Upgrade your ice cream sandwich game with these Peanut Butter and Jelly Ice Cream Sandwiches that are gluten free, dairy free, and can be made completely nut/seed free.
Welcome back to my Ice Cream Sandwich series! This is part 4 and we’re making PB&J ice cream sammies this week. If you’ve missed the first three recipes, be sure to check out my recipe for gluten free and dairy free Classic Ice Cream Sandwiches, Banana Pudding Ice Cream Sandwiches, and Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Sandwiches.
In this series, I’m teaching you how to make healthier and allergy friendly ice cream sandwiches this summer. I promise you don’t want to miss out! Make sure you are subscribed to my newsletter or following me on Instagram, TikTok, and/or Pinterest so that you don’t miss a flavor. I can’t wait for you to make some of these healthy ice cream sandwiches. Make sure to share a photo on social media and tag me if you do make these!
Peanut butter and jelly is a classic sandwich flavor, so I knew I had two make an ice cream SANDWICH version. As someone who is allergic to peanuts and focuses on allergy friendly recipes, I obviously had to make an allergy friendly variation. These days, there are so many great substitutes for peanut butter, including other nut/seed butters (like almond or sunflower). If you are allergic to all nuts and seeds though, try using my granola butter instead. That’s what I did!
These delicious “PB” and J ice cream sandwiches are completely gluten free and dairy free and can be made both refined sugar free and nut free. You know I’ll never let you down when it comes to a figuring out an allergy friendly alternative for almost every recipe!
How to Make “Peanut Butter” and Jelly Ice Cream Sandwiches
PB and J Ice Cream Sandwich Ingredients
Ice Cream
- Homemade vanilla ice cream or 1.5 pints store bought vanilla ice cream of choice
- Nut/seed/granola butter
- Jam of choice- I like raspberry
Cookies
- Granola butter or nut/seed butter of choice
- Coconut sugar
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
- 1:1 Gluten free flour
- Salt
Instructions
Ice Cream
- If you are making my homemade vanilla ice cream, towards the end of churning, add the butter and jam to swirl into the ice cream before freezing.
- If using store bought, let it melt enough to mix in the butter and jam then re-freeze
Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Cream together the nut/seed/granola butter and sugar until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla and mix to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix to combine.
- Scoop 6-8 cookies (depending on how big you want your sandwiches) onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Use a fork to press them down in a criss-cross pattern.
- Bake for about 10 minutes until edges begin to golden. Let cookies cool completely before assembling.
Assembly
- If you froze your ice cream in an old ice cream carton, cut horizontally to create perfect ice cream circles. Tear off the paper and sandwich between two cookies.
- If just scooping your ice cream, scoop a large scoop into the center of one cookie. Gently press another cookie down on top to spread the ice cream out slightly.
- I like to put the ice cream sandwiches back into the freezer for an hour or two so the ice cream can harden and they aren’t melting everywhere.
What Can I Use Instead of Peanut Butter?
If you are allergic to peanuts or don’t like peanut butter, there are plenty of other options to make these homemade ice cream sandwiches. You can use another nut butter like almond (I do not suggest cashew butter as it doesn’t quite function the same as other nut butters). You can also use a seed butter like sunflower. If you have a nut and seed allergy, I suggest using granola butter. Check out my recipe to make your own!
What Jam Should I Use?
I love raspberry jam in these PB&J ice cream sandwiches, but strawberry would also work great. I’m not a grape fan, but if that’s your jam it might be okay. I just use a store-bought jam/jelly to make life easier, but you can certainly make a homemade version to use in this recipe.
Do I Have to Make Homemade Ice Cream?
The base for these PB and J ice cream sandwiches is a vanilla ice cream. I utilize my homemade version for this recipe, but you don’t have to make your own ice cream. If you want, you can just use a store-bought vanilla ice cream of your choice. You’ll just want to soften it enough to swirl in some of your butter and jam before assembling the ice cream sandwiches.
“Peanut” Butter and Jelly Ice Cream Sandwiches
Equipment
Ingredients
Ice Cream
- 1 homemade vanilla ice cream or 1.5 pints store bought vanilla ice cream of choice
- 1/2 cup nut/seed/granola butter
- 1/4-1/3 cup jam of choice I like raspberry. See notes above for alternatives
Cookies
- 3/4 cup granola butter or nut/seed butter of choice
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar
- 1 egg room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup 1:1 guten free flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
Ice Cream
- If you are making homemade ice cream, be sure to make this ahead of time so it has enough time to harden some in the freezer.
- If you are making my homemade vanilla ice cream, towards the end of churning, add the butter and jam to swirl into the ice cream before freezing.
- If you are using store-bought, let it soften enough that you can mix in the butter and jam then re-freeze.
- Since we are making cookies for this recipe, if you have an old wooden ice cream container, you may want to freeze the ice cream in there. This way you can cut the container into perfect round ice cream circles to sandwich between the cookies.
Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Cream together the nut/seed/granola butter and sugar until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla and mix to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix to combine.
- Scoop 6-8 cookies (depending on how big you want your sandwiches) onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Use a fork to press them down in a criss-cross pattern.
- Bake for about 10 minutes until edges begin to golden. Let cookies cool completely before assembling.
Assembly
- When ready to assemble, let your ice cream soften for about 10 minutes just so it is easier to work with.
- If you froze your ice cream in an old ice cream carton, cut horizontally to create perfect ice cream circles. Tear off the paper and sandwich between two cookies.
- If just scooping your ice cream, scoop a large scoop into the center of one cookie. Gently press another cookie down on top to spread the ice cream out slightly.
- I like to put the ice cream sandwiches back into the freezer for an hour or two so the ice cream can harden and they aren't melting everywhere. But if you can't wait, eat up!
