Gluten Free Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwich Recipe (Dairy Free, Only 7 Ingredients)

This post is sponsored by my friends at Coconut Bliss.

Creamy banana ice cream flecked with brownie bits and fudge swirl, layered with fresh banana and smashed between chocolate brownie cookies. Gluten free. Plant based. And really dang delicious! This recipe is so easy and delightfully fun to make. Decadent, of course, but with “health” snuck in. Don’t you just love when treats are good for you? It’s like hitting the jackpot.

The first time I tried the new Coconut Bliss flavor Golden Banana Brownie Swirl I knew I had to do something extra special with it. Especially considering it’s made with three of my favorite superfoods: banana, chocolate and turmeric!

The recipe is super simple.

1. Mix the cookie dough in one bowl.

2. Roll it out.

3. Bake it in 10 mins.

4. Cool.

5. Then spread ice cream, and smoosh.

6. Refreeze. DONE.

This recipe is high payoff, low effort. Perfect for cooling down on hot days, and immensely impressive as a dinner party dessert. 

The key is the cookie recipe. It is soft enough that when it freezes it is bitable and very similar to the classic chocolate ice cream sandwiches I ate in my pre-celiac days. And of course it is deeply chocolatey. Each bite of ice cream sandwich packs maximum nostalgia factor.

This is a great gluten free chocolate cookie for any homemade ice cream sandwich. I would absolutely make it with vanilla ice cream, but you could also do just about any flavor that pairs with chocolate.

Now let’s talk about this ice cream for a minute. Coconut Bliss has been a favorite of mine for about 9 years, ever since I first went dairy free in 2011. They’ve always had the highest standards of dairy free ice creams on the market, being certified Organic and using simple ingredients to make their ice creams. All of their flavors meet my high standards, which is why their vanilla ice cream is my go-to. I always have a pint in my freezer.

But this Golden Banana Brownie Swirl flavor… I mean WOW. Pure deliciousness. The base is coconut milk, the banana flavor comes from pure banana puree and the lightly golden color comes from turmeric. There’s a fudge swirl (made of only agave, cocoa, vanilla) and the gluten free brownie bits are made with brown rice flour, tapioca flour, cocoa and coconut sugar. I couldn’t have made this ice cream better myself!

Now, the main “effort” involved in this recipe is making the cookies. And I’m putting “effort” in air quotes because these might be the easiest cookies I’ve ever made.

They are just 6 ingredients:

• almond meal,

• maple syrup,

• coconut oil,

• chocolate,

• a pinch of salt

• and splash of vanilla.

No leavening. No complex process. Simple. We LIKE simple. The result is a soft brownie-cookie that’s sweet but not too sweet. Most importantly, they’re easy to bite into straight out of the freezer.

That being said, go grab yourself a pint of ice cream and give this recipe a go!

xo — Renee

Gluten Free Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwich

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Yield: 12 cookies, 6 ice cream sandwiches

Author: Renee Byrd

Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 10 MinInactive time: 1 HourTotal time: 1 H & 20 M

This classic chocolate cookie sandwich is gluten free, dairy free and egg free. The cookie is 6 ingredients and bakes in 10 minutes. Then you sandwich in the ice cream and refreeze. Done!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups almond meal
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 1/4 cup (2 oz) dark chocolate chips
• pinch sea salt + more for topping cookies
• splash vanilla extract or almond liqueur
• 1 pint Ice Cream
• Optional: 1 ripe banana

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (this is a must otherwise the cookies will stick to your baking sheet).
2. Add 1 1/2 cups almond meal, 1/4 cup maple syrup and 1 tbsp room temp coconut oil to a mixing bowl. Stir loosely together into a slurry.
3. In a small sauce pot combine the 1/4 cup chocolate chips and remaining 1 tbsp coconut oil. Melt and stir together over low heat until beginning to melt, them cut off the heat. Allow ambient heat to melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil, stirring to completely combine.
4. Add melted chocolate to the almond meal slurry along with a pinch sea salt and splash vanilla extract (or almond liqueur). Stir everything together until you get a sticky, glossy ball of dough.
5. Pat your cookie dough into a rough ball and add to the center of your parchment lined baking sheet. Top the cookie dough ball with another sheet of parchment paper and use a rolling pin to roll the cookie dough out into a rectangle (about 1/4” thick). Sprinkle with a generous pinch of flakey sea salt.
6. See section 2 for shaping instructions.

For SQUARE Ice Cream Sandwiches

1. Prick the rectangle of cookie dough all over with the tines of a fork and bake for 10 mins on the center rack. Let cool to room temp. Then cut your big cookie down the center (as pictured). Freeze your cookie for 10 mins. While the cookies are freezing, remove your ice cream from the freezer to soften up a bit.
2. Remove the cold cookie from the freezer and spread the ice cream out evenly on each half of your cookie.
3. If using optional banana, slice a banana into coins and add to one half of the ice cream covered cookie. Lift one side of the cookie and gently place on the other side, pressing down to bring everything together.
4. Use a spoon to even out outside edges of the ice cream sandwich, then refreeze for minimum 1 hour. Once hard frozen cut into squares and either serve immediately or refreeze until ready to eat. Best kept frozen and stored sealed in tupperware.

For CIRCLE Cookies

1. Use a round cookie cutter (or mason jar lid) to cut out circles in your large rectangle of cookie dough. Carefully remove the excess cookie dough from between the cut out circles. You can EITHER roll out the excess cookie dough and repeat OR simple make golf-ball sized balls out of the excess dough and press to flatten into circles. NOTE: cut-out cookies are more delicate and hard to move but are aesthetically more attractive, keep that in mind. Spread the circle cookies out a bit on your baking sheet — they do not rise or spread. Prick each cookie all over with a fork.
2. Bake for 9 mins on the center rack. Remove, let cool to room temp.
3. Then freeze your cookies for 10 minutes. While the cookies are freezing, remove your ice cream from the freezer to soften up a bit.
4. Remove the cold cookies from the freezer and add a BIG scoop of ice cream to half of your cookies.
5. If using optional banana, slice banana into coins and press the banana coins into the ice cream.
6. Top each ice cream scoop with another cookie and press firmly together to spread the ice cream to the edges. Use a spoon to even out the outside edges, then refreeze for minimum 1 hour.
7. Once hard frozen cut either serve immediately as-is or refreeze until ready to eat. I prefer to cut the circles in half for better portion control. Best kept frozen and stored sealed in tupperware.

Recommended Products

Nordic Ware Sheet Pans

Biscuit / Cookie Cutters

Anti Freeze Ice Cream Scoop

This post is sponsored by Coconut Bliss.