Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches

I have fond memories as a kid of eating many a Good Humor bar, so I am certainly not the type to want to deny my children the precious childhood experience of eating frozen treats.  With Sawyer we could buy Trader Joe's soy-ice cream sandwiches, which don't have corn syrup like the Tofutti brand, and are reasonably priced.  Since Abiline can't do soy, we were looking at getting some of the So Delicious coconut milk ice cream sandwiches as a special treat, but they are almost $6 a box!  No way--I will make my own, thank you.  These homemade ice cream sandwiches were part of our St. Patrick's day celebration; sorry I didn't get the recipe on here in time for the big day.  Luckily, you don't really need a special occasion to make these.  The mint chip ice cream is a recipe I posted earlier for my ice cream pie, and it is probably Abiline's favorite: when I open the freezer door nowadays, she exclaims, "Geen peese!"(and that doesn't mean "green peas," although she does like those.)

This recipe is featured on Allergy-Free Wednesdays :o)

For the mint chip ice cream:
1 can full-fat coconut milk
1 cup Silk or So Delicious coconut milk beverage
1/2 cup sweetener of choice (agave, maple syrup, evaporated cane juice)
1 1/2 tsp. peppermint extract
1/2 tsp. spirulina powder
1/2 cup vegan mini chocolate chips (such as Enjoy Life brand) 

Blend the first 5 ingredients in a blender until fully combined, and then freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions. Once the ice cream is getting firm,  2 or 3 minutes before you would normally transfer it to the freezer, slowly add the chocolate chips to the ice cream maker. Once they're all mixed up, place the ice cream in the freezer for an hour or two to firm up. You don't want it too firm, so that you can spread it easily on the cookies--just a bit firmer than it is right after you get it out of the ice cream maker.

For the ice cream sandwich cookies:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour or barley flour (I used half and half)
2/3 cup sucanat, coconut sugar, or evaporated cane juice
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 cup non-dairy milk
1/2 cup canola or melted coconut oil
1/4 cup tapioca starch or arrowroot mixed with 1/4 cup water
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

For chocolate coating:
1 cup vegan chocolate chips
1 Tbsp. peppermint extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350 and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda.
3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the non-dairy milk, oil, starch mixed with water, and the vanilla. Stir the wet and dry ingredients together with a fork or wooden spoon just until evenly combined and moistened. 
4. Form into disks with your hands and evenly space them on the cookie sheets. I got 20 cookies, 10 per pan.  Keep in mind that they spread out quite a bit; mine turned out more monster-cookie-sized, so if you want small sandwiches, you could probably get 3 dozen cookies out of this recipe.
5. Bake for 10 minutes for the larger cookies, turning the pans half-way through. I would do 7-8 minutes if you are doing smaller cookies.
6. Let the cookies cool for a few minutes on wire racks and then transfer them to the freezer for about 20 minutes to cool completely. While they cool, melt the chocolate chips in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds so as to not burn them. Stir the mint extract into the melted chocolate.
7. Take the cookies out of the freezer along with the ice cream, and quickly spread a big gob of ice cream on half of the cookies and top with the other half.  Spread a layer of chocolate over the top of one of the cookies. Place the sandwiches in the freezer, chocolate-topping side up, for about an hour to harden up. If you are not eating them all right away, then be sure to place them in a  freezer bag for storage.

As for healthier green foods, we have replanted our little patio garden of basil and spinach. Please wish us luck!  Some sort of small animal ate all of the lettuce and kale out of our last garden attempt.