A Lighter "Ice Cream" Sandwich (V, GF)

Have you seen that trick where you can make a frozen banana into "soft serve" just by mashing it in your food processor?  I love that trick.  Whenever I have some bananas around the house that are getting a little too ripe, I peel them, chop them in half and freeze them.  Except, I usually opt to make a faux "milkshake" with them by adding a bit of almond milk and vanilla extract.

These banana ice cream sandwiches are only slightly more of a guilty pleasure.  The banana ice cream does have some sugar in it, as well as the chocolate cookie part, but they are more like a Skinny Cow- a  light ice cream sandwich that is the perfect treat when you need a little bit more of a substantial dessert that would also impress company.  And... they are gluten free and vegan!

Prior to purchasing them, I thought that these ice cream sandwich molds were super gimicky and not a worthy baking tool.  I had the wise words of professional chefs such as Alton Brown echoing in my head, warning me not to fall into the trap of buying "single use cooking tools."  However, after guiltily buying them and using them for the first time, I concluded that they are definitely a worthy investment.  I would put them in the same category as my mini-donut pan- too cute to resist.  Plus, the resulting sandwiches look a lot more professional than just squishing some ice cream between a couple of cookies.

If you're feeling Sandra Lee's semi-homemade style, you could also make these sandwiches using your favorite, slightly softened store bought vegan or non-vegan ice cream.

For the Vegan "Ice Cream"

4 bananas, pre-frozen and cut into slices

1/4 cup full fat coconut milk

3/4 cup almond milk

1/4 cup organic sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

Combine everything in the food processor, using the standard attachment, until smooth.  I also poured the mixture into an ice cream maker, placed in a reusable ice cream quart container, and froze for a few hours, but you could certainly try to make it without an ice cream maker (I am not sure if the ice cream would turn out to be the same creamy texture- it might be a bit icy without the extra churning).

For the Chocolate Cookies 

1/4 cup, plus 2 tbsp coconut oil

1/4 cup apple sauce (1 standard sized single serving container)

3 tbsp water

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup organic sugar

3/4 cup cocoa powder (a high quality dutch processed powder is best)

3/4 cup sweet rice flour

1/4 cup sorghum flour

1/4 cup almond flour

1/4 cup potato starch

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp sea salt

Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and sift together.  Add coconut oil, apple sauce, water, and vanilla to dry ingredients.  Combine by mixing with paddle attachment of stand mixer until dough forms a ball, or use a spoon and hands to combine.

Refrigerate dough for 20 minutes.

Fit a piece of parchment paper to a large sized baking sheet.  Cut to size to fit bottom of sheet.  Sprinkle parchment paper and large wooden rolling pin with sweet rice flour.  Roll dough out until it reaches a rectangular shape and mostly covers the parchment paper (the dough should be about 1/4 inch thickness).

Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Once cooled, cut out cookies with ice cream sandwich cutter.  Place one cookie on the inside of the mold.  Place a scoop of ice cream and then another cookie in the mold.  Press down.  Remove sandwich.