle is only 140 calories, 3g fat, 16g carbs, & 10g of protein.

Soft, chocolatey fudgsicles that are perfect for a hot summer day!

I wasn't sure whether to call these fudgsicles, fudge pops, or frozen pudding pops, so you can take your pick. But as someone who grew up eating fudgsicles, that's what these ended up really reminding me of.

For each of these large popsicles, they're only 60 calories and have a sneaky 4.5g of protein, so you can feel good about these delicious chocolatey treats.

Let's kick things off with one of my favorite recipes of all time: soft serve vanilla ice cream! As a lover of soft-serve ice cream, I never expected this healthier version to even come close to the real thing, but I'm telling you, this is as good as any soft-serve ice cream you've had.

Plus, there is no ice cream maker required here, and you only need a few simple ingredients to make it happen.

Don't worry, this isn't "nice cream" made out of bananas or a thick protein shake- this is real-deal ice cream.

If you want a low-calorie dessert, look no further than these Espresso Chocolate Chip Popsicles. Using the same base as our soft-serve ice cream recipe and adding some espresso powder, we can whip up insanely delicious, low-calorie popsicles that are sure to satisfy any coffee lover.