Ice Cream Pie with Caramel Sauce

This is such a fun dessert!! Of course, anything that Pioneer Woman makes is fun, and I haven't posted one of her recipes in awhile!! I don't know what's wrong with me!! I have come to realize that ice cream is one of my all time favorite desserts, and I crave it on a regular basis. So, in my opinion, you can't go wrong with an ice cream dessert!! This recipe combines two different kinds of ice cream, your choice, with a yummy meringue crust that is whipped together with pecans. The caramel sauce is simple to make, and you can use the leftover sauce for an ice cream topping for later!! So make sure you buy extra ice cream!! This is also a great recipe for when you are entertaining because you can make it ahead of time, and stick it in your freezer for whenever you need it!! 

Ice Cream Pie with Easy Caramel Sauce

Pioneer Woman

For the Caramel Sauce:

4 Tablespoons Butter

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup half and half

Pinch of Salt

1 Tablespoon Vanilla

For the Crust:

1/4 cup egg whites

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 cup sugar

1 cup Pecans, finely chopped

For the Filling:

2 Pints of Ice Cream (1 Pint each of different flavors)

Making the Caramel Sauce:

Mix butter, brown sugar, and half and half and salt in a saucepan over medium low heat. Cook while whisking gently for 5 to 7 minute, until thicker. Add vanilla and cook another minute to thicken it a little bit more. Turn off the heat and pour into a jar; I used a little mason jar. Refrigerate until cold. 

Making the Crust:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Beat egg whites until frothy (this took my little hand mixer quite awhile, but if you have a nice stand mixer, it shouldn't take as long or as much effort!!). Add sugar and salt and beat on high until stiff peaks form. Fold in nuts. Spread this mixture all over the bottom and sides of a non-glass pie pan; make sure you adequately coat all of the pan or else you won't have a sufficient crust!! Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, making sure you watch to make sure it doesn't get too dark. It is done when it is a golden brown. Let it cool completely. 

When the crust is cool, take the ice cream out of the freezer. Let it soften a little bit. When it is soft, spread the first pint over the bottom of the crust (Pioneer Woman used Butter Brickle, I used Butter Pecan which I think is the same thing! But you could use any ice cream flavor you want! Just remember you have a pecan meringue crust so you will want it to go with that flavor well!). Spread the second pint over the first pint (Pioneer Woman and I used Vanilla Bean, but again, you can choose your flavors!). Cover and freeze until very hard.

To serve, cut slices out and put onto plates. Serve with cold caramel sauce drizzled over the top! It's a great summer dessert! Pioneer Woman kept talking about how she wanted to use Coffee Ice cream sometime, and the possibilities are endless with what kind of ice creams you could use!! Enjoy!!