Double Chocolate Berry Ice Cream Sandwiches

Make these Double Chocolate Berry Ice Cream Sandwiches for a fun, surprisingly easy summer twist on classic cookies and ice cream.

Did you go to summer camp as a kid? I (sort of) did. I know there are people who go to the same camp every year, stay practically the whole summer, and are actually in cabins, but that wasn’t my experience at all.

See, I never went to the same camp twice, but rather to five different ones. The longest one was three weeks. Only two were in cabins. But I highly recommend camp! It’s like a little vacation that someone else plans, and you are totally open to making new friends and having new experiences. Always fun. And I’m pretty sure there should be adult camp, because I’d probably go… if you can call me an adult. But let’s not get into that today.

Lessons from camp

Let’s talk about the three-week camp, because that one is most frequently on my mind. It pushed me way out of my comfort zone. That’s never easy, but it’s valuable. The summer after sixth grade, I went to UCLA for Jr. Discovery, and it was both the reason I was confident I wanted to go to college away from home and the reason I knew I didn’t want to go more than one time zone away. It introduced me to all sorts of new people, helped me be more confident, and gave me the chance to eat good food.

By the way, this is not in any way an ad for Jr. Discovery (you’re not even the right audience), just me telling you about some lessons from a life experience that’s been on my mind lately. And it includes ice cream sandwiches, as most great experiences do.

Be open to meeting new people.

There were kids from Asia and Europe and the Middle East there. I just expected a bunch of US residents, but I was met with so much more diversity. No matter what age you are, it’s really interesting to interact with people who have had totally different life experiences than you. We live in a global world, where that’s pretty easy to do (hi, internet!), but cohabitating with new people is categorically different than chatting on the internet. And it’s seriously cool; you can learn about each other’s food and language and the way they talk to their parents on the phone.

Don’t be afraid to be on your own.

See, my parents were in Ohio. And I was in California. Yes, I called my parents at midnight my time (3am Ohio time… they’re saints) out of frustration and homesickness, but ultimately, I had to handle my own problems. Camp was my first encounter with roommate issues, and whether you’re 12 or 20, they suck. I was also having a lot of migraines, so that was my first experience taking charge of my health. Also, I feel like I had to handle some situation with a really mean instructor. Anyway, I came back from UCLA with a lot more confidence in dealing with people and problems. It was good practice for college… and life.

Distance doesn’t have to ruin relationships.

The friends I made at UCLA are the reason I think about this camp so often. One night, the camp directors wouldn’t tell us where the evening activity was. It was a surprise. The surprise took us to Chuck E. Cheese. We were a bunch of middle-schoolers at Chuck E. Cheese. No one was thrilled about this initially, but ended up being so fun. We played games, took black-and-white photos, and won tickets.

I had grown really close with three other girls over the duration of camp. We decided that night that we wanted to have a “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” style relationship, but we oddly couldn’t find magic jeans to make that happen. So, we settled on a traveling charm bracelet and a journal in which to write letters and life updates. Oh, and we used our tickets to buy cheap plastic bracelets in four colors.

I haven’t seen any of these lovely ladies since camp eight years ago, but I still absolutely consider them great friends and love keeping up with them, and I get so excited every time the journal and bracelet arrive in the mail. Camp creates cool relationships.

Explore your environment (and eat ice cream sandwiches).

We went to Universal Studios, saw an Angels game, and swung by Rodeo Drive, among other things. It’s really fun to see what all different cities have to offer, and that’s become one of my favorite things to do, no matter where I am. But now we’re coming back to the ice cream sandwiches I promised you! We also went to Diddy Riese.

Diddy Riese lets you pick your cookies and your ice cream and create your perfect ice cream sandwich. I got double chocolate cookies and vanilla ice cream. The cookies are warm and huge and go perfectly with a big ol’ scoop of ice cream and girl talk on a hot summer night. Such comfort food. There’s not much better.

I’ve made my own ice cream sandwiches a few times since, but honestly not enough. (Is there such a thing as enough ice cream sandwiches? Asking the important questions here.) Also, until recently, I’d never made ice cream sandwiches with my own ice cream. Well, that needed to change.

Double Chocolate Berry Ice Cream Sandwiches

Remember those Double Chocolate Chip Cookies I told you about on Monday? I told you they’d come in handy.

They’re the “bread” in these ice cream sandwiches.

And the ice cream? This ice cream is dairy-free, so it’s both vegan and Paleo. The base is lightly-sweetened coconut cream, and it has a light, creamy texture. The flavor is completely customizable, so I’m excited to play around with that a little more in the future, but this time I went with swirls of blueberries and strawberries.

Oh, yeah. Double chocolate cookies and double berry ice cream. Because more is better with fruit and chocolate.

Plus, the red, white, and blue felt appropriately festive for the Fourth of July. 😉

Double Chocolate Berry Ice Cream Sandwiches

2016-06-28 14:40:54

Serves 10

Make these Double Chocolate Berry Ice Cream Sandwiches for a fun, surprisingly easy summer twist on classic cookies and ice cream.

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Prep Time

10 min

Total Time

3 hr 10 min

Prep Time

10 min

Total Time

3 hr 10 min

For the Double Berry Ice Cream

1. 1 c. frozen blueberries
2. 1 c. strawberries
3. 1 t. maple syrup
4. Water
5. 2 13-oz. cans coconut cream, chilled at least 5 hours
6. 1/2 T. vanilla extract
7. 2-4 T. maple syrup

For the Double Chocolate Berry Ice Cream Sandwiches

1. 1 batch Double Berry Ice Cream (above)
2. 1 batch Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

For the Double Berry Ice Cream

1. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Blend frozen blueberries in a blender until mostly smooth. You might need to allow them to thaw a little first, or add a dash of water to get things going. Set pureed blueberries aside.
3. Blend strawberries with 1 t. maple syrup and a dash of water. Set aside.
4. Scoop chilled, hardened coconut cream into a bowl, being sure to drain the coconut water. Using a mixer, beat cream until soft peaks form.
5. Add vanilla extract and 2-4 T. maple syrup to whipped coconut cream. The amount of maple syrup you add will completely depend on your desired sweetness. Just 2 T. was the perfect amount to make ice cream sandwiches, but I would say that a little more might be better if you want to eat the ice cream alone. Taste as you go and use your judgment.
6. Layer about 1/3 of the coconut cream in the prepared loaf pan. Add a few spoonfuls of each the blended blueberries and strawberries and swirl with a knife. Repeat until coconut cream is gone and you have the desired amount of fruit swirled in.
7. Freeze the cream-and-berries mixture for at least three hours, or until hardened.

For the Double Chocolate Berry Ice Cream Sandwiches

1. When ice cream has hardened, remove from the freezer and scoop onto a Double Chocolate Chip Cookie.
2. Pick another cookie and smush (technical term) it on top of the ice cream. Take a bite. Smile. Repeat.

By Ellen @ My Uncommon Everyday

Adapted from Cotter Crunch

Adapted from Cotter Crunch

Ellen Slater https://www.ellencslater.com/

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Your turn:

Did you go to camp as a kid?

Cookies or ice cream?