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Summer in July means one thing around here: it's too hot to turn on the oven, and ice cream is doing a lot of emotional labor. This week I'm sharing five frozen treats that go way beyond a grocery store pint — a five-minute Blizzard dupe, the Sonic shake I still think about, and three homemade ice creams so good you'll wonder why you ever bought a carton. Grab a spoon, this one's a good one.

🍦 The Five-Minute Fix

​Dairy Queen Oreo Blizzard — Two ingredients, five minutes, and a texture so close to the real thing you'll do a double-take. This is the recipe for the night you want soft-serve but don't want to leave the couch — thick, cookies-and-cream swirled, and ready before the blender even finishes its cycle.

🥥 The Drive-In Classic

​Copycat Sonic Drive-in Coconut Cream Pie Shake — Creamy coconut milkshake studded with graham cracker crumbs, blended until it's somewhere between a milkshake and a slice of pie in a cup. It tastes like pulling into the stall and ordering happy hour — except happy hour is whenever you feel like it now.

🎂 The Birthday-Cake Flavor Everyone Fights Over

​Cold Stone Creamery Cake Batter Ice Cream — Five ingredients turn into something that tastes exactly like licking the bowl after making a birthday cake — sweet, a little nostalgic, and dangerously easy to keep eating straight from the container. No churn-day math required, just cake batter flavor whenever the mood strikes.

🍒 The Grown-Up Flavor With Real Cherries

​Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia Ice Cream — Sweet cherries and dark chocolate chunks folded into a rich, creamy vanilla base, made with real ingredients instead of the mystery stuff. This is the pint you'd reach for on a hot night when you want something that tastes a little more grown-up than sprinkles and cones.

🥜 The One With Peanut Butter Cups Folded In

​Homemade Peanut Butter Ice Cream with Peanut Butter Cups — Rich peanut butter ice cream loaded with chopped peanut butter cups, made from scratch in under an hour. It's the flavor combo that never goes out of style, and homemade means you control exactly how many peanut butter cups go into every scoop (the answer is always more).

💬 What Should Melt Into the Next Newsletter?

Got a soft-serve memory or a milkshake you can't stop thinking about? Bring it to the CopyKat Community — vote on what gets developed next, swap freezer hacks, and show off your scoop game. Join the CopyKat Community — your favorite might be the next recipe on the site.

Featured Blogger

I would like to take a moment and feature another fellow recipe blogger. Giangi's Green Bean Almondine is the perfect summer dish, especially when you have fresh green beans.

Giangi | Giangi's Kitchen Bringing French and Italian heritage to your table I grew up in France and spent summers in Italy, where I learned that the most memorable meals are simple, seasonal, and meant to be shared. Those influences continue to guide my cooking today. Subscribe​

🍨 In the Freezer for Ice Cream Night

Three things that make homemade ice cream night actually easy.

🍨 Retro Ice Cream Scoop — A good scoop is the difference between fighting rock-hard ice cream and getting a perfect round scoop every time. The retro heft and shape make it feel like an event, not a chore — exactly the vibe five homemade flavors deserve.

🥃 Parfait Glasses — Layer the Cherry Garcia with the peanut butter cup ice cream in one of these, and dessert becomes a little bit of theater. They make an ordinary scoop feel like something you'd order at a proper ice cream parlor.

🍧 6-Pack Glass Dessert Bowls — Set up a sundae bar with all five flavors and let everyone build their own. These bowls are sized just right for a serious scoop without making you look like you're overdoing it (you are, and that's fine).

🍦 Cool Down and Dig In

Five frozen treats, zero trips to the ice cream truck — a Blizzard dupe that takes five minutes, a Sonic shake worth pulling into the stall for, and three homemade ice creams that beat anything in the grocery aisle. Pick your flavor, grab a spoon, and let summer do the rest. See you next week! 🍦