Brownie Ice Cream Sandwich

This brownie ice cream sandwich features no bake, gluten free vegan brownies that serve as the thick, chocolatey sandwich around melty ice cream.

Failure sometimes results in some of our greatest successes. Like this recipe, which was supposed to be a birthday cake. My parents were in town to celebrate their 60th birthdays, and we wanted to create a delicious, special cake in their honor. I had decided to go out on a limb and try my own version of a raw cake, something like this one, with a frosting made only of bananas, cocoa powder and honey. It was a bit of a risk, and, like any risk, had the distinct possibility of failure. When the banana frosting came out as strange-tasting banana goo, I was crushed. Keep reading for how this brownie ice cream sandwich saved the day.

Making this brownie ice cream sandwich

Luckily, Alex saved the day with his suggestion to turn the cake into an ice cream sandwich. A brownie ice cream sandwich, at that! It’s basically a play on this raw brownie recipe, my mom’s all time favorite dessert.

There are a lot of great things about this brownie ice cream sandwich. First, it’s no bake, which makes it easy to assemble! Then it’s gluten-free, which makes it versatile for serving to those with allergies. And it’s vegan if you use vegan ice cream! It’s easy to find vanilla vegan ice cream at the grocery these days, but you can also use our Salted Chocolate Vegan Ice Cream Recipe or Mint Chocolate Chip Vegan Ice Cream But above all, they are truly delicious, with the slightly gooey texture of those “real” ice cream sandwiches from the store that come wrapped in paper. They were a huge hit, and a great finale to the birthday dinner.

A note on Medjool dates

This brownie ice cream sandwich recipe calls for Medjool dates for the brownie portion. What are Medjool dates? These days, it’s likely you’ve had them even if you don’t know it! Medjool dates are large, chewy and sweet dates that are used to make natural sweets like Larabars. It is important to find Medjool dates for this recipe, because they’re important for the texture: no substitutions! We were able to find them sold in bulk at our local grocery; they are also available for sale online.

We thought these might be a nice idea for a Memorial Day treat, with that holiday quickly approaching. And, they’re a nice lesson in failure – while we only share the recipes and photos that turn out here, there are hundreds of failures behind the successes!

Looking for vegan dessert recipes?

And that’s it: how to make this brownie ice cream sandwich! We hope you enjoy them: let us know in the comments below. If you’re looking for more vegan dessert recipes outside of this, here are a few of our favorites:

• Bliss Bites (Healthy No-Bake Cookies)
• Decadent Vegan Chocolate Cake
• Chewy Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
• Pecan Butter Millionaire Bars
• Granola Instant Pot Apple Crisp
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse
• Maple Vegan Blondies
• Chocolate Tahini Vegan No Bake Cookies
• Chocolate Cherry Dessert Bites
• Blackberry Vegan Cheesecake Bites
• Fudgy Vegan Brownie Recipe
• Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp (use vegan variation)
• Bananas Foster with a Perfect Flambé

This brownie ice cream sandwich recipe is…

Vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, plant-based, and dairy-free.

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Brownie Ice Cream Sandwich

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This brownie ice cream sandwich features no bake, gluten free vegan brownies that serve as the thick, chocolatey sandwich around melty ice cream.

• Author: a Couple Cooks
• Prep Time: 45 minutes
• Cook Time: 0 minutes
• Total Time: 45 minutes
• Yield: 4 sandwiches 1x
• Category: Dessert
• Method: Frozen
• Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 2 cups walnuts
• ½ cup cocoa powder
• 8 medjool dates
• 2 pinches salt
• 1 cup vegan vanilla ice cream (or use our Mint Vegan Ice Cream or Chocolate Vegan Ice Cream)

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Instructions

1. In the bowl of a food processor, process the walnuts, cocoa powder, and 2 pinches kosher salt.
2. Remove the pits from the medjool dates. Turn on the processor and add each date to the bowl, stopping when rough crumbles form.
3. Line a baking sheet with wax paper. Pour out the crumbles onto the wax paper and press them together into a thin layer, about 1/4-inch thick. Cut into 8 circles with a circular biscuit cutter, about 2 ½ inches in diameter. Use the “scraps” after cutting a few circles and press them together again to form all 8 circles. Place the baking sheet in the freezer and freeze for 30 minutes until firm.
4. Remove the baking sheet from the freezer and spread vanilla ice cream onto 4 cookies, using your fingers or a spoon to shape it. Top with the remaining cookies and freeze again until ready to enjoy.

Notes

Medjool dates are a type of date that is exceptionally large and sweet; it is preferable to use Medjool in this recipe instead of substituting another type of date. They are available in bulk or prepackaged in major grocery stores, and are also available for sale online.