A summer treat with pantry staples. Ice cream sounds difficult to make, and I certainly don’t want to try it right now. Nice cream, on the other hand, is really delicious and simple, as long as you have a pretty good blade. If you’re not familiar, nice cream is just blended frozen bananas, which is a great alternative if regular ice cream upsets your stomach.
I was inspired to make this after going to the beach and seeing ice cream carts with Choco Tacos and the cookie sandwiches that everyone passed around in grade school. I make cookies all the time so I figured, why not?!
What you need: Hand/electric mixer, parchment paper, a good blender or food processor, cookie sheets
Time: 1 hour (plus more for freezing ice cream)
Makes: About 10 sandwiches
For the Cookies:
- 1 3/4 cups rolled oats
- 1 cup of packed brown sugar
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup of melted coconut oil
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup of dark chocolate chunks
- 1/2 cup of white chocolate chips
For the Nice Cream:
- 3 ripe frozen bananas
- 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon of ground coffee (I used a Trader Joe’s Keurig cup)
- 4 tablespoons of almond milk
Directions:
Cut bananas into small slices and place flat in a plastic bag. Freeze for four hours or overnight.
To make the nice cream, add frozen banana, cocoa powder, coffee and almond milk to a food processor and blend until creamy and smooth, about 4 minutes. You may need to pause and scrape down the sides to get the cocoa incorporated. A nutribullet and Vitamix should work as well. Once complete, transfer to a bowl and place into the freezer.
To make the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl combine the oats, flour, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, canola oil, egg, and vanilla. Beat with a mixer on medium until the dough is incorporated. The dough will be crumbly. Mix in chocolate chunks and chips.
Using your hands, take a large spoonful of dough and squeeze it vigorously into a ball. The dough will want to separate a bit so try to keep it together! Repeat and place cookie balls on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. the dough clump together a tablespoon of dough.
Bake for 15 minutes or golden. After cooling for a few minutes, take a spoon and lightly press cookies into a flatter shape. Then let completely cool.
Scoop some nice cream and place onto one cookie and smash another on top. Eat immediately or pre make all sandwiches and freeze for a few hours. Just be sure to let them thaw for a little before eating!
