the ultimate vegan ice cream sandwich

I scream, you scream, we all scream for (vegan) ice cream! Well... a vegan ice cream sandwich, to be exact. Any excuse to bake vegan cookies, am I right? Especially when you can turn them into a dessert sandwich and fill them with frozen banana deliciousness.

This recipe is the damn best because there's so much room for your creative cookin' self to improvise! Throw some delicious ingredients into the ice cream and make it your own. Feel free to add other ingredients to the mix like chocolate, peanut butter, various nuts, cherries, berries, or other fruits for endless days of ice cream all summer long. I personally was just craving these caramelized bananas!

This recipe was featured exclusively in LAIKA magazine a while back. They invited me to be in their fourth issue with Emily Deschanel on the cover! Amazing, I know! 

the ultimate vegan ice cream sandwich

Get your ice cream sandwich face on with this caramelized banana pecan version stuffed between chewy oatmeal cookies!

5 from 1 vote

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Course: Dessert

Keyword: banana, ice cream sandwiches, summer, vegan ice cream sandwich

Prep Time: 45 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 22 minutes minutes

Freeze until solid: 1 hour hour

Total Time: 1 hour hour 7 minutes minutes

Servings: 12 sandwiches

Author: Lauren Toyota

Ingredients

oatmeal cookies

• ▢ 2 C all-purpose flour
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ▢ 1 C vegan butter
• ▢ 1 C brown sugar
• ▢ 1 C white sugar
• ▢ ¼ C nondairy milk
• ▢ 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 mashed ripe banana
• ▢ 3 C rolled oats

caramelized banana pecan ice cream

• ▢ 3 ripe bananas (not frozen)
• ▢ ¼ C maple syrup
• ▢ 2 tablespoon vegan butter
• ▢ 1 C pecans
• ▢ 2 frozen bananas, sliced
• ▢ ½ C coconut cream

Instructions

• Start by making the cookies in advance. Preheat your oven to 350°F.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and sea salt with a fork and set aside.
• In a separate mixing bowl and using a hand mixer, beat the vegan butter together with the brown and white sugar until creamy. Add vanilla extract, nondairy milk, and banana and beat until well combined.
• Add the wet ingredients to the mixing bowl of dry ingredients and combine together using a wooden spoon, then fold in the rolled oats.
• Spoon approximately 2 tablespoons of cookie dough for each cookie onto an ungreased baking sheet and slightly flatten it with your hand. These will spread out quite a bit, so make sure you leave some space between cookies.
• Bake for 15 minutes, then allow to cool completely on a rack before assembling the ice cream sandwiches.
• To make the caramelized bananas, heat a non-stick pan to medium. Slice the 3 fresh bananas length wise and place them in the pan with 2 tablespoons of vegan butter and maple syrup.
• Spoon the liquid over the bananas to get them coated, and let the mixture start to bubble and caramelize. Once the liquid gets slightly thicker and more like a caramel, remove from the heat and place the entire mixture into a parchment lined dish.
• Once it has cooled off, freeze the mixture until it’s solid again. While this mixture is freezing, you can make your cookies (as per above) and toast the pecans for the ice cream.
• Toast pecans in a non-stick pan on medium heat for approximately 6 to 7 minutes, making sure to toss frequently. Allow them to cool, then chop into pieces with a knife or run them through a food processor. Set aside until you assemble the rest of the ice cream.
• To finish the ice cream, break up your frozen caramelized banana mixture and place in a food processor.
• Add in the two more frozen bananas and coconut cream. Run the food processor until the frozen bananas start to become like soft serve ice cream. You may need to stop the food processor and push the mixture to the bottom with a spatula a couple of times. Once the mixture is well combined, you can transfer it to a serving dish or bowl and fold in half of the chopped pecans, reserving the other half for the outside of the sandwiches.
• To assemble the ice cream sandwiches, place one scoop of ice cream on the bottom of one cookie. Place another cookie on top and slightly press down until the ice cream is nicely spread out to the edges.
• Using your hands, you can gently press chopped pecans to the sides of the ice cream. Serve immediately, or wrap them in parchment paper and freeze to save for a later date. If you do this, just thaw the sandwiches for 10 to 15 minutes before serving. Feel free to add other ingredients to the mix like chocolate, peanut butter, various nuts, cherries, berries, or other fruits for endless days of ice cream all summer long!