I grew up spending my summers drinking root beer floats and hanging out by the pool. I remember making them with my dad as a special treat on hot days and sipping them in the shade of our back yard. A root beer float is one of those things that everyone has their own recipe for, and I am no exception. I have made them a number of different ways but my all time favorite is the classic, no frills concoction of A&W root beer with Edy’s Grand vanilla bean ice cream. YUM! Since Judah has never experienced one of these awesome summer coolers I thought it was high time we made some root beer float memories of our own! I have never given him any kind of soda before, but since I am not going to make it a regular thing I decided to allow him a special treat. (And hey – root beer has no caffeine!) Now that I have you feeling all nostalgic, here are a few of my favorite root beer float recipes to inspire you to make some of your own!
Root beer floats are so simple. All you need is root beer, ice cream and a straw. I wanted to use A&W TEN for these because it is a much lighter version than the original (only 10 calories), but since Walmart didn’t have it in stock I used the classic A&W root beer. I am also using Edy’s Grand Ice Cream in Vanilla Bean because it is oh-so-good!
Now that you have your two ingredients, grab a cup and lets get started! When I make any kind of drinks or desserts I like to dress them up with cute accents, so to give your root beer floats a nice kick of awesomeness coat the rim of your glass in ice cream sprinkles. They taste great and make your creation look adorable!
After you coat your rim, pour A&W root beer into your cup up to 2/3 full. Next get a big scoop of ice cream and drop it in gently. That is all you have to do! I let Judah make his and he had a blast scooping the ice cream!
Now that you have made your awesome floats, sit back and enjoy them with someone you love! Check out our finished products, don’t they look delicious?
If you are in the mood for something lighter and smaller, you can make these cute mini floats using A&W TEN and Edy’s Slow Churned ice cream (which has half the fat of regular ice cream). You can either make them the same way as above or mix them up like smoothies in a large pitcher and pour individually. These are a great idea for a kids party, a play group or even an informal gathering of friends as a refreshing treat.
Another favorite of mine is root beer float freezer pops. For this you pour root beer into a popsicle mold to the halfway mark, freeze for an hour and then add your ice cream. Freeze for another hour and you are ready to eat it! You can also add a nice twist by pouring on some quick freezing chocolate shell coating.
I don’t know about you, but all this root beer float talk has me wanting to run to the kitchen and make them all over again! For more awesome #IceCreamFloat inspiration and to stay up to date with new products, connect with Nestle on twitter. Now go enjoy your new treats!
