I'm kicking off the "social" part of my Ice Cream Social by introducing you to the first blogger who will be contributing to our frosty fête: Abby of The Frosted Vegan!
Abby and I technically "met" through social media. I saw her name pop up on my Instagram from time to time and was intrigued by the fun title of her blog, so I followed her back and got pulled right in to her kitchen adventures. With a tag line like "Plant based desserts, done right", how could you not be curious?! Any girl who whips up things like Caramel Glazed Bananas Foster Donuts and Peanut Butter Dipped Chocolate Sorbet Popsicles should be a friend of mine.
We finally got to meet in person at BlogHer Food Miami in May, and I'm so glad we did! It was while sitting with her and a group of other Midwestern bloggers that I decided that folks from the Midwest are some of the nicest people ever. {Abby is from Wisconsin.}
Anyway, enough of my yappying... I'll let Abby's recipe do the rest of the talking. Make sure you follow Abby and check out all the vegan goodness on her blog!
And don't forget to enter to win our Ice Cream Social prize pack, with goodies from our friends from Joy Cone & a copy of the gorgeous cookbook, Ruby Violet's Ice Cream Dreams, from Hardie Grant!
Hi all! I am so excited to be posting here on Dianna’s blog for The Kitchen Prep Ice Cream Social! Ice
cream has long been a favorite in my house, from licking a cone clean during the summer at my favorite
custard stand (pre-vegan days) to trying my hand at making ice cream at home in the recent months, it
seems like I always have ice cream in the works or on the brain. A year or so I ago I finally splurged on
an ice cream maker, envisioning weekends filled with homemade coconut milk ice cream and adding in
fresh berries as the summer progressed. Unfortunately, I ended up dropping my ice cream maker and
had to send it to the small kitchen appliance graveyard, ack! On the other hand, now I have extra room
for more kitchen gadgets and have to find other ways to satisfy my homemade ice cream cravings.
This brought me to discover blender ice cream! Especially with vegan ice creams, it can be hard to make
sure everything is properly combined and smooth before freezing, particularly when an ice cream maker
isn't in the process. Blending all the ingredients together eliminates the need to heat everything over
a saucepan, let it cool, and all that jazz. I’m all for eliminating unnecessary steps and making recipes as
simple as possible, so blender ice cream was perfect.
The sandwich component of this treat just takes everything to the next level, combining fresh, plump
cherries with fudgy sandwich pieces. I opted for more of a fudgy outside for the sandwiches, over a
more traditional cookie route. I find that the cookie part of ice cream sandwiches can be a little dry and
underwhelming, so the fudgier approach was the way to go for these! If you don’t have cashews on
hand, this would probably work just as well with full fat coconut milk; just reduce down on some of the
extra liquid to ensure that the base doesn't become too watery.
Happy Ice Cream-ing! #TKPIceCreamSocial
Cherry Bourbon Ice Cream Sandwiches
For the cookie/sandwich:
⅓ cup cocoa powder
1 cup all purpose flour
Pinch of salt
⅓ cup walnuts
1⁄4-⅓ cup almond milk or other non dairy mlk
1⁄4 cup granulated sugar
For the ice cream:
1 cup cashews, soaked for at least 3 hours and drained
1⁄2 cup almond milk or other non-dairy milk
1 banana, frozen
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
⅓ cup maple syrup
3⁄4 cup pitted cherries (frozen or fresh)
3 ounces bourbon
1 cup additional pitted cherries
Pinch of xantham gum (optional)
⅓ cup cherry juice (optional)
1. Line an 8x8 square pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. To prepare the cookie: In the bowl of a food processor, combine all ingredients and pulse until loose
dough is formed. If needed, add additional almond milk until mixture comes together. Press the
dough into the parchment lined pan, ensuring the dough it evenly pressed throughout the bottom of
the pan. Freeze for at least 4 hours, or until firm.
3. To prepare the ice cream: In the bowl of a blender, combine all ingredients with the exception of the
additional 1 cup of pitted cherries. Blend until mixture is smooth and creamy. If mixture is too thick
or heavy for the blender, add a little almond milk until mixture can be blended. Pour mixture into a
small cake pan or loaf pan. Stir in the extra 1 cup of cherries. Freeze until solid, but still scoopable,
about 2-3 hours.
4. To assemble the sandwiches: Remove the cookie and ice cream from the freezer. Take cookie
mixture out of the lined pan and cut in half, so you are left with 2 equally sized sections. Place the
parchment and one of the pieces of cookie back into the 8x8 pan. Scoop out the cherry ice cream
and press into the cookie that is placed in the pan. If the ice cream is too solid, you may need to let
it sit for a few extra minutes in order for it to become pliable enough to press into the cookie mixture.
When the ice cream has been pressed into the mixture, place the other half of the cookie on top,
pressing the piece firmly into place. You are essentially making one large ice cream sandwich to
cut into smaller sandwiches. Freeze for 30 minutes, or until firm. Cut large sandwich into smaller
pieces, as big or as small as you would like. Store sealed in the freezer for up to a week.
Yields: 4- 6 sandwiches, depending on size
Christine at Cook the Story says
This looks flippin' fantastic!
Alice // Hip Foodie Mom says
These Cherry Bourbon Ice Cream Sandwiches look so good!!! pinned!!!
Teri Smyth says
So exciting to hear about using a blender to make ice cream.
I'm sticking to making ice cream the old fashioned way, but you have definitely inspired me to make a recipe this week!
Allie BakingAMoment says
Mmm cherries and bourbon are so great together! Especially when sandwiched between chocolate cookies 😉 Love this!
Shaina Wizov says
Cherries and bourbon?! I'm in. YUM!
dina says
i love cherry ice cream. these look sooo good!
Katie says
Drooool! These sounds spectacular!