If I told you I had a recipe for something so delicious and satisfying that also happened to be gluten-free, dairy free, and vegan, would you believe me? These peanut butter and jelly ice cream sandwiches are exactly that.
I discovered this recipe a year ago and tweaked it to the way I liked it, but I honestly didn’t expect to love these as much as I did, not to mention my kids. They’re a little salty and sweet from the cookie and a bunch of refreshing from the strawberry ice cream. These are definitely an ice cream sandwich I feel good about feeding my crew. And if I’m being honest, I sneak my fair share as well.
These peanut butter and jelly ice cream sandwiches are also no-bake! Did I forget to mention that? Because not only are they yummy and healthy, they are very simple to make! I recommend doubling the recipe so you have enough to eat now and some to save. These little bites are a great summer treat on these exceptionally hot days and freeze really well. You can leave them out a few minutes at room temperature to soften up but not too long so they aren’t a melting mess.
A way I like to save time with this recipe is to use my favorite vanilla ice cream flavor and blend the strawberries in. I have used both vanilla bean coconut milk and oat milk ice creams, but feel free to use regular vanilla ice cream, almond milk ice cream, or whatever you like!
Enjoy these with your favorite people because if the heat isn’t going anywhere, at least we can be with those we love eating something we love.
Peanut Butter and Jelly Ice Cream Sandwiches
Ingredients
- 1 cup roasted lightly salted peanuts
- ½ cup raw almonds
- ⅓ cup dates pitted, about 7 large dates
- ½ cup salted creamy peanut butter without added sugar
- sea salt coarse
- 16 oz vanilla bean oat milk ice cream or any ice cream type of your choosing
- 1 cup strawberries chopped and divided
Instructions
- In a blender or food processor, chop the almonds and peanuts into a meal texture. If you chop too much, you'll have nut butter. Pour into a bowl and set aside.
- In the same blender or food processor, add the dates and chop into small pieces. Add in the peanut butter and nut meal and pulse to combine, scraping the sides. You may need to pour into a large bowl and mix by hand until all combined.
- Scoop out about 1 T of dough (or more or less depending on size of sandwiches you want) and roll into a ball. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. With a fork, press down crosswise in 2 directions on each cookie until slightly flattened and lighlty sprinkle sea salt on each. Freeze for at least 1 hour until hardened.
- While cookies are freezing, make your strawberry ice cream by putting your pint (or 16 ounces) of ice cream in a blender and add ½ cup of chopped strawberries. Pulse gently a few times to combine, until the color changes to pink. Stir in by hand the remaining ½ cup of strawberries. Pour back into your ice cream container or another container that can be sealed shut. Put back into the freezer to let harden.
- When both the cookies and ice cream are hardened, remove them from the freezer and let each sit out a few minutes. To assemble the sandwiches, scoop as much ice cream as you'd like on half of the cookies. Using the cookies that do not have ice cream, press down on the the cookies with ice cream to slighly flatten and form a sandwich. Place in the freezer until ready to eat. Let sit out at room temperature a few minutes before serving. Enjoy!
