Made with just a 4 ingredients, these Vegan Ice Cream Sandwiches are gluten-free, dairy-free and make the perfect summer treat!
Hi Friends!
Time to highlight another recipe from the archives! I first shared these ice cream sandwiches about 2 years ago, but the pictures didn’t really do them justice. Since I find them to be the perfect summer treat and make them all the time myself, I figured it was worth re-sharing them!
Here’s the deal. These are super simple. The “ice cream” is the ever-popular banana soft serve (ie just blended up frozen bananas) and the “sandwich” part is made with dates and nuts! You just know i love that banana & nut butter combo! You don’t have to spend a lot of time making these look pretty. As you can tell by the photos, I didn’t. The edges aren’t perfect, there are a few cracks, the ice cream is lopsided in some. Trust me when I tell you it won’t affect the taste!
Here’s how you make them:
PrintVegan Ice Cream Sandwiches
Ingredients
- 1 cup dates, chopped
- 1/2 c almonds
- 1/2 c nut butter
- 2–3 medium bananas, cut into chunks & frozen
- unsweetened cocoa powder, optional
Instructions
- In a food processor, combine the ingredients and pulse until well combined.
- Transfer mixture to a piece of saran wrap, squeeze dough into a ball and freeze for 20 minutes.
- Unwrap, divide in half and place 1/2 the dough on a piece of parchment paper. Place another piece of parchment paper on top and press to flatten. Cut equal sized squares for your sandwiches, gather the scrap edges and repeat.
- Repeat with other half of dough then place all sandwich parts in the freezer.
- Place banana chunks in the food processor and process until a smooth ice cream/fro-yo consistency is reached.
- Put ice cream in freezer for 20 minutes to harden slightly.
- Remove everything from the freezer, spoon some ice cream onto one square, top with another and gently press top and bottom together to make an ice cream sandwich.
- Wrap each sandwich individually in saran wrap and place in the freezer until desired firmness is reached.
Notes
You have to work quickly or the ice cream will get too melty. [br]I’d recommend wrapping each one as soon as you make the sandwich and putting it in the freezer. If you try to set them on a plate or pan as you work, the ice cream will melt and the tops will slide off.
Please make sure to read the notes section in the recipe above or you’ll end up with a melty mess! I don’t use cocoa powder in mine but if you want a more chocolatey flavor for the ice cream part you could add some. I used a small glass to make my sandwich sides circle and help ensure they were all the same size! You can just eyeball it if you want.
[Tweet “These Vegan Ice Cream Sandwiches from @leangrnbeanblog are the perfect summer treat!”]
Enjoy!
–Lindsay–
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You had me at vegan. Too bad I’m just getting into bed. I want these now!
Looks great Linds!
These look amazing! I love dates.
I’m not a banana fan so I’m thinking maybe blending up fresh coconut meat for “ice cream.”
I remember these from a couple of years ago. Now I really want to make them!
I love that there’s no baking and no churning! How easy!
you had me at ice cream! haha
Love these sandwiches and the new header!! 🙂
These look so delicious (and easy to make!). Thanks for sharing–look like the perfect summer treat 🙂 XOXO and hope you have a very happy 4th!!
I love this idea! Its awesome that you made a classic treat with nutritious whole foods 🙂
These are such an amazing idea! So simple, but I envision I would eat at least three haha.
Such a perfect healthy sweet treat Lindsay!
Yum! Happy 4th weekend!
I feel like I was part of this ice creams journey. It looks SO good and I pray that you finish the damn pie tonight. Also. LOVE the new header and colour contrast. yes coloUr. (Aussie pride)
These look absolutely AWESOME! 🙂
The photos look good. I didn’t know there was any faults until I started reading the post. Its always trial and error when trying a new recipe, can’t alway get a perfect picture like professional cooks. But you have done a good job *Thumbs Up* If you have a nut allergy can you recommend how I can change the recipe?
★★★★★
you could try a mix of pumpkin and sunflower seeds for the almonds and use sunflower seed butter
Hi Lindsay, I tried this very creative recipe today. It was delicious but I had trouble with making the sandwich part. I didn’t understand your directions for cutting the squares. Did you meant to cut the parchment paper? I wasn’t sure so I ended up with a bit of a mess that doesn’t look like your Ice cream sandwich photo at all – but definitely a delicious mess. Could you provide me with more detailed directions? Thank you!
check out the original post. i used saran wrap instead of parchment paper but you can see how i press the dough flat, then cut into squares. then choose two of the squares, put the ice cream on top of one, top with the other to make a sandwich and wrap it up in saran wrap -https://www.theleangreenbean.com/healthy-ice-cream-sandwiches/
GREAT idea! so easy, and I know so flavorful! cannot wait to make these, we are in for another hot week here in Portland, I think ice cream sandwiches are in my very near future…
I love making ice cream out of bananas! Love the idea of the date sandwiches.
Nice recipe idea! Seems like a perfect snack this summer!