During the hot summer months, it can be a lot of fun to find new beverages to keep us cool. A long-standing favorite is the root beer float, and it has gone unchanged for decades, just root beer, vanilla, and vanilla ice cream. However, we think we can surprise you by spicing up the old standard with coffee. While many people might be hesitant at first, we think that once you give it a try, you’ll see that the two flavors balance each other perfectly, and you’ll wonder why it took so long. Keep reading while we supply you with a recipe and step-by-step instructions, so you can give it a try in your home.
Easy Root Beer Float Coffee Recipe
We have the perfect recipe for you to create a delicious treat for the entire family, and it is courtesy of CookingOnTheWeekends.com. It uses coffee ice cream instead of a coffee concentrate like many other recipes to help keep the caffeine levels down, so it doesn’t change your children’s behavior. However, it’s best to start small and observe your child before increasing the portion size as you would do for any new food.
- Tall glass
- Long, small spoon
- Ice cream scooper
- Two scoops of vanilla bean ice cream
- One scoop of coffee ice cream
- ¼ cup root beer
Steps to Create your Coffee Root Beer Float
1. Choose Your Ingredients
Root Beer Float Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
The most plentiful ingredient in this recipe is good old-fashioned vanilla ice cream. However, since we are not adding vanilla extract to our recipe, it’s important to get a high-quality vanilla bean ice cream. We recommend a brand that doesn’t use too many artificial ingredients and has a strong vanilla flavor. Great examples include Breyers Natural Vanilla Ice Cream, Homemade Brand Natural Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, and Blue Bunny Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream.
Root Beer Float Coffee
The most important part of this recipe is, of course, the coffee ice cream and your choice will have a big impact on the final beverage. We recommend choosing a high-quality brand without chemical ingredients. We also recommend avoiding brands that contain espresso when you have small children because of the additional caffeine it contains. We also recommend choosing brands that don’t contain crushed or whole coffee beans. These beans can also contain too much caffeine for children, and they might also ruin the texture of your drink. Perfect examples of suitable coffee ice creams include Trader Joes Coffee Bean Blast and Turkey Hill Columbian Coffee.
Root Beer
Of course, you can’t have a root beer float without root beer. Of all the ingredients on this list, we’ve found that it elicits the strongest feelings about what’s best. We recommend going with the traditional A&W Root Beer or Barq’s Root Beer.
2. Put Glasses In the Freezer
For each member of your family, place a tall glass in the freezer and let it chill for at least five minutes while you are getting your ingredients together.
3. Add Vanilla Ice Cream
To begin creating your coffee root beer float, place one scoop of ice cream into each glass and pour half of the root beer on top.
4. Mash the Ingredients
Use a long but small spoon to mash the vanilla ice cream and root beer together until fairly smooth. The better it’s blended, the better it will be.
5. Finish It
Add one scoop of coffee ice cream, one scoop of vanilla ice cream, and the remaining root beer.
6. Serve
There is no need to mash the coffee ice cream, add a straw, and serve immediately for maximum enjoyment.
Root Beer Float Coffee Recipe
Equipment
- Tall glass
- Long, small spoon
- Ice cream scooper
Ingredients
- 2 scoops Vanilla bean ice cream
- 1 scoop Coffee ice cream
- ¼ cup Root beer
Instructions
- Gather your ingredients.
- For each member of your family, place a tall glass in the freezer and let it chill for at least five minutes while you are getting your ingredients together.
- To begin creating your coffee root beer float, place one scoop of ice cream into each glass and pour half of the root beer on top.
- Use a long but small spoon to mash the vanilla ice cream and root beer together until fairly smooth. The better it’s blended, the better it will be.
- Add one scoop of coffee ice cream, one scoop of vanilla ice cream, and the remaining root beer.
- Serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Summary
While a root beer float with coffee ice cream in it might sound strange, we think that once you try it, you will be as much a fan as we are. Choosing good brands of ice cream is the key, and we’ve found that the most expensive ones aren’t always the ones that taste the best. Minimal ingredients are usually a good sign that it has good flavor. Additives like real beans or espresso shots are unnecessary and might ruin the flavor, make it harder to eat, and cause the children to get a caffeine buzz.
We hope you have enjoyed this short guide to creating the perfect dessert for a hot day. If you think you will give it a try, please share this root beer float coffee recipe on Facebook and Twitter.
SEE ALSO: What is Coffee Beer?
Featured Image Credit: Julee75, Shutterstock
