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Ice cream sundaes are the universal love language–at least if you ask me. What better way to show your friends and family that you love them than by serving up the ultimate ice cream toppings bar?  With all these options, guests can either stick to personal favorites or find a new go-to! Win-win! 

This board is all about the toppings, so pick a few of your favorite ice cream flavors to go alongside.  You can even make your own ice cream if you’re fancy like that! If you’re looking for something a little more low-maintenance, you can try this Ice Cream Sandwich Board (just be sure to serve immediately). For a healthier option, check out my breakfast Yogurt Bar.

For other sweet treats, try my Cheesecake Toppings Board, Chocolate Dip for Fruit, S’Mores Dip,  Easy Dessert Board, and Whipped Cream Cheese Dip.

Toppings for Ice Cream 

The Basics

• Sugar cones (you can also find gluten-free cones!)
• Whipped cream
• Maraschino cherries
• Rainbow sprinkles
• Chocolate sprinkles
• Chopped walnuts

Sweets

• White chocolate chips
• Chocolate chips
• Peanut butter chips
• Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
• Snickers
• Swedish Fish
• Mini M&Ms
• Sour Gummy Worms
• Oreos
• Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Airheads Xtremes Bites Rainbow

Fruit

• Banana slices
• Cherries
• Strawberries

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How To Make an Ice Cream Bar

• Add the sprinkles, M&Ms, chips, walnuts, and maraschino cherries to individual small bowls. Add whipped cream and bananas to bigger bowls. 
• Place the bowls of sprinkles and M&Ms in the center of your board. Arrange the bowls with chips in a line around one edge of the board. Evenly space the bowls with cherries, whipped cream, banana, and walnuts throughout the board.  
• Add the cones to the board in two separate stacks. Fan the Oreos around the bowl of banana slices and the chocolate chip cookies around the cherries. 
• Fill in the empty spaces with the remaining fruits and sweets, making sure to separate like colors.
• Set out bowls and ice cream of your choosing on the side. Enjoy!

Pro tip: keep the candy away from moist produce to prevent bleeding or melting! 

How Much Ice Cream for an Ice Cream Party

Generally speaking, each guest will eat about 1½ cups of ice cream! That means for 12 people you’d need about 1¼ gallons (or 9 pints) and for 20 people you’d need 2 gallons (or 15 pints).

When it comes to toppings, it varies based on the size of the topping and crowd pleasers! I like to think more is more, so I serve a lot of topping options! You really only need 5 to 7 solid options if you really know what your guests like. In terms of how much to serve, for a board of this size (serves 12 to 18 people), I used ½ cup of the smaller-size toppings (like sprinkles) and 1 cup for the bigger ones (like fruit).  

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How To Serve Ice Cream 

As you know, ice cream can’t be left out of the freezer for too long! If your ice cream is super frozen, let it thaw a bit at room temperature for about 20 minutes before serving (if you just bought it, it might be soft enough already!). Feel free to set up your shelf-stable toppings in advance, but don’t slice your fruit or put out the whipped cream until just before you’re ready to serve.  

Once the ice cream has thawed a bit and the fruit is cut, serve immediately! Make sure all your guests are ready to go so you can serve them all at once. I find it’s best to let folks serve themselves–if you pre-serve the ice cream, it might get too soft!

 Once everyone has made their sundaes, put the ice cream back in the freezer–you can always serve more from the freezer as needed. The toppings can stay out as long as you want, but the fruit and whipped cream may not last too long, especially if this is an outside party! 

Save any leftover sweets, toppings, and ice cream for a part 2!

Best Ice Cream for Ice Cream Sundae Bar

When it comes to sundaes, I tend to go for the classics: vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. They just go best with all the toppings, and that’s what a sundae is all about, right? That said, it’s fun to have some other flavor options that lend themselves to your toppings selection–maybe just buy smaller amounts! Try:

• Cookies n’ cream
• Coffee
• Mint chocolate chip
• French vanilla
• Chocolate chip cookie dough
• Brownie batter
• Salted caramel
• Banana (you can even make dairy-free banana “nice cream”!)

Dairy-free options

Don’t worry, there are plenty of delicious non-dairy options out there, too! Take a gander through your local freezer section and keep your eye out for these brands:

• Jeni’s Dairy-Free Ice Cream 

• Ben & Jerry’s Non-Dairy Pints 
• Talenti Dairy-Free Gelato & Sorbetto 
• Breyer’s Non-Dairy Desserts 
• Oatly Frozen Dessert 
• SO Delicious Frozen Desserts 

You can also make vegan ice cream at home!

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Other Ice Cream Bar Toppings

Feel free to swap in your favorite toppings! Here are ideas to get you started:

Fruit

• Raspberries
• Blueberries
• Blackberries
• Sliced peaches

Sweets

• Crumbled brownies
• Heath Bar
• Shredded coconut
• Butterscotch chips
• Reese’s Pieces
• Mini marshmallows
• Lucky Charms marshmallows
• Fruit loops
• Crumbled graham crackers
• Pretzels

Sauces

• Hot fudge
• Chocolate syrup
• Caramel
• Dulce de leche
• Raspberry syrup (or other fruit syrup!)
• Bananas foster 
• Peanut butter sauce

Pro tip: if you’re serving adults, I find that chocolate goodies and fresh fruit (maybe some flaky salt, too!) tend to be winners, whereas kiddos love all the sweet stuff–like candies and gummies! I like to serve a mix of all of them because I’m an equal opportunity sundae kind of gal, but you know your audience best.

Ice Cream Bar Party Tools

For an excellent ice cream bar, you need excellent utensils! 

• Ice Cream Scoops: I like to have one for each tub of ice cream to prevent cross-contamination (especially for dairy- and/or gluten-free guests!), but if you don’t have more than one scooper, a big, sturdy spoon will do!
• Ice Cream Chiller: If you’re having a small affair, you can buy one or two of these chillers so you can keep the ice cream out longer while the bar is served.
• Bowls: Since these are sundaes and not your regular scoop of ice cream, you’ll need bowls that are on the bigger side! You can go traditional with a footed sundae glass, or you can go the easy route and serve paper, plastic, or waffle cone bowls! 
• Spoons: Make sure you have plenty of small spoons! They should be sturdy enough to get through semi-frozen ice cream, so if you don’t want to use metal, try a sturdy wooden spoon!

Show Me Your Sundae Toppings Boards

I hope this post inspires you to serve this sweet ice cream party. Nothing makes me happier than seeing the beautiful snacks and desserts you create from my tips. If you make something inspired by this post, please tag me at @ainttooproudtomeg so I can see and share!

And, If you liked this recipe, please rate and review.