Around here, Summer isn’t officially over until the Tuesday after Labor Day. We used to have all sorts of rules for “after Labor Day.” No more patent leather shoes. No more white shoes. Heck, no more white period. Unless it was “winter white.” Which is sort of an off-white creamy color. There were other rules but those are the ones I kept breaking. And since it’s still hot and Labor Day is next week, I dug up this recipe from the back of the recipe box. I mean, who doesn’t want ice cream bars, right?

Prep Time: 20 min
Cook/freeze Time: 3 hrs
Total Time: 3 hrs 20 mins
Servings depend on how big you cut the bars–try for at least 12 😉

Ingredients
Graham crackers (enough to line the bottom of a 9×13 pan)
2 quarts Vanilla ice cream (softened)
1 jar hot fudge sauce (12.8 oz. size)
1 1⁄2 cup red skin peanuts* (any peantus will do actually, but this is an old recipe)
Magic Shell chocolate topping (7.25 size bottle)

*If there’s a peanut allergy, use other nuts or chopped pretzel stickes. Just something to add some crunch. You could even use Rice Krispie cereal.

Let’s Make It
1 – Set out the vanilla ice cream to soften at room temperature for 15 minutes. Line a 9×13 with graham crackers, breaking them in 1/2 to cover the entire pan.
2 – Spread 1 quart of the vanilla ice cream evenly over the graham crackers.
3 – Add the hot fudge as the next layer, spreading it to cover the entire top in an even layer. Sprinkle 1/2 of the peanuts over the hot fudge.
4 – Spread the 2nd quart of ice cream over the peanuts and hot fudge. Top that with the remaining peanuts then drizzle the magic shell over the top. Place the pan in the freezer for at least 3 hours before cutting into bars and serving.

Tip: If you don’t plan on eating the entire pan, you can individually wrap the cut bars in wax paper and refreeze in a large plastic freezer bag. Easy to grab one and go. FYI, if the bars have melted during cutting and serving and you want to do this, stick the pan back in the freezer until they firm up again.

Since I’m visiting with Cory Prince Reagan, wife of Duke Reagan, the head of the Hard Target team, I thought I’d make these for her. She immediately wanted to recipe because…well…reasons! Which will be revealed when CROSSFIRE releases. Cory admits that she’s still learning to cook–between med school and her UN medical work, she didn’t have much time nor inclination to cook–but her comment was, “Wow! How easy is this! And who doesn’t scream for ice cream when it’s hot outside?!?” Those were my thoughts too. I totally shared the recipe with her. If you are interested in how she met her own personal Black Ops hero, check out their story in DOUBLE CROSS. If you grabbed last week’s title, MOON SHOT, you’ll know how Duke’s team was formed. Find out what happened to them and how they came to be recruited into Mother Goose’s Hard Target team. Just click on a pic with the cover photo or the title for the Books2Read link. That landing page will show you all the options of where you can buy or borrow the book. What about y’all? Do you scream for ice scream? 🙋🏼‍♀️