Vanilla-bean ice cream sandwiches {grain-free}

Chewy chocolate cookies. Rich vanilla bean ice cream.

One of my childhood loves was ice cream sandwiches. You know the ones I mean. Wrapped in paper. Rectangles of chocolate cake-style cookie on the outside, with super-sweet faux vanilla ice cream inside. I loved to squish them slightly as they got melty, running my tongue around the edge to catch the ice cream.

For my second frozen treat of July, I updated that childhood favorite, making grain-free cookies from nut meal. And real vanilla bean ice cream, egg yolks and all. But no dairy. Instead, I used coconut milk, like the Culinary Coconut Milk from So Delicious. Once frozen, these taste remarkably like my childhood treat. Which is even more surprising as I used carob powder in place of cocoa powder, and no heavy cream.

If you wish to make the ice cream vegan, omit the egg yolks and substitute 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum or 2 tsp. organic cornstarch. Make a slurry with either of these and some of the coconut milk, then whisk into the coconut milk on the stove and heat until it thickens and coats the back of a spoon.

Migraine peeps: Use sunflower seeds ground into flour for the cookies, and carob powder instead of cocoa powder. While these do have a small amount of natural sweetener, they should be okay for an occasional treat.

Tips for making ice cream sandwiches without swearing a blue streak:

1. Make sure your cookies are completely cool. Then freeze them for at least 30 minutes.
2. Once you’ve churned your ice cream, scoop small, uniform scoops onto a frozen baking sheet covered in parchment paper or a silicone sheet. Freeze until very firm.
3. Have a second frozen sheet ready for your sandwiches as you make them.
4. Use an offset or metal spatula to move the ice cream scoops from the sheet onto the flat side of the bottom cookie. Smush ice cream a little as you top it with the second cookie.
5. Put back in the freezer ASAP.
6. If wrapping in waxed paper (recommended for longer-term storage), pre-cut all the paper and twine. Then wrap 2 or 3 at a time, returning to freezer ASAP.

Suitable for:

Vegan, vegetarian, paleo, grain-free, dairy-free, low-sodium, migraine, gluten-free, reduced-sugar diets
This is a Sweet entry in the So Delicious and Go Dairy Free Snackable Recipe Contest

You might also like:

Margarita ice cream sandwiches from Cooking Light (traditional)
Clean eating/primal Whoa! ice cream sandwiches from Clean Eating with a Dirty Mind
Raw ice cream sandwiches from Detoxinista

Vanilla-bean ice cream sandwiches {grain-free}

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 30 mins

Cook Time 15 mins

Total Time 4 hrs 45 mins

Course Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine American

Servings 16 sandwiches

Ingredients

  

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Flourless chocolate cookies

• 9.85 ounces almonds (2-1/2 cups) sunflower seeds, pecans, walnuts (use sunflower seeds for migraine diet)
• 2.1 ounces cocoa powder 3/4 cup (use carob powder for migraine diet)
• 3/4 cup agave syrup or honey
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract

Vanilla bean ice cream

• 2 cups coconut milk can use light canned coconut milk or Culinary Coconut Milk from So Delicious
• 3 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup agave syrup or honey
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1-2 vanilla beans seeds only

Instructions

 

Flourless cookies

• Grind the nuts or seeds into a flour in a food processor as follows: Add about 1/3 of the nuts or seeds and 1/3 of the cocoa or carob powder. Process until the nuts or seeds are finely ground. Don't overprocess or it will start turning into nut butter. Dump out into a large mixing bowl. Repeat until all nuts/seeds are ground.
• Mix in the remaining ingredients, stirring until completely mixed.
• Preheat oven to 325F/165C/gas mark 3. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
• Drop batter in one tablespoon measures, then spread into a circle with your spoon. Try to make them as uniform in size as possible.
• Bake for 15 minutes until cookies are firm. Cool completely, then freeze.

Vanilla bean ice cream

• Bring coconut milk to a simmer in a medium saucepan.
• In a stand mixer (or using a whisk or hand mixer), beat egg yolks, agave syrup or honey, vanilla extract, and vanilla seeds until light colored. (See above for vegan instructions.)
• Slowly stream in the hot milk mixture while beating continuously.
• Chill overnight, then churn according to your ice cream maker's directions.
• See above for best results assembling the sandwiches. You will have more ice cream than cookies.

Notes

Per sandwich:

• 244 calories
• 16 g fat
• 7 g saturated fat
• 6 g monounsaturated fat
• 2 g polyunsaturated fat
• 0 g trans fat
• 35 g cholesterol
• 7 mg sodium
• 264 mg potassium
• 24 g carbohydrate
• 4 g fiber
• 18 g sugars
• 6 g protein
• 7 Weight Watchers Points Plus

Calculated using MyFitnessPal.