Friday on my way to work I saw an ice cream truck. I seriously thought these things were extinct, but obviously not. This truck was larger than the tiny trucks we had as a kid – I guess size does matter *wink* – and it had the tauntingly eery, traditional ice cream truck music. Fortunately the music didn’t sound like it was dying. Anyhow, it gave me a craving for some ice cream, so I dug around and found some fabulous recipes for DIY ice cream you can make yourself without breaking the bank. Now your waistline… I’m not so sure I can help with that.

Coconut Cream Popsicles. A ridiculously delicious and easy to make ice cream treat made with natural coconut milk, whole milk, sugar, and vanilla extract. Compliments of Smile Monsters blog. Yum. You’ll also want to check out the other recipes on this site for Lemony Lemon Popsicles and Mocha Latte Frozen Treats.

Grilled Peaches, Poached Cherries, and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. Now this is an ice cream for foodie fans. It requires a bit more work to make the ice cream and then pit and grill the fruit, but the effort is worth it. This recipe would be perfect for summer parties or for saying “I love you” to your special someone. Grab this recipe on Tartelette blog.

Fresh Lavender Ice Cream. It won’t be long til lavender is in bloom and what better way to use your plucked blossoms than in a delicious summer treat? This lavender ice cream recipe calls for 1/2 cup of fresh lavender florets, whole milk, real vanilla bean, vanilla sugar, heavy cream, and a sugar substitute. They recommend Splenda, but if you want to go all natural, opt for Stevia. You can find this recipe at Eat Drink Better Blog. (If you’re looking for more recipes for your lavender blooms, check out this Lavender Margarita Recipe.)

Fennel Ice Cream. If you’re far from an ice cream “traditionalist” you may want to try this incredibly unique recipe for fennel ice cream. Made with fennel seeds for flavor, “the cream takes on the essential flavor of the seeds, as you would expect, but the butterfat works to soften that flavor, rounding off its pointy edges, turning down the volume on the licorice notes, resulting in a taste that’s almost hard to identify: cool, herbal, smooth, even quiet. It doesn’t scream fennel, by any means. It mostly whispers eat me, ideally with a bowl of sliced strawberries.” You can find this recipe at Orangette Blog.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream! So what’s your favorite ice cream flavor?