So, my husband might be an alien. Everyone knows that eating cookie dough is better than eating actual cookies – it’s practically a law of the universe, like thermodynamics and general relativity, But when I told him I was making cookie dough ice cream bars he looked at me and said, “Why would you want to do THAT?”
See? Alien. I’m going to look in the barn for pieces of his crashed spaceship when he goes to sleep tonight.
Because seriously, the best part of making cookies is sneaking a little of the dough before it gets popped into the oven.
Inspired by that moment of joy from childhood, this egg-free recipe pairs browned butter cookie dough with the creamy goodness of vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!
Cookie Dough Ice Cream Sandwiches (Grain-Free)
Equipment
- knife
- mixing bowl
- cookie sheet
- wax paper
Ingredients
- 3 ½ cups blanched almond flour
- ½ cup maple syrup (honey can be substituted if very mild flavor)
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract (how to make vanilla extract)
- ¾ cup chocolate chips
- 7 tbsp pastured butter
- ½ tsp unrefined sea salt
- 1 ½ cups homemade vanilla ice cream
Instructions
- Cut butter into four equal chunks and place in a light colored, shallow pan. Heat pan over medium high heat and stir butter until it is light brown and smells a little like hazelnuts. It’s important to watch it closely or it will burn, but browning the butter is what makes the dough so delicious. See this tutorial if you’re not quite sure what to look for. Allow butter to cool before moving on to the next step or your chocolate chips may melt a little. You can put it in the fridge if you’re in a hurry.
- Add almond flour, honey/maple syrup, vanilla, browned butter and sea salt to a food processor and mix thoroughly. If you don’t have a food processor, add all dry ingredients to a bowl and mix, then add wet ingredient and mix again. I prefer the food processor because the dough is a little more smooth.
- Stir chocolate chips into the dough. This step takes a little elbow grease.
- On a cookie sheet lined with lightly oil waxed paper, press dough flat into two separate, equal-sized rectangles. Place cookie sheet in the freezer and allow to harden for at least 5 hours. If you can’t fit the cookie sheet in the freezer, you can just lay cookie dough layers on the flattest surface you can find in the freezer. It doesn’t matter if it’s perfectly flat, because the dough will be moldable when it’s ready for use. (Kind of like modeling clay)
- Remove cookie layers from the freezer and spread ice cream over the top of one of the pieces of cookie dough.
- Place second sheet of cookie dough on top to form a sandwich, then press down firmly to evenly distribute the ice cream.
- Place cookie dough/ice cream slab in the freezer to firm up, then dip a knife in hot water and cut into bars. Wrap individually in waxed or parchment paper to store in the freezer if desired. Enjoy!
Nutrition
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Totally making this ASAP!
Is there any way to “brown” coconut oil? I’m allergic to dairy and use coconut oil as my standard butter replacement in baking.
Butter is “brownable” due to the milk proteins, so the process doesn’t really translate to coconut oil. Though it won’t have quite the same flavor, I’ve made this recipe with coconut oil and a little extra vanilla and it was good. I never could get a homemade dairy-free ice cream to work, though, because either they were too soft to use straight out of the ice cream maker or hard as a rock out of the freezer. I think there are some pretty decent dairy-free options at the store that might work . . . not sure about any specific brands, though.
Thanks Heather
I’ll try some extra vanilla and coconut palm sugar for sweetener that has a brown sugar flavor. And I’m already a sucker for SO Delicious Coconut Milk Ice “Cream” Dessert. I haven’t been courageous enough to try the ice cream maker yet since my first run in with the yogurt maker was a dismal failure.
Earth’s Natural Buttery spread would give you a more butter like flavor (I also can’t have dairy). And Purely Decadent makes some decent dairy free ice creams, or Coconut Bliss.
These look delicious! I can’t wait to try these!
For yum! How many sandwiches does this recipe make? Thanks!
What is the proper conversion for using sprouted whole wheat flour rather than almond flour as that is what we usually have on hand? PS: These look and sound AMAZING!
First of all yummy! These look delish! Secondly my husband is allergic to almonds…have you made these beauties with anything else..I really really don’t want to eat them all myself! Thanks so much
I made them with hazelnut meal.. amazing!!
Wonderful! I’m glad you enjoyed them 🙂
Oh my goodness. Really, this is the greatest idea ever. I love cookie dough! And ice cream. Unfortunately, I think I am done with sugar for the time being. I’ll just wallow in the good thought of them! This looks amazing!
Ummm…yum! I am jumping off my seat wanting to make these. Can’t wait!
We need to make this now!! Looks amazing!!! nothing beats cookies especially ice cream filled ones 😉
I’m always looking for ways to get my 12 yr old daughter in the kitchen and creating good things to eat. These cookie dough ice cream sandwiches will send her running!
Oh my goodness…. These are beautiful. 😉
Made these yesterday, they were delish’!
These look incredible! I have never baked/ cooked with almond flour before, and i’d like to make these this weekend. Do you have any reccomendations on which stores offer it? Do they sell it at Costco? Is Honeyville the best brand to go with.
I’m hungry just thinking about these sandwiches! Yum!
Honeyville is great, but not usually available in stores. You can usually find Bob’s Red Mill or something similar at health food stores.
I use Blue Diamond. I used to use Honeyville, which is more expensive, but then I realized that Honeyville used Blue Diamond almonds.
Can you use regular flour instead of almond flour? What’s the difference?
Hi Sabrina, unfortunately regular flour will not work in this recipe. Almond flour does not require as much liquid to become dough-like, so I’m afraid that substituting regular flour would result in a dry, crumbly mess.
Hi Heather! Thank you so much for all of your wonderful recipes and ideas and for all of the hard work!! These look amazing! How long will they keep in the freezer? Also, can I store them without the ice cream? We have not been able to purchase an ice cream maker just yet. Thank you!
Hi Joni, I’m not exactly sure how long they’ll last in the freezer. My family loves them so I never get to keep them around long enough to find out. Yes, you can store them without the ice cream.
This looks so good! I am always looking for ways to get healthier desserts for my family. Looking forward to trying this one! Thanks for sharing!
Wow! These are yummy. My new favorite dessert. Thanks for sharing. 😉 and Julie’s organic makes a delish vanilla coconut ice cream that paired amazingly with it for those wanting a dairy free ice cream!
These are bawilcuous! In the words of my 3 year old. (Delicious!) We all enjoyed them! Turned out just like the picture. I LOVE the flavor of the browned butter. I had some chopped pecans I added also.
SO happy to hear that, Carolyn! Bawilcuous = adorable.
Oh and my husband is also an alien. He suggested next time trying them without chocolate chips!
Haha! 😀
This. Was. AWESOME! It’s snowing here in Alberta but my son and I are still loving ice cream and this recipe was fabulous! Thank you
So glad you liked it, Lisa!
How many sandwiches does this make? Because that’s lot of almond flour (to me) and I just want to make sure it’s worth it.