Gluten-Free Ice Cream Sandwiches

I was blessed with four wonderful grandparents. One grandfather was a mechanic. The other, a proofreader for the local paper. My dad’s mom was a home economist, and my mom’s worked in a department store. They couldn’t have been more different, but each of them gifted us with what they knew. They were generous with time and love, and every summer, they would welcome us, our cousins, and always a few neighbor kids, into their homes to hang around and have fun and just be kids.

My mom’s mom was a saleswoman and summer was her season. She loved to have garage sales and she’d let us kids have a table of our own. She’d buy a large bottle of sweetened Nestea and let us make pitchers of it to sell. We could sell our toys or books, and she’d help us negotiate, but only when necessary. As kids, this was our first taste of the business world. Almost every Saturday, an ice cream truck would go by. She was quick to hand out money so we could run to the truck and get whatever we wanted before it drove away. It was a wonderful time.

July is National Ice Cream month. Celebrate with these easy to make Gluten-Free Ice Cream Sandwiches that are so delicious you’ll enjoy them even if you’re not gluten-free. For all of you who are, a good ice ream sandwich may be something you miss eating. Even if you can find them, you may not like the hefty price tag or the fact that they may have some other things you are sensitive to, like dairy or sugar.

These Gluten-Free Ice Cream Sandwiches are easy enough to make with kids and can be filled with any kind of frozen confection you like. Soft, yet sturdy enough to hold ice cream, they are chewy, chocolaty and taste and feel just the same as a regular ice cream sandwich. These are so close to what I remember eating as a kid, I can’t believe you can make such a reasonable facsimile at home.

Making the chocolate wafer exterior was way easier than I expected. A food scale helps ensure accuracy and because this recipe included the weight measurements, I weighed all of the ingredients, which I think made the measuring process easier, as well. Once I weighed all of the ingredients and combined them in one bowl, all I had to do was mix everything by hand. Be sure that you let your butter cool after melting it, or the wafer dough may be greasy.

The dough did not need to be chilled and it was very easy to handle. My rolled squares were far from perfect, but I transferred them as they were and corrected this inside the baking pan. I took a butter knife, ran it around the edge and then pressed the dough I had trimmed away back into the dough in the pan. I used a small pastry roller to smooth the top out, again, doing this right in the pan. You can even skip rolling altogether and just press the dough into the pan, if you don’t mind somewhat bumpy layers. I do recommend using your scale to evenly divide the dough, though, so that you get equal-sized top and bottom wafers.

If you only have one baking pan, you can shape and bake one wafer at a time, then let the pan cool before finishing with the second half of the dough. My dough baked in just seven minutes so do check on yours a little early. The chocolate wafer squares can be made days or even weeks ahead. Just stack the baked cookie squares, wrap them tightly with plastic wrap, and store them in the freezer. You don’t even have to thaw them when you are ready to make your sandwiches.

Wanting to focus my energy on the wafer component, I took a shortcut and tried out a new product. I used plant-based, dairy-free vanilla-flavored So Delicious Wondermilk for my filling. It was rich, creamy and spoonable just like regular ice cream, and was so good I would definitely buy it again.

I did purchase a dairy-free, sugar-free frozen dessert, but it was so hard to spoon I knew it would be impossible to soften and spread it well. One pint of Wondermilk wasn’t enough to generously fill my sandwiches, so I ended up softening some regular vanilla ice cream and using it on about half of the pan. You can use any frozen treat you like, just be sure that it will soften and spread the same way ice cream does.

I had so much fun making these and I hope you do, too. Enjoy!

Gluten-Free Ice Cream Sandwiches

makes 8 sandwiches

for the chocolate wafers:

7/8 cups (123 g) all-purpose gluten-free flour blend (I used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour)
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if your blend already contains it)
1/4 cup (20 g) unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-processed is fine, Dutch-processed is preferred)
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 cup (25 g) granulated sugar
1/4 cup (55 g) packed light brown sugar
4 tablespoons (56 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled (for dairy-free, use plant-based butter)
1 (50 g (weighed out of shell) egg at room temperature, beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

for ice cream sandwiches:

ice cream, softened at room temperature

for the chocolate wafers:

Preheat oven to 325º F. Set aside two 8-inch square metal baking pans. Do not grease or line. Using a large bowl, combine flour blend, xanthan gum, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and granulated sugar and whisk to combine well. Add brown sugar and whisk again, working out any lumps.

Create a well in the center and add melted butter, egg and vanilla, and mix to combine. Dough should come together and be smooth and pliable. Divide dough into two equal pieces. Working with one piece at a time, place dough between two sheets of unbleached parchment paper. Roll dough into a square, about 8-inches all around and 1/4-inch thick. Remove top piece of parchment and trim edges with a sharp knife, or a pastry or pizza wheel, to create a 7 1/2-inch square. Transfer dough, still on bottom piece of parchment, to one of the 8-inch square pans, folding the sides as necessary so that the dough will lie flat in the pan. Repeat with second piece of dough. Place pans in oven and bake until dough is set in the center, or about 8 minutes. Remove pans from oven and allow wafers to cool in pans for at least 10 minutes. Lift wafer sheet out carefully by holding all 4 sides of parchment paper at once; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

for ice cream sandwiches:

Once wafers are cool, turn one of the two cookie squares upside down onto criss-crossed sheets of unbleached parchment paper, each sheet about 8-inches wide. Lower the paper and wafer back into one of the cooled baking pans.

Place softened ice cream on top of cookie square, using an offset spatula to spread ice cream into an even layer. Top with remaining cookie square, right side up, pressing down firmly but carefully. Place baking pan in freezer until ice cream is firm (at least 4 hours).

Once ice cream is frozen, use parchment paper to remove entire frozen dessert from pan. Slice in half down center, then slice each half into 4 rectangles of equal size, for a total of 8 ice cream sandwiches. Wrap sandwiches individually in plastic wrap. Store in freezer until ready to serve, up to 3 months.

-glutenfreeonashoestring.com