The Key To Making A Perfect Copycat Dairy Queen Blizzard At Home

A Blizzard is one of the many undeniable treats you can get from Dairy Queen. A personally customizable ice cream treat with all the imaginable mix-ins you want? Sign me up for one any day!

It was always a fun summer treat for my family to stop by a local Dairy Queen for one of their many burgers and a creamy frozen treat. I personally always went for an Orange Julius, but now I live in an area without many Dairy Queen locations so it's not so easy to quench my occasional craving. It doesn't help that Dairy Queen's Orange Julius isn't available at most locations.

I know I am not the only one missing their Dairy Queen favorites because there are many articles online of different people trying to figure out the secret to making their favorite Blizzard combination at home. While there are many modes of making a Blizzard at home with a combination of vanilla ice cream and toppings, the secret to a Blizzard that passes the flip test is another ingredient living in your freezer: a little bit of Cool-Whip!

Although a mixture of ice cream blended up with your favorite toppings like Oreos, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, or Heath Bars will give you something approximate to a Blizzard; you will likely end up with something more like a thick milkshake or Dairy Queen's soft serve ice cream. I wouldn't want to try to do the flip test with that and risk melted ice cream all over the kitchen.

Cutting the ice cream with Cool-Whip gives you the thick texture of a Blizzard right out of the Dairy Queen window, but it also lends the creamy flavor that tastes nearly identical to that of a real Blizzard.

The recipe is super simple to boot, so it is easy to whip up a Blizzard in the comfort of your own home whenever the craving strikes. For every 2 cups of vanilla ice cream, add 1 cup of Cool-Whip into a blender. Blend this combo up for a bit before adding your toppings of choice, which will help the toppings stay chunky throughout and not blend completely smooth into the ice cream.

The most popular Blizzard flavor at Dairy Queen is undeniably an Oreo Blizzard, which is super simple to whip up at home with a package of America's favorite chocolate sandwich cookie.

But Dairy Queen is renowned for their unique flavors and mix-ins that give customers hundreds of possible combinations, and a few added ingredients can really bring the DQ experience home. A swirl of caramel sauce, chopped pecans, and hot fudge will give you the beloved Caramel Turtle Cluster Blizzard. Or you can take that hot fudge and add some brownie pieces for a homemade Choco Brownie Extreme Blizzard.

But don't let the confines of the Dairy Queen menu keep you from branching out. You can recreate something like Chick-fil-A's new banana pudding milkshake but with the thicker texture of a Blizzard for a fun fast food-inspired hybrid. Whatever snacks and candies you have in your fridge and pantry can come together to make a Blizzard even Dairy Queen can't conceive of!