Ice Cream Squares with Maple Syrup & Pecans

Since July is national ice cream month, I thought I should do my part to honor such an important time of the year!  Ok, let's be truthful, it's a made up event but it is fun to eat ice cream, make ice cream and try new flavors & recipes.  So, with my chocolate lover off to camp, I decided to make an ice cream dessert for my oldest with all the flavors he likes.  I found a couple of recipes on PINTEREST that I thought might work, then made my flavor changes.

I started off with a crunchy, cereal crust that was sweet and nutty.  Then, I added the richness of maple syrup to good, store bought, vanilla ice cream and turned this dessert into something really special.  Everything came together in about 15 minutes and after wrapping it up & placing it in the freezer, I kissed it goodbye for a few hours.  I've decided what's great about this dessert is that you can use so many different combinations of cereals and ice cream flavors...just pick whatever you like, then go for it.  Oh, and for the record...all the boys at the dinner table last night were quite sure you'd like this one, so don't forget to let me know!

Ice Cream Cereal Squares

1/2 cup almond butter
1/2 cup lite corn syrup
2 cups vanilla Chex cereal
2 cups rice cereal
1 1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream
1/4 cup maple syrup
chopped pecans

• In a large bowl, mix almond butter and corn syrup until smooth.
• Add cereals and mix.
• Press into a lightly greased 13x9" baking dish.
• Top crust with ice cream.
• Drizzle ice cream with maple syrup and with a knife swirl into incorporate.
• Cover with tin foil and place in freezer for 4 hours - more if you have time.
• When ready to serve, cut into squares, drizzle with more maple syrup and chopped pecans