These were one of my best sellers at the Banff Farmers Market! A rich creamy coconut and cashew based ice cream is sandwiched between a couple of raw cacao, cashew, oat biscuits. If you don’t have a dehydrator you can use a store bought biscuit or your favourite cookie recipe. This recipe also requires an ice cream maker. I have a simple cuisinart model that has a cylinder that needs to be kept in the freezer before using. You can find frozen fresh Thai young coconut at your local health food store. I use a caramel extract by Medicine Flower. If you don’t have access to it you might find another natural alternative in the health food store or simply go with the vanilla extract. The date paste and rice syrup will lend a caramel like flavour on their own. Alternatively, substitute 1 cup of strong coffee for the almond milk! The cookies need to be started one day before you assemble the sandwiches.
makes 16 21/2 inch sandwiches.
The Biscuits:
- 2 cups of oat flour (gluten free organic oats ground to a flour in your food processor)
- 1 cup of raw cashews
- 1/2 cup of raw cacao powder
- 1/4 cup of coconut sugar
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 1/3 cup of water or chaga tea
- 1/4 cup of avocado oil
In your food processor combine the 2 cups of oat flour, cashews, cacao powder and coconut flour until finely ground. Add the 1/2 cup of oat flakes and then process very lightly to give the mixture a little bit of texture. Add the water and oil. Process to form a thick cookie like dough.
Roll the dough out between two teflex sheets or 2 sheets of parchment paper to a 1/4 inch thickness.
With a cookie cutter, cut into desired shapes. I used a small flower shaped cutter 21/2 inches in diameter.
Arrange the cookies on the mesh screen of your dehydrator. You will end up with more cookies than ice cream! You can freeze the leftovers or dip them in chocolate to enjoy simply as cookies.
Dehydrate for 18-24 hours or until thoroughly dry and crisp. Allow to cool before assembling.
The Salted Caramel Ice Cream:
- 11/2 cups of raw cashews soaked in water for 4 hours.
- 1/2 cup of thawed frozen Thai young coconut meat
- 1/2 cup of brown rice syrup
- 1/4 cup of date paste (recipe follows)
- 1 cup of fresh almond milk (or store bought)
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup of softened coconut oil
- 11/2 tsp. of himalyan pink salt
- 15-20 drops of Medicine flower caramel extract
*To make the date paste combine 1 cup of soft pitted medjool dates with 1/2 cup of water in a blender. Blend until smooth. You can store the left over paste in a sealed container in the fridge.
In a vitamix combine all of the ingredients except for the softened coconut oil until silky smooth. Use the tamper to make sure that all of the coconut is incorporated smoothly into the puree. Drizzle in the softened coconut oil with the motor running. Blend well until incorporated. Spoon the mixture into your ice cream maker. With my particular model the ice cream freezes more to a soft serve consistency. When it gets to that point it is ready to sandwich between the biscuits. (This took about 15 minutes)
With an ice cream scoop sandwich the ice cream carefully between two biscuits. Place them on a parchment lined cookie sheet and then pop them into the freezer to freeze solid. You can decorate or dip them in melted chocolate if desired before serving!
