A real foods recipe AND a video?? I must really like you. YOU’LL like you even more too when you treat your body gooood with this yummy, healthy treat.
Eat real foods.
What sets this recipe apart is the ingredients. The peanut butter cookie recipe alone is a home run. The main ingredients are {peanut butter + sugar + egg} with a little {coconut flour + baking powder + almond milk}. That’s it. Chewy, soft, and BAM, it really hits you with peanut butter. It’s freakin’ dee-lish.
The strawberry ice cream recipe is the same way – the ingredients set it apart. In fact there’s only TWO: {frozen strawberries + coconut cream}. HELLO. Minimally processed ingredients you can feel good about eating.
The real/ whole/ clean foods movement (whatever you want to call it) is all about eating REAL food. In other words, food that’s made from 100% identifiable ingredients and minimally processed. I don’t eat this way exclusively because I think it’s healthier to be more flexible, but most of the time if I’m listening to my body “real” food is the kind of food I usually want.
The inspiration.
My hubby and I had a cookout with another couple a few weeks ago as we slowly said our goodbyes to some of our friends in Durango. We were brought to Durango, Colorado last year for my dietetic internship, and really enjoyed our time in that town.
One of our guests follows a gluten and dairy-free diet. Planning dinner came easy, but coming up with a dessert took more thought for me. I thought about making Kim’s 2-Ingredient Mango Ice Cream, and while amaaaazing (I love that recipe), it felt too simple. I wanted something a little different than what I’d do on a weekday.
Frozen fruit made into ice cream got me thinking about ice cream in sandwiches from a whole foods route. The hubs has been choosing ice cream sandwiches when we’ve gone out to get ice cream here and there over the last year. Not usually my ideal dessert, but the idea felt really summery and perfect for a cookout.
I’ve had peanut butter on my mind since having made 4-Minute 2-Ingredient Creamy Peanut Butter <— seriously amazing, BTW! And when trying to pair fruit with peanut butter, strawberry seemed like the way to go, reminiscent of a peanut butter and strawberry jelly sandwich. So the idea was born. A soft and chewy peanut butter cookie recipe (because soft and chewy cookies are the only kind that exist, right??) with some ice cream made from putting frozen strawberries in a high speed blender.
If you don’t have a high speed blender, simply make the ice cream in a food processor! It will turn out just the same.
The cookies were a huge hit, if I do say so myself. Our guests said they felt like they were eating a dessert PB&J. The cookie was fo sho my favorite part. I’m a sucker for a chewy cookie and this one did not disappoint. This peanut butter cookie recipe is a winner. It’s an amazing stand-alone recipe.
Shortcuts are awesome.
If you’re short on time, forget complicated ice cream sandwiches!! Just make the Peanut Butter Cookies (they come together so quickly), blend the “ice cream” and serve a bowl of Strawberry Ice Cream with a PB Cookie or two plopped in the side of the bowl! (Or forget the ice cream all together and make the cookies!)
Make it fit for your diet.
To make this recipe paleo, sub almond butter or sunflower seed butter for the peanut butter. For vegan, try a flax egg instead of an egg.
If you’re not following a special diet and don’t have ingredients like coconut flour, coconut sugar or almond milk on hand just use all purpose flour, granulated sugar, and cow’s milk instead! It won’t be so “real food” but it will still be deee-lish.
You’ve been warned!
As you know I’m new to video. Videos are stinkin’ fun. I feel like Dan The tech/video/lighting/sound Man and I are slowly getting better with each video we do, but we sure as heck aren’t perfect. So here’s some notes about the videos (and photos in this post) in case you’re wondering:
In the video you only see FIVE ice cream sandwiches but the recipe really makes SIX. I had to trial bake a few cookies before getting them juuuuust right so I didn’t have enough to show in the video that it makes SIX cookie sandwiches.
Also, we had to wrap up shooting and get the house back in order before our guests came over, so in the video AND photos, the ice cream looks a bit runny. In real life after they’d been frozen for at least 2 hours the ice cream is hard enough that it doesn’t run out of the cookie when you bite into it! After four hours of freezing it starts to get pretty hard (which is totally fine) just be aware that when you take them out of the freezer they might need a little more than 10 minutes to thaw before you serve ’em up (so they’re not too hard to bite into).
I hope you love these sweet healthy treats as much as I do!!!! I’m already seeing future visions of this recipe with banana ice cream instead… chocolate chips… a PB chocolate cookie… raspberry ice cream… oooh the possibilities….
- 1 cup natural creamy peanut butter (I use my 4-Minute 2-Ingredient Creamy Peanut Butter)
- ¾ cup coconut sugar
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup coconut flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoons almond milk
- (1) 14 oz package frozen sliced strawberries
- 5.4 fl oz canned coconut cream
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Mix peanut butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl (by hand for a workout or with a hand-mixer). Add egg and mix until completely combined. In a small bowl combine coconut flour and baking powder, stir well. Add flour mixture to cookie dough until fully combined. Then, using your hands, add the almond milk and mix the dough just to bring it together.
- Scoop 2 tablespoons of dough and form into a cookie about ½ inch thick. Place on lined baking sheet. Bake for 7-8 minutes.
- Allow cookies to cool completely, then transfer to a plate and cover with plastic wrap. Freeze for at least 30 minutes until you assemble the sandwiches.
- Add coconut cream and strawberries to blender on "Frozen Dessert" mode (or add to food processor and blend until smooth).
- Scoop about 3 tablespoons of ice cream onto one cookie. Top it with another cookie and set on a plate. Repeat until all sandwiches are made. Cover the plate and freeze for at least 2-4 hours before serving. Take out of freezer about 10 minutes before serving.
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