National Ice Cream Month is here — enjoy a scoop or two at these SouthCoast favorites

The time has come, it is National Ice Cream Month. July has been recognized as the month of the delectable frozen treats for 38 years, with the third Sunday of the month being National Ice Cream Day.

With the average American eating about four gallons of ice cream a year, it's safe to say this month will be filled with jimmies, waffle cones, and more flavors of ice cream than we can count.

While no one needs a national holiday to entice them to eat the nation’s favorite frozen dessert, celebrating this month by visiting local creameries and ice cream shops is a fun and delicious summer activity. We have compiled a list of local places to add to your ice cream celebrations this month.

It's getting hot out there, cool off with some scrumptious ice cream, and don't forget some days it counts as dinner!

Acushnet Creamery

264 Main St., Acushnet | https://acushnetcreamery.com

With over 50 flavors, including dairy-free sorbet, Acushnet Creamery is a yummy way to start off your summer list. All of the ice cream, frozen yogurts, and sherbets are homemade right at the creamery. Try Boston Creme Pie (Bavarian ice cream with fudge swirl and cake pieces), Cranberry Harvest (cranberry ice cream with Craisins, walnuts, and chocolate chunks), or Purple Cow (black raspberry ice cream with Oreos).

Dairy Maid Ice Cream

1517 Cove Road, New Bedford | https://www.dairymaidnb.com

Dairy Maid has been scooping up ice cream in New Bedford for generations. They offer a wide variety of soft serve, hard serve, yogurt, sherbets, Italian ice, and sugar-free ice cream options. You can't go wrong with Cookie Monster (vanilla ice cream with Oreos, chocolate chip cookies, and cookie dough bites), M&M Cookie Dough Peanut Butter Ripple (vanilla ice cream loaded with M&Ms, cookie dough bites, and a peanut butter swirl), or Mint Moosetracks (mint ice cream with chocolate mint cups and fudge swirl).

Dockside Ice Cream

1 Bridge St., South Dartmouth | https://atthedockside.com

Located right on the water, Dockside Ice Cream has not only 20 flavors to enjoy but it also has a view. There is something for everyone with homemade ice cream and waffle cones, vegan, plant-based ice cream, frappes, sundaes, ice cream sodas, and floats. Take a sampling of Birthday Cake (vanilla cake batter base with blue frosting and cake pieces), Coconut Almond Joy (coconut ice cream with chocolate chunks and almonds), or Espresso Fudge Brownie (espresso ice cream with a fudge swirl and brownie pieces).

Kool Kone

374 Marion Road, Wareham | https://koolkone.com

Having been featured on Phantom Gourmet, Kool Kone has a vision for your sweet tooth with flavorful ice cream, fried banana splits, or even a traditional root beer float. Offerings include Apple Pie À La Mode (apple pie, vanilla ice cream, caramel, pecans, whipped cream, and a cherry) and Dough Boy ( vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, cookie dough bites, and chocolate chips).

Country Whip Inc

1173 Main St., Acushnet | https://countrywhip.weebly.com

Boasted as the quintessential New England summer shack, Country Whip has homemade soft serve and farm-fresh hard ice cream.  With over 50 flavors between the ice creams, flavor bursts, fat-free frozen yogurts, sugar-free ice cream, dairy-free sorbet, gluten-free flavors, and sherbets, everyone is bound to find their favorite. Some must-try flavors are the Country Peach (peach ice cream with sliced fresh peaches), Cinnamon Bun (cinnamon ice cream, with caramel swirls, and cinnamon bun pieces), or Carrot Cake (carrot cake base ice cream w/ a cream cheese swirl and praline pecans).

Annie's Ice Cream Shack

50 Middleboro Road, East Freetown | https://www.anniesicecreamshack.com

Annie's inspires to create a welcoming environment for families and friends to get together and enjoy some quality time over ice cream. With 41 flavors from cones to cups, sundaes to frappes you will find something to enjoy. For a refreshing treat try Orange Pineapple, Blueberry Pie, or Death by Chocolate.

Capt. Bonney's Creamery

258 New Bedford Road, Rochester | https://captbonneys.com

Capt. Bonney's has an astonishing 65 flavors to choose from, half from Acushnet Creamery and half from Gifford's & Whites Dairy. They also have soft serve coffee and vanilla, frappes, floats, and freezes. For a perfect sweet treat try Bears on the Moon (blue moon ice cream topped with marshmallow and gummy bears), Blue Monstah (wild blue vanilla ice cream, peanut butter ripple, chocolate chip cookie dough and mini M&Ms), or  Cold Brew Mocha Peanut Butter (made with real cold brew coffee).

The Oxford Creamery

98 County Road, Rt 6, Mattapoisett | https://oxfordcreamery.com

For a dose of nostalgia and ice cream stop by Oxford Creamery. Not only are they serving up lots of ice cream flavors, but they also have FōMū ice cream which is made from scratch with real, carefully sourced, plant-based ingredients. Some flavors you might enjoy are Peppermint Stick, Green Monster, or Ginger.

Gulf Hill Dairy Ice Cream Bucket

77 Gulf Road, South Dartmouth, https://www.facebook.com/GHDairyBucket

This historic landmark is an outdoor harborfront ice cream parlor and restaurant. Over-looking Apponagansett Bay the Ice Cream Bucket is the perfect setting for a summer night. Crowd pleasers are Campfire S’mores (graham ice cream w/ marshmallow ripple and chocolate bits), Strawberry Cheesecake (vanilla and strawberry ice creams mixed w/ white cake crunch), or Peanut Butter Pie (peanut butter ice cream, graham crackers, peanut butter cups).

Sorbae Frozen Treats

1000 S Rodney French Blvd., New Bedford | https://www.sorbaefrozentreats.com

Sorbae emerged from the collision of love for ice cream and a passion for learning. They bring you small-batch craft popsicles in adventurous flavors and premium ice cream, including dairy-free options. You can't miss out on S'mores (toasted marshmallow ice cream with graham cracker swirl and chocolate fudge chunks), Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough - Dairy Free (coconut vanilla cream base mixed with vegan cookie dough and chocolate chips) or Chocolate Peanut Butter (chocolate ice cream with a peanut butter swirl).

Don't forget these delicious places as well: 

John George Farms

291 Slocum Road, North Dartmouth | https://www.facebook.com/johngeorgefarms

Clark's Point Creamery

26 Brock Ave., New Bedford | https://clarkspointcreamery.com

Hill Crest Ice Cream

338 Old Fall River Rd, North Dartmouth | https://www.facebook.com/HillCrestIceCream

Paskamansett Farms

742 Tucker Road, North Dartmouth | http://www.paskamansettfarms.com

Lickety Splits Ice Cream

719 State Road Westport | https://www.facebook.com/Lickety-Splits-Ice-Cream

This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: National Ice Cream Month: A listing of the best SouthCoast shops