Coconut Key Lime Ice Cream Sandwiches

I don’t always take a detour through the frozen food section en route to the checkout counter on my rare visits to the grocery store, but I did the other week and so it was complete serendipity that a come-hither box of key lime ice cream sandwiches caught my eye. A typical skeptic of novelty grocery items (one of the bi-products of achieving a pastry diplome) these cleared all of the hurdles I typically require of something that has an ingredient list, and two happy boxes made it into my cart, into my car, and into our freezer.

But they never made it into my mouth. The next morning, an email from the kind people at Whole Foods let me know that this item I couldn’t wait to dig into had been recalled by the factory. Something about listeria. Nasty, nasty listeria. And so both boxes made it into the trash.

But still, my intrigue remained. And a bit of determination too. (Also a bi-product of achieving a pastry diplome.) There’s something weirdly satisfying about making something at home that you could have bought in a package, but making it BETTER. I’ve had a lot of “ice cream sandwiches,” and “cookie sandwiches” where the cookies are too hard, the ice cream too soft and the whole thing slips apart before you can even get it into your mouth. Or, you end up squeezing all of the ice cream out all over your shirt when you try to bite down on the sando because the cookies are hard as rocks and the ice cream was half melted to get it into it’s sando shape. Not so here, none of that.

Because I no longer work in fancy restaurants, and because my work is centered around more than just desserts these days, projects and recipes like this don’t come around that often. But when they do, you know that I throw myself all the way in. And these Key Lime Coconut Ice Cream Sandos are one of those.

I wanted a blondie-style sandwich and lid to be the base for these babies, and wanted the ice cream to literally explode with key lime flavor. A treat that’s decadent without being “extra,” just sweet, plenty tart, and with a cookie that yields in the most tender lovely way without being cakey, or sticking to the roof of your mouth. Win, win win.

If you actually read through the commentary ahead of the recipes here, you know that I typically give a nice little dissertation on how to approach the recipe within; what each ingredient does for the body bioenergetically, how the doshas respond, debunking wellness myths and the like. I’m going to keep this to a minimum this week because you have ICE CREAM SANDOS TO MAKE! But a few things I do want to call out, to encourage you all the more to make these beauties.

Ice cream to the core

In the summer time, ice cream is one of my management mechanisms for keeping my cool. This is not exactly in line with Ayurvedic wisdom, which recommends being cautious about consuming ice cold foods (which ice down digestion and reduce digestive strength.) But for someone with as much heat as I’m generating, bringing my core body temp back down to baseline, and cooling my system with a little i-scream is just what the doctor ordered. (And I’m not training or racing anymore!)

Ice cream, when you look at it, (especially assuming that it’s made with the best ingredients and few fillers/additives) is a pretty awesome recovery food. For one, its a lovely combination of glucose, carbohydrates, fat and a little protein which are all things the body craves after long, hot efforts.

Add to this, that our core body temps raise when we exercise in the summer heat. Even when properly hydrated, being exposed and working hard in the heat for too long will increase body temp, and this effect is exacerbated if you had high body temp before starting your effort (or if you have inflammation + a high pitta constitution!) Our digestive process requires that our core body temp is balanced, and so too do our recovery processes. If body temp doesn’t come down, it’s impossible to recover, sleep, or properly rehyrdrate/refuel after long, hard or hot efforts. World tour racing teams use ice socks, ice baths, ice vests and cold showers and (yep!) slushies and icy treats! And so, if you’re a mover, a shaker, a goal setter this summer (or just a pitta type!), we want to keep your body cool.

Consider this your permission slip to enjoy a lot of ice cream this summer, from your favorite holistic sports nutrition expert.

Everything you expect from ice cream…only less.

I imagine you now, could, go and buy those lovely-looking, listeria-prone ice cream sammies from the grocery store instead of making your own.

But there are a few reasons here I want to encourage you to just dive in. This recipe has:

• less sugar than store bought novelties
• the ice cream requires no fussy cooking, like most recipes do – just mix + dump (with the churn method!)
• zero stabilizers and gums (also, with the churn method)
• does not require a culinary degree to successfully complete! (wink)

And in this, I feel it’s worthwhile to mention that ice creams like this are the most amazing reason to own an ice cream maker. These sammies came together so easily, and so perfectly, because of  little device sitting on my countertop, omitting a pleasant whir, did the heavy science-y lifting. My ice cream maker comes out every week in the summer time, as I churn ice creams from fresh fruit, coconut milk, banana, you name it. It saves us a ton of money that we would have previously spent on expensive commercial ice cream that suits my standards (ha) and also is the most lovely way of making something special and truly, good for our bodies/minds/souls. Our bellies never feel overloaded with gums or extra sugar, and saying that you made the ice cream is some other kind of proud. This is a great model- not terribly expensive and always going on sale – a gateway drug if you will. And, when you realize you can’t live without this baby, upgrade to this as I did when I literally burned out the coolant in my little freezable bowls.

These key lime ice cream sammies

…come together in two simple steps.

First, you’re gonna make a light, but sturdy coconut blondie. Then you’re going to whip up a a very easy coconut-based key lime ice cream. At this point, you have two choices: you can either churn the ice cream with an ice cream maker (if you’re one of THOSE people which I am.) Or, you can choose to make a no-churn ice cream instead. It’s worth noting that the results can be quite different here – primarily in the volume of the finished ice cream. The churned ice cream is very light, creamy and voluminous. And, with the no-churn method you really have to be meticulous to bring the volume effect happen. I tell you the little steps that will make it work in the Recipe Notes below, but know that in my opinion, an ice cream maker is THE way to go here and you will NOT be sorry. (Even if you only pull that thing out once a year to make these – and you will – it would be worth the investment in the mind of this pastry chef!)  No matter what, the result will be refreshing, surprising, delightful, and fun.

Regardless of how you arrive at your ice cream, once you have both the blondie and the cream, you’re ready to assemble and let it all chill. This is just as easy as it sounds. The hardest part, to be honest, is being patient while the ice cream sandwiches set up. I assembled mine at night, so that I can sleep through this process and then have the luxury of planning my day around when I’ll eat one in the morning. Just saying.

Tonight I took a whole batch of these babies to a gathering as the “first dessert course,” and they were a big hit. I cut each of the 16 sandos in half to make little ice cream sandwich bites…not tell me that the perfect summer dessert is NOT a tiny bite of key lime ice cream sandwich?