This Genius Ben & Jerry's Hack Will Transform The Way You Eat Ice Cream

The saying "good things come in small packages" certainly applies when you're talking about ice cream, since many super-premium brands like Ben & Jerry's only seem to come in pints. While you'd think smaller containers would be better for portion control, this only works if you don't eat the ice cream straight out of the carton. Do you know how much a single serving is? According to Ben & Jerry's packaging, it's a quarter of a pint. Since its pint cartons are wider at the top than the bottom, though, it's hard to gauge the proper amount when you scoop from the top. Luckily, there's an ice cream hack that not only allows you to measure 4 ounces with reasonable accuracy but also — and here's the fun part — transforms each portion into an ice cream bar.

To do this, you'll need four wooden popsicle sticks and a sharp knife. As shown in the Instagram post below, you turn the carton over so that it's sitting lid-side down. Use the knife to slice right through it, ice cream and cardboard; first, bisect it vertically, and then repeat perpendicularly to make four equal segments. Holding the sections together, turn the carton right-side up, and remove the lid. Insert a stick into each quadrant and voilà! You've achieved ice cream bars. Before you start eating one, though, you'd better put the other bars back in the freezer unless three people are standing by to help you eat all of the ice cream before it melts.

The second universal law of state fair foods (the first being "the wackier, the better") states that everything tastes better on a stick, and ice cream is no exception. You know what's even better? An ice cream bar with a candy coating. The easy way to achieve this is to dip your homemade ice cream bar into an ice cream topping that's made to harden. One such product, Smuckers Magic Shell, comes in chocolate, caramel, and "unicorn" flavors (the last one is meant to taste like a white cupcake and has colorful bits). Hershey's also has shell ice cream toppings that come in chocolate, Reese's, and Heath bar flavors. You can also create a homemade chocolate shell by combining one part coconut oil with two parts melted chocolate.

Another way to dress up your ice cream bar is to dip it into sprinkles, mini chocolate chips, shredded coconut, cookie crumbs, or chopped nuts. Pick an ingredient to go with the ice cream flavor. How about Chunky Monkey with crushed banana chips or strawberry cheesecake with graham cracker crumbs? If that doesn't float your boat, there's always salted caramel almond with crushed pretzels or Cherry Garcia with chopped almonds. If you're in a meta mood, you could even roll an Americone Dreamsicle in crushed sugar or waffle cone crumbs to make the ultimate deconstructed frozen treat.