It’s no secret that homemade ice cream is the BEST ice cream, right? But why not take it up a notch with this ice cream sandwich recipe? Below you’ll find a healthier version with paleo cookies and naturally-sweetened ice cream.
What can you make out of ice cream?
So you’ve got a killer ice cream recipe (who doesn’t love a classic homemade vanilla?) and you’re wondering what else you can do with it. There are the usual toppings like chocolate syrup, or caramel.
Banana splits, of course. Floats and Sundaes.
But today, we give you a healthy homemade ice cream sandwich recipe. Really, ice cream sandwiched between two cookies is a no brainer.
Who made ice cream sandwiches?
According to the book “Of Sugar and Snow: A History of Ice Cream Making” by Jeri Quinzio, a pushcart peddler in the Bowery in 1899 was the first to create ice cream sandwiches. It’s said that the original ice cream sandwich consisted of a blob of ice cream between two thin graham wafers, which provided a cleaner, easier way to quickly eat ice cream with one’s hands.
Well, no offense to the original, but we can get a little fancier than graham wafers!
What is the ice cream sandwich made of?
While you can find ice cream sandwiches in stores everywhere that generally consist of vanilla ice cream sandwiched between chocolate wafer cookies, making homemade ice cream sandwiches allows for endless (& healthier!) options.
All you need is your favorite ice cream and some type of cookie. We like to use the Best Ever Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies along with our Perfect Vanilla Soft Serve.
Who makes the best ice cream sandwich?
You, of course. 😉
Popular brands include Skinny Cow, Julie’s Organic, and America’s Choice. However, most store bought options contain allergenic and unhealthy ingredients. When you make them at home, you can customize the ingredients to meet your needs. See the ice cream sandwich recipe below for a delicious option.
Perfect Vanilla Soft Serve
Ingredients
- 2 cups cream raw or grassfed organic
- 1 cup raw milk or almond milk
- 3 pastured eggs
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup light raw honey
- 1 tsp. vanilla
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a blender.
- Blend on high until well-combined, for about 20-30 seconds. Do not overblend.
- Pour into ice cream maker bowl and follow manufacturers' instructions. (Should take about 25-30 minutes to freeze well.)
Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup salted butter softened (or replace with fat of choice for strict paleo)
- 1/3 cup palm shortening
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar
- 1/2 cup honey
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/3 cup tapioca flour
- 2/3 cup coconut flour
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- 1 cup pecan pieces I prefer my paleo chocolate chip cookies with pecans, but you can omit to keep them nut-free.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º.
- Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Using a hand mixer, put butter and shortening in a large mixing bowl and cream together.
- Add coconut sugar and honey and mix once more.
- Add the eggs, baking soda, and vanilla and mix on high until ingredients are combined well and smooth.
- Carefully add tapioca flour a little at a time and mix as you go, then add coconut flour and finish combining with the hand mixer on high.
- Add the chocolate chips and optional pecans and mix once more until distributed.
- Let the dough rest for about 15 minutes.
- Place tablespoon-sized balls of dough about two inches apart on the cookie sheets. I like to only bake one sheet at a time because the bottom rack always cooks a little differently, so I could in two batches.
- Bake for approximately 10-12 minutes (ovens vary). They will begin to brown on the edges when they are done.
- When you remove them from the oven, they will be a bit crumbly. Let them sit on the cookie sheet undisturbed for about ten minutes before transferring to a cooling rack, otherwise they will not hold up as well.
Ice cream sandwich recipe: how to assemble them
Once you have the above recipes completed, the assembly is pretty simple.
For best results, put your cookies in the freezer for a couple of hours so they are nice and firm and less likely to break or crumble.
You have two options with the ice cream. You can spread it on the cookies, which is fast and simple and works fine. You can also freeze it and cut circles to fit in the cookies if you want them to look really nice.
To freeze and cut your ice cream:
- Spread ice cream evenly in a dish (9 X 13 works) so that the ice cream is about 1″ to 1 1/2″ thick.
- Freeze for a couple hours so the ice cream is firm.
- Use a circle cookie cutter that is approximately the same size as your cookies (you can size your cookies accordingly before baking) to cut circles out of the ice cream.
- Use a thin spatula to lift the circles out of the dish and place on cooled/frozen cookies.
- If the ice cream doesn’t stick to the cookies well, you can use damp fingers to wet the ice cream before attaching it to the cookies.
- You can pop them back in the freezer before serving if they need to firm back up. See below for tips on storing.
How do you wrap an ice cream sandwich?
You’ll want to wrap you cookie sandwiches up before storing or freezing. Wax paper is a good choice to wrap ice cream sandwiches, as well as parchment paper.
Cut your paper into a long rectangle and fold it to double or triple it, making it thicker and less likely to tear. Start on one end of the paper and roll the sandwich in it until it’s well-covered. Stack cookies to keep paper from unrolling, or use a piece of string to tie them up (which can be cute and festive).
How do you store homemade ice cream sandwiches?
Once you have wrapped your cookies according to the above directions, store the sandwiches in a freezer-safe container with a lid. They should last for several weeks if stored in an air-tight container.
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