Peanut Butter and Banana Ice Cream Sandwiches

Hey guys, did you know, I’m kind of a big deal? No? I didn’t know either; UNTIL two people, on two separate occasions, whom I’d never met before, said they had not only heard of this humble little blog but actively chose to read it, on their own time!

Pardon me while I scrape my jaw off the floor. Prior to these two incidents, I was pretty sure that my blog traffic consisted of the following mix:

When the first stranger told me she followed my blog, I basically launched into my best Sally Field Oscar speech. Seriously though, it is immensely humbling to learn that people outside of my immediate circle are starting to discover Taste & Tipple and are liking it enough to concern themselves with reading it. Thank you!

I’d also like to give thanks to the followers who have been with me since I launched 6 months ago. Big shoutout to all my mom’s friends who have subscribed to the mailing list and take the time to comment, cook and rate some of the recipes. Big ups to my friends who furiously cram on the latest blog content before seeing me, who I’m pretty sure live in fear of the thought of my asking them, “Did you see the latest post?”

So, here we are: 6 months and 52 posts in and today we’re talking about ice cream sandwiches. I am QUITE fond of ice cream. I have already planned a full blog post on the best ice cream in Ottawa for the first day of summer – stay tuned for that. I do own an ice cream maker and have had some great success with it – I’m looking forward to continuing my culinary experimentation with it this summer.

But fear not, this recipe doesn’t ask you to run out and buy a new small appliance, all you need is a tub of vanilla ice cream and some elbow grease.

I think there was a year in elementary school when I ate a peanut butter and banana sandwich EVERY day. Luckily, I grew up in a time before peanuts were banned from schools. These peanut butter and banana ice cream sandwiches are the perfect way to reminisce on your misspent youth and treat yourself to a little nostalgia.

I feel peanut butter is one of those polarizing ingredients; either you LOVE it or you’re deathly allergic. Apologies to anyone reading this who falls into the latter category. A friend of mine is positively obsessed with peanut butter – like, orders it by the case obsessed. Their peanut butter of choice? Fatso.

Fatso is an all-natural peanut butter that is amped up with other good-for-you saturated fats like coconut oil, macadamia oil, avocado oil, chia seeds and flax. It is a very tasty concoction, and unlike most natural nut butters, is easy to mix.

I used Fatso in this recipe and the resulting flavour was AH-mazing. That being said, given all the extra healthy oils in the peanut butter, it made the baking time a bit unpredictable and the cookies didn’t quite hold their shape the way they would otherwise. If you want a safer bet on the cookie front, stick with your run-of-the-mill smooth peanut butter. But definitely still look at Fatso for all your other peanut butter snacking needs – on apples, on toast, on celery sticks with raisins, whatever your heart desires.

I cut this recipe in half because I live alone and I have no business eating 50 ice cream sandwiches to myself. Something to consider before you begin on this little number. You want to make sure your ice cream is suitably softened before you set to mixing in the bananas and peanut butter. Failure to soften the ice cream appropriately may lead to personal injury or ice cream on the floor. You want to achieve a nice marbled look to the ice cream, overmixing will leave you with a weird flesh-toned mixture that won’t be quite as appealing.

This is a great dessert option if you time to prepare the morning of or night before because you need to allow time for the ice cream to firm up for an hour after you’ve mixed in the peanut butter and bananas and then you need another 3 hours in the freezer after you’ve assembled your sandwiches.

I used toffee peanuts from the snack aisle of my local grocery store to roll the edges of these perfect little sandwiches but you could use honey-roasted or any other sweet/salty peanut mix that you like. Also, if you’re under a time crunch, you can use store-bought banana nut ice cream instead of whipping up your own mixture.

Peanut Butter and Banana Ice Cream Sandwiches

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Peanut Butter and Banana Ice Cream Sandwiches

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

18 mins

Freezing Time

4 hrs

Total Time

38 mins

 

Peanut butter and banana sandwiches were a childhood staple. If you're feeling nostalgic for that delightful combination, why not bring ice cream to the mix and make a day of it. These peanut butter and banana ice cream sandwiches are the stuff of elementary school dreams - but are sure to impress adults too.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Bananas, Ice Cream, Ice Cream Sandwiches, Peanut Butter

Servings: 50 sandwiches

Ingredients

Cookies

• 2 cups creamy peanut butter
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt

Filling

• 8 cups vanilla ice cream see Tips below
• 1¼ cups mashed ripe banana 3 large bananas
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 2 cups finely chopped toffee coated peanuts

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325ºF.
2. Beat peanut butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar on medium speed of electric mixer until blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Add flour, baking soda and salt on low speed, mixing until blended.
3. Shape dough into 1½-inch balls. Place 2-inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten with a fork or potato masher dipped in granulated sugar to 2¾-inch rounds.
4. Bake in centre of oven for 15 to 18 minutes, or until set and golden. Cool 5 minutes on baking sheet then transfer to wire rack and cool completely.
5. Soften ice cream slightly until easy to handle. Stir in banana until well blended. Stir peanut butter to soften, then add to ice cream. Marble peanut butter through ice cream with a metal spatula or knife. Don't overmix - there should still be streaks. Return to freezer until firm, about 1 hour.
6. Spread the bottom side of 1 cookie with about ½ cup ice cream. Top with another cookie; press down slightly. Roll edge of cookie in chopped peanuts. Wrap individually in plastic wrap or aluminum foil and freeze. Repeat with remaining cookies and ice cream. Freeze until firm, about 3 hours. Store in freezer.

Recipe Notes

Tip: For an easy filling, opt for store-bought banana nut ice cream. 

Recipe from: Snider, Jill. "Peanut Butter and Banana Ice Cream Sandwiches." Food & Drink. Summer 2007. 

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