Homemade Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Bars (Dairy-free)
These Strawberry Shortcake Ice cream bars make the perfect frozen summer dessert and are bursting with strawberry flavor! A cookie base is topped with ultra-creamy strawberry cashew-based ice cream, and a strawberry shortcake crumb topping. You'd never guess this healthier take on the classic ice cream bar is gluten-free, vegan/dairy-free, and refined sugar-free!
Ingredients
Cookie base
- 1 bag (4.5oz) Siete Mexican Shortbread cookies or Simple Mills toasted pecan cookies *or similar cookies. See notes.
- 3 tbsp melted coconut oil, butter, ghee, or avocado oil
Ice cream layer
- 2 1/4 cups raw cashews *soaked in hot water for 20 minutes
- 2 cups frozen or fresh strawberries, chopped
- 1/2 cup maple syrup or honey *If you want it less sweet, you can start with 1/3 cup, taste, & adjust as needed
- 2-3 tbsp lemon juice
- 2/3 cup coconut cream from a can of full-fat canned coconut milk *scrape the solid part out from the top of the can. You can use any liquid after to make 2/3 cup.
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted & cooled a little *use refined for no coconut flavor!
- 2 tsp vanilla extract & good pinch of sea salt
Strawberry shortcake crumb
- 1 16 oz bag Siete meixcan shortbread cookies *or similar
- 1 1.2 oz bag freeze dried strawberries
Instructions
- Prepare a loaf pan or small 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper. You can also make this into a cake by using a springform pan.
- Process the base: Add the cookies and oil to a food processor, processing a minute or so until no large chunks remain. Add the cookie base to the pan, spreading it out evenly.
- Blend the filling: Add all of the ice cream ingredients to a high-powered blender - be sure the coconut oil isn't super hot as it'll seize up with the cold strawberries. I melt mine and let it cool to room temp. Blend a few minutes until completely smooth. You can taste the mixture & adjust as you’d like (more strawberries, more lemon, more sweetener, etc). Pour the ice cream layer over the base, spreading it out evenly.
- Make the strawberry shortcake crumb topping: Add the cookies and freeze dried strawberries to the food processor, processing 30 seconds or so until it creates a crumb texture and no large chunks remain. Sprinkle the crumb topping over the ice cream layer, pressing it down into the top very slightly. Place the pan in the freezer for 3-4 hours until completely firm.
- Remove from the pan and let thaw 10 minutes to make cutting them into bars easier. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
*Cookies I recommend: Simple mills toasted pecan cookies or Siete Mexican Shortbread cookies. You can also use graham crackers.
- These ice cream bars are best thawed from the freezer 10 minutes or so prior to eating! This allows them to thaw a tad so they’re ice cream-like texture and easier to eat!
- How to store leftover ice cream bars: Store leftover slices in an air-tight container in the freezer. They will last 1-2 months.
- Can you make vegan ice cream bars with other fruit? Yes! You could use fresh blueberries and freeze dried blueberries for the topping. You could do the same with raspberries, etc.
- Can you make these ice cream bars keto/sugar-free? You can use keto cookies for the base and crumb topping and use monk fruit or stevia as the ice cream sweetener!
- How to make strawberry shortcake ice cream pops/popsicles: To make these bars in popsicle form, skip the crust. Make the crumb topping and ice cream filling according to the instructions. You can stir the crumb topping into the ice cream mixture to make this easiest, then pour the mixture into your popsicle mold and freeze!