Easy Ice Cream Sandwiches

Cashew + Vanilla + Banana + Chocolate Fudge... this is what summertime tastes like ? I don't know about you, but despite making ice cream all the time, I rarely feel tenacious enough to put in the extra effort for ice cream sandwiches. It happens, but more often than not a spoon and a bowl full of ice cream is plenty fine. However, for some reason I was really in the mood for some ice cream wedged between soft, chocolatey, nostalgic type "cookies", and so I ended up with these puppies. No baking, no churning, but lots of delicious "ice cream" in sandwich form seemed the way to go...

I blame the health food shop I frequent -- they have this ice cream freezer right at the checkout. Of course I hardly ever buy ice cream from the store, mostly because I love making my own (because they're easy / you can make odd flavors) and because the store-bought versions use refined sugar which I don't do so well with. But that never stops me from admiring all the different products. You know, dessert window shopping. Somehow in the back of my mind there's a tiny hope there'll be a version I could just buy for a change ?... haven't found one that ticked all the boxes yet, BUT there was this chocolate vanilla round sandwich in that freezer that got me longing for an unconventional version...

So to make this a No-Fuss recipe, I started off with one giant round "sandwich" using my 4" mini springform pan. You astute people may realize that's way too much ice cream to handle in one sitting, even for us certified ice cream monsters (you know who you are), so I ended up cutting it into slices. You could easily make this in a square, small tupperware container lined with parchment and cut it into strips, which is sort of reminiscent in flavor and texture to something like this. If you like the "cookie" thicker, double the sandwich part ingredients. You could also make the ice cream filling softer by adding a teaspoon of tapioca powder -- totally optional (I didn't do that) -- just want to make sure all potential cravings are covered here ?

So...The middle filling is like banana nice cream, but transformed into more of a real-deal ice cream affair thanks to creamy, naturally sweet cashew butter and a hint of maple. The "cookie" part is soft, chewy, and fudgey. If you love a good ice cream sandwich, this will be uber satisfying, especially for the little amount of effort involved ?

This can easily be turned into an ice cream "cake" by the way. I was having these for breakfast... and for snack bites, and dessert.... you get the picture. Despite the fact that I kept these little treasures all for myself, they would be great for sharing with company -- especially for those times when the last thing you want to be doing is wrestling with scooping out hard messy ice cream...

Easy Ice Cream Sandwiches

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• Author: Audrey @ Unconventional Baker
• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: 30 minutes
• Yield: 6 servings
• Category: Ice Cream
• Method: No-Churn
• Cuisine: Dessert

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Description

Soft, chewy, fudgey cookie sandwich filled with rich vegan banana ice cream. Dairy-free, gluten-free and refined sugar-free.

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Ingredients

Sandwich Part:

• 7 tbsp white rice flour (I used a finely ground one)
• 4 tbsp maple syrup
• 2 tbsp cashew butter
• 2 tbsp cacao powder
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/16 tsp salt

Ice Cream Filling:

• 3 frozen bananas
• 3 tbsp cashew butter
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• ⅛ tsp salt

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Instructions

1. Process all sandwich part ingredients in a food processor until the mixture begins to form a ball (note if the mixture is too runny, add a bit more flour, if too dry, add a bit more maple syrup, since the consistency may vary depending on the cashew butter's consistency). Form the mixture into a ball with your hands and knead briefly, then flatten into a disk. Roll the disk out with a rolling pin between two sheets of parchment into approx. an ⅛" consistency. Use the round base of a 4" springform pan to trace a circle in the dough, cut out the circle and set aside for a moment (this will be the top of your sandwich). Gather the remaining dough, form into a ball then flatten into a disk and roll it out a bit to roughly the size of the springform pan base again. Return the base of your springform pan into the pan. Place the disk of dough inside the assembled pan and press down into a flat crust (this will be the bottom of your ice cream sandwich). Set aside.
2. Blend all ice cream ingredients in a high power blender into a smooth consistency (use the tamper if using a vitamix to get best results). Pour this filling over the base layer in the springform pan and tap the pan down to smooth out the top. Place the pan in the freezer for 1 hour to allow the mixture to firm up a bit.
3. Once the mixture is a little bit firmer to the touch, remove from freezer and carefully place the top sandwich layer circle (which you've prepared and set aside in step 1) on top of the ice cream layer. Return back to the freezer and freeze for an additional 3-4 hours to let the mixture fully set. Then remove from the springform pan, cut into 6 pieces and enjoy! (Store leftovers in the freezer).