It’s way hot here in Central Florida, so obviously I'm thinking about ice cream. Get ready for a rundown of all the ice cream places we've found across the country. (These are not in order)
1. Sweet Peaks Ice Cream in Bozeman, MT
When we were in Bozeman last September, my family frequented this ice cream shop SO MUCH. Sweet Peaks was founded in 2010 by two ice cream enthusiasts (which means you just know it's going to be good). They make all of their ice cream flavors with locally sourced dairy and quality ingredients. They also offer vegan options and sorbet made with local produce in all of their four shops across Montana. All of their stores offer between 16 - 18 flavors that rotate seasonally. There are GF ice cream cones that they offer, but they do have corn in them (which makes it so my family can't eat them, unfortunately), but if you don't have a corn allergy, they're a great option.
Alos, I need to add this as a note. I am a self-diagnosed lactose intolerant person, and while I couldn't have their regular milk ice cream all the time, having it once in a while did not upset my stomach, which is very rarely the case for me unless it is really high-quality milk, like this shop. Also, they're caramel and fudge sauce is to DIE for. My personal favorite flavor is between the espresso and vanilla for the regular ice cream, but there was a purple sorbet that I can't remember the name of the was sooooo good. Also, the orange cardamom vegan ice cream was delicious. What I'm really trying to say is that you just can't go wrong with whatever flavor you pick.
2. Sweet Republic in Tempe, AZ
We found this shop when we were walking around Tempe in the winter/spring of 2023 (well, really my mom found it and then we walked to it, lol).
Sweet Republic has three locations throughout Arizona (Phoenix, Tempe and Scottsdale), but I went to the Tempe one. It was honestly so beautiful, with a tiled patio out front and little fountains that all of my little brother ran through. There was also a river or some sort of water right there, and after we got ice cream, we rented electric scooters and went up and down the waterfront a few times (ever since then my youngest brother has been OBSESSED with those scooters).
But, back to the point. I got the strawberry sorbet and It. Was. Heavenly. Honestly some of the best sorbet I've had. Most of my family got the regular vanilla ice cream, and my dad got the vegan double chocolate chip, which was also amazing. It's making my mouth water writing about it.
This specific ice cream shop offered both dairy-free and regular cow's milk flavors. I can't remember if they had gluten-free cones or not, since it's been a while. And most of the selection was gluten-free, except for a few.
Everything is small batch and made with local, quality ingredients, and it honestly shows when you're eating it.
3. Franklin Ice Cream Bar - Philadelphia, PA
This was an ice cream bar we found while wandering around Philly, after we had an incident with our bus's coolant hose and had to stay in the area for a few days.
The shop was so cute and unique and had an old-school vibe going on; they even served the ice cream in Chinese food containers which I loved.
They only had one vegan ice cream flavor when we went - which was vanilla - so that's what we got, but we also got caramel sauce on top, because why not. Life's short, eat dessert first, right? It was pretty good, but a little coconutty, since that's the milk they used for the vegan base. They also have the regular cow's milk ice cream, frozen custard, sorbet, and their coconut milk base vegan ice cream. All of their ingredients are local and organic, with no artificial colors. And as a plus, all of their ice cream, toppings and chocolate are made in-house.
And fair warning, their large size is LARGE. None of my family, myself included, could finished the ones we got.
4. Jones Family Farm - Herkimer, NY
This isn't technically an ice cream shop; it's a family farm, but some of my favorite ice cream EVER has come from here, so I needed to put it on here.
Jones Family Farm offers most of the things a farm would (eggs, chicken, milk, etc), which is how we found it, buuuut, they also have GOAT MILK ICE CREAM. This may not sound like a big deal to you, and you're probably like, "Jasmine, what's so exciting about that? It's just ice cream." But for me, a lactose intolerant
who if you give me one scoop of regular ice cream, I will be on
the toilet immediately (TMI, I know, Sorry guys), and goat ice cream is the only other non-vegan type that doesn't do that to me. And for someone who LOVES ice cream, this is a huge deal. Because when I tell you that you probably couldn't tell the difference between cow's milk ice cream and this goat's milk ice cream, I'm not lying. And it was SO DAMN GOOD. Some of the best ice cream I've had, just in general.
And, this family farm uses all raw milk and lets all of their animal's free range.
They do also have regular cow's milk gelato/ice cream, which I did not try but I've heard is also really good, and occasionally they offer sorbet too.
And I can't forget this (even through it's not ice cream), but the make THE BEST cream cheese ever. So so so good, and also didn't upset my stomach, even though it was regular dairy.
I have literally not been able to stop thinking about this place since we were there in May.
I seriously recommend any of these places if you happen to be anywhere near them, and I also do realize that anyone in the north probably wants hot chocolate and not ice cream right now because it's February, but still.
Love you guys bunches and thank you for reading!!
XO,
Jasmine <3
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