ADVENTURE: Sundae, SUNDAE, Sundae
When the world hands you an Apocalypse, Now… you gotta cope somehow, like with this festive Fourth of July Sundae. Working as a kayak guide on the Chicago River was always an adventure, but some days were… woof. A lot. And none were wilder than this particular 4th of July Fireworks Paddle (featuring one nonstop day and then one massive thunderstorm and buckets of rain).
And trust me, we definitely needed this treat, after the long and trying day we had out on the water. I’ll explain all that… but later (here’s an account of what happened that day, if you want to read about it).
But first… we need ice cream. A whole lot of ice cream!

It’s a long story, and was an even longer day at work, but thankfully everyone survived, except this package of Explodin’ Fireworks Oreo cookies, these sprinkles, and a whole lot of ice cream. And beer. And ibuprofen. And sleep. And a vague memory of dry socks (or any other part of us)?
You definitely don’t have to survive a grueling day in the life of a river guide to appreciate that, or make these explosively bangin’ sundaes. But you don’t need to go through all that (though it’s a good story, you should go read it)… you can just eat the ice cream!
Fourth of July Fireworks Sundae
This fun and festive Fourth of July ice cream Sundae truly captures the chaotic energy of this very American holiday- with Pop Rocks! When I made these particular sundaes, I used Special Edition holiday Oreo cookies that had pop-rocks in the filling, along with the patriotic sprinkles and little flag garnish.
But if they discontinue this (brilliant, really) exploding cookie, you can still make this fireworks sundae… Just garnish it with regular Pop Rocks when you serve it!
I used homemade strawberry-vanilla bean syrup, but you can use any red or blue fruit syrup that you have on hand (either from the ice cream topping or pancake aisle, it’s all good).
Strawberry or blueberry syrup are obvious choices, but you can mix it up if you want! You can also add a drizzle of chocolate mocha syrup to wake up the chocolate flavor.


4th of July Fireworks Sundae
Ingredients
- 3 scoops vanilla, neopolitan, or fudge swirl ice cream
- 3 each oreo cookies slightly crumbled
- 1 tsp red, white, and blue sprinkles
- 1 tbsp strawberry syrup
- ½ packet pop rocks
Instructions
- Chill a glass or ceramic bowl in the freezer for about 10 minutes.
- Scoop your ice cream into the bowl (run your ice cream scoop under hot water for easier scooping).
- Top the ice cream with the broken up Oreo cookies, the sprinkles, and the strawberry syrup.
- Add the pop rocks on top and serve immediately! The pop rocks will pop and may explode when they touch the melting ice cream and syrup, so eat carefully! (woooooooo 'murica!).

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