Scottsdale ice cream shop offers handmade ice cream with all-natural ingredients

SCOTTSDALE, AZ (AZFamily) — Temperatures are still warm in the Valley, and if you’re looking to cool down, one Scottsdale ice cream shop offers handmade organic ice cream using all-natural ingredients.

Nestled at the corner of 1st Avenue and Scottsdale Road, just south of Indian School Road, is Skoop, which is the German spelling for scoop.

Owner Shasta Keltz followed one of her passions and opened Skoop in March. She and her husband, Kale, also own Bicycle Haus next door. Keltz has loved ice cream from a very young age—one of her first jobs was at Dairy Queen in her hometown in Montana.

Skoop has been a goal for years. About six years ago, Keltz took a short course on dairy science ice cream at Penn State, where the famous Ben and Jerry attended.

The 130-year-old program immerses students in dairy science and ice cream. Keltz learned how dairy molecules worked with water and freezing temperatures. She uses this knowledge to make organic ice cream and experiment with different flavors.

“There’s a lot of chemistry involved in dairy and ice cream making and I really enjoy that part of it,” said Keltz. “And then the creativity of all the different flavors of pairing different things together.”

The main flavors at Skoop are strawberry with fresh fruit, cookies and cream with chocolaty brownie cookies folded into a sweet cream, peanut butter chocolate, caramel pecan, mint chip, double chocolate, vanilla and coffee.

Keltz says what makes her shop different is that everything is made of all-natural ingredients: just cream, milk, eggs, sugar, and organic cane sugar. Items like fresh fruit, nuts, baked goods, and locally sourced chocolate and coffee are added. There are no artificial syrups or flavors.

“So, majority of ice cream shops, they bring their ice cream in from outside, so they’ll have it shipped in from a manufacturer or warehouse,” said Keltz. “I’m lucky enough to be able to make everything on site so I don’t have to use any artificial ingredients or stabilizers.”

Skoop also stands apart because there are no toppings. Customers can absorb the ice cream and its flavors to experience Skoop.

“I think there’s a way to have those nostalgic flavors using all natural ingredients and have it really hit the spot for people who are an older generation or even young kids,” said Keltz.

Skoop also features ‘Lab’ flavors, which are weekly specials posted on their Instagram account every Wednesday.

Keltz also creates flavors for every season. For the holidays, she plans to make eggnog, gingerbread and holiday cookie flavors.

Along with ice cream that can be scooped into a cup or homemade waffle cone, Keltz also offers a limited ice cream sandwich. She partnered with a local business, The Art of Shortbread, to make a custom cookie with European butter with a generous layer of ice cream for a delicious and sharable treat.

If your pets are looking for a sweet treat, Skoop also offers a ‘pupsicle’ with pumpkin, yogurt, banana, peanut butter and an all-natural bone treat as the handle.

In the future, Keltz wants to create a dairy-free product that she makes in-house. She also hopes to expand and open ice cream to restaurants for wholesale business and do catering for events and parties.

Skoop

Location: 7113 E Ist Ave.Scottsdale, AZ 85251

Hours:

• Wednesday and Thursday: 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.
• Friday to Sunday: 12 p.m. to 9 p.m.
• Closed Monday and Tuesday

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