Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Sandwich

We had a few warm days here last week. It felt almost like summer with temperatures reaching as high as 30 degrees. For those hot summer days, nothing is better than a light refreshing dessert like ice cream after a barbecued meal. I love ice cream, but I love ice cream sandwiches even more. This is a dessert with substance and attitude. It's cold and summery but has some earthy flavours as well. These ice cream sandwiches are not as pretty or neat as the packaged store bought ones, but the flavour is top notch. Try them and judge for yourself.

Start with the following...

The best way to make sure that things run efficiently is to have all your ingredients measured and ready to go. Of course, that type of structured management only happens in Martha Stewart's kitchen where recipes are thought of two months in advance and there's a whole team at her disposable to set up the scene. I, on the other hand, do not have a team of people to help me, more like a little critter constantly buzzing around me and attached to my leg. Despite that, I have a very well organized system that achieves maximum productivity in the kitchen. It's called the 'measure as you go and hope that things don't go sideways' system. It works well.

Place your dry ingredients in a bowl and set them aside for now.

In the mixer bowl, dump the sugars and margarine. Beat them for a bit. Then beat them again. Beat them some more, until they are light and fluffy.

Add the mashed banana and vanilla. Mix to make sure there are no banana lumps. We're not really aiming for banana flavour here. We just use them to get a moist chewy texture. That's why we only use one.

Of course, you know that the world would not be complete unless I forgot something every time I post a recipe. If it's not the fake buttermilk then it's the flaxseed. It's as if the universe is constantly trying to undermine all my achievements by making me look like a total... oh never mind.

So, pretend that you made the flax mixture way back when you first started this adventure. You mix ground flaxseed with water and set aside for a bit. Five minutes later you will have this thick viscous mixture that has a consistency similar to that of egg whites. 

Let's talk about flaxseed for a minute. I love flaxseed. It's very healthy and it's also a great egg replacement. It makes things chewier and imparts a nutty, earthy flavour to baked goods. Flax seeds look a lot like sesame seeds except they are darker and much harder. Nutritionally speaking, you need to grind flax in order for your body to gain any value from it. Unless you want something crunchy, flax seeds are best ground. They are harder than nuts, so the usual cheap coffee grinder will not work very well. You will end up with big chunks of flax seeds in a paste. If you use flaxseed a lot, then I recommend that you buy a high quality nut grinder. It grinds flax seeds beautifully. If you do not use flax seeds often then just buy a small bag of ground flax seeds from the grocery store. It's typically found in the health food or whole food sections. Just keep in mind though that flax seeds are unstable little buggers. As long as their shell is intact you can freeze them for six months. I have had them for almost a year in a tightly sealed container in the freezer and they are still excellent. However, as soon as they are ground, they need to be used within a few days, and never store them outside of the fridge especially once they are ground. They go rancid very quickly. I typically grind 1/4 cup at a time. If you buy it ground then you can store it in the freezer and use it within a month.

I just snagged this picture off the web, but this is exactly what flax seeds look like. On the left, flax seeds are whole. On the right is what they look like when you grind them. Don't they look pretty?

And that's the end of the lesson on flax seed. Back to our original scheduled programming...

Observe, flaxseed mixture goes in... 

Beat it like a red headed step mule (yes, the red headed step child and the government mule are the same guy). Really, you want to beat it on high speed to give it that egg white texture and beautiful specks...

Add the dry ingredients and beat on medium speed until the dough just comes together. Don't over beat it at this point because we've added the flour, otherwise the cookies will come out tough. Be gentle; these cookies are sensitive.

Yumm! Strawberries...

My brother was visiting. I put him to work. He's a good cook, not much for baking though. But he's good with a knife. He cuts food like Bobby Flay. You know how you see chefs on TV and they cut vegetables and fruits so quickly,  chop chop chop with a knife? I wish I could cut like that. Look at how perfect those strawberries are cut. My brother cut those.

The moral of the story? Don't expect to ever see strawberries cut like that again. I don't cut like that. In fact, if I can cut food without chopping off the tip of my finger in the process then we're off to a good start. Hey, I'm good with a bowl and a whisk. Knives are a different story.

Pour the beautiful red gems into the batter and stir with a spatula. Be careful with them so they don't get squished all to hell.

Now you have batter that is studded with strawberries. Use a cookie scoop and place them on cookie sheets with parchment paper. Bake them for a bit until they're nice and golden.

After they've cooled you can assemble them. The cookies will be very soft at room temperature (that's deliberate) so it's best to freeze them for 20 minutes before assembly. I did not want to make a cookie that would freeze rock solid. I wanted a cookie sandwich that can be eaten right out of the freezer without chipping a tooth. To make assembly easier, I just freeze the cookies for 20 minutes before I put them together.

Or you can be like my brother who couldn't wait and devoured a few before I filled them.

Of course, being the Neanderthal that he is, he suggested that instead of using the last bit of dough to make a small tray of cookies, that I should just pour that bit in a pie pan to make one stupendously ginormous cookie.

It seemed like a lopsided idea at first, but when it came out, it was delicious. It was like a marriage between a chewy cookie and a soft muffin... a mookie?

Fill with vanilla ice cream. I make my own because if you've ever had store bought dairy free ice cream you'd know it tastes worst than a cat's behind. You can also assemble the cookies and freeze them individually wrapped. That way they are ready for consumption right away.

You can share them, or you can hide them. Either way, enjoy them!

Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Sandwich (Dairy, Egg & Nut Free)
Serves 15 ice cream sandwiches

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup quick cooking oats
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
3 Tbsp dairy free margarine
1 medium ripe banana, mashed
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp ground flaxseed mixed with 3 Tbsp water
1 cup strawberries, washed, hulled and diced
1 cup dairy free vanilla ice cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a medium size bowl, combine flour, baking soda, oats, and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine sugars and margarine. Beat until light and fluffy. Add mashed banana, vanilla, and flaxseed. Continue beating until mixture is smooth and creamy. Add the dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Add the strawberries and stir with a silicone spatula.

Use a small cookie scoop to place cookies on baking sheet about one inch apart. They will spread a little bit. Bake for 10 minutes or until the edges are golden and the middle looks set. Let cool completely before filling.

To assemble, place about one tablespoon of ice cream on the flat side of one cookie then top with another cookie and press gently to make a sandwich. Eat right away or put in the freezer. You can also store them in the freezer assembled so they are ready for eating whenever you need them.

Nutritional Info for original recipe (Per sandwich)
Calories 142.8, Total Fat 4.44g, Cholesterol 0mg, Sodium 101.42mg, Potassium 87.07mg, Total Carbohydrates 24.3g, Fiber 1.32g, Sugar 14.44g, Protein 1.75g 

Nutrition analysis is approximate and will vary depending on exact ingredients used. Calculations are based on the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) for a 2000 calorie diet. Nutritional Facts are obtained from Radium Technologies' Living Cookbook. However, Allergymom.ca has no affiliation with Radium Technologies and does not guarantee the accuracy of this information.