At a cookout last weekend, one of our friends brought the classic rice crispy bars. I always loved those as a kid and I thought, I would love to make a healthier version I could eat. So I formulated a recipe close to the original. I also came across a recipe for a "Mint Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwich" made with rice crispy bars as the outer part of the sandwich. My testers agreed it is as good as the real thing!
I like to make my own ice cream, which is featured in "Treat Your Health" my low-glycemic cookbook. It contains real dairy milk and cream, but for me I swap out the dairy for canned coconut cream or milk. Sometimes if I don't have any ice cream made, I will buy a coconut milk ice cream at the store. These treats are quick and easy to make if you have the ice cream on hand.
Tip: When I want to use the (dairy-free) coconut milk, mint chocolate chip ice cream from the store, it is not very flavorful or sweet enough for me, so I add ingredients to it to make it tastier. Here is my tip to bump up the flavor: Thaw it slightly just enough to get it out of the container and use a fork to break it up. Add a tablespoon or two of maple syrup, a sprinkle of salt and stevia. With a mixer blend until creamy. Scoop it back in the container and freeze. If it is too hard to scoop after freezing, add half to 1 tablespoon of avocado oil.
Dairy-free Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches
2 1/2 cups crispy rice cereal (set aside)
20 homemade marshmallows*
1/2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
For coating;
1 cup sugar-free chocolate chips, melted
2 tablespoons avocado oil
In a large mixing bowl, measure 2 1/2 cups of crispy rice cereal and set aside. In a medium saucepan, heat marshmallows and butter until creamy consistency. Add in vanilla, blend and cool the mixture. Once mixture has thickened slightly, pour crispy rice into saucepan and stir until well coated. Spoon crispy rice mixture into a greased 6 x 10 inch pan and press down with a greased spoon so mixture does not stick to spoon. Once set, cut into two inch squares, remove bars from pan and place into a zip-lock gallon baggie and freeze. They will not freeze hard. They are best kept in freezer so they stay firm and chewy.
To make ice cream sandwiches: cut each individual square horizontally to make a thin square for the outer part of the ice cream sandwich. Dip the crispy rice square into the melted chocolate to form a thin coating and place in freezer to harden chocolate. Once chocolate coating has hardened, remove from freezer and scoop the amount of ice cream desired unto the bottom chocolate-coated crispy rice square. With a spoon, smooth out ice cream to fit the square and place a chocolate-coated crispy square on top. Place ice cream sandwiches into zip-lock baggie and store in freezer.
Homemade Marshmallows*
1 tablespoon gelatin
1/4 cup cold water
Soak for 1 minute. After a minute, set gelatin bowl in a larger bowl of hot water to melt the gelatin to a liquid consistency. Set gelatin aside.
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup sugar substitute
1/4 cup honey
1/8 teaspoon stevia
1/8 teaspoon salt
Mix all the remaining ingredients with the gelation mixture. With a mixer on high speed, blend all the ingredients until mixture is almost white in color and thick like marshmallow cream. Pour into a greased, 1 quart baking dish and let sit for 1/1/2 days until marshmallows set. Next day, cut marshmallows into one inch squares. In a gallon baggie, add dusting mixture shown below, add marshmallows to the bag, close and shake.
For dusting marshmallows:
1/2 teaspoon arrowroot or cornstarch
1 tablespoon sugar substitute
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