These gluten-free ice cream sandwiches taste just like the classic stick-to-your-fingers version from your childhood. What's more, they're super easy to make! With your favorite ice cream sandwiched between two soft chewy gluten-free chocolate wafers, summer never tasted so good.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease and line a half-sheet jelly roll baking sheet (13x18) with two sheets of parchment paper to cover fully.
Sift together the cocoa powder, superfine blanched almond flour (or buckwheat or oat flour for a nut-free version), sweet rice flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Measure the granulated and dark brown sugar into a large mixing bowl. Melt the butter in a small bowl in the microwave or in a saucepan over medium heat. Pour the hot melted over the sugars in the mixing bowl. Add the vanilla and whisk together. Let sit for 5 minutes to cool slightly, if needed.
Whisk in the eggs and mix well. Whisk in the dry ingredients until fully incorporated and smooth. The batter will be thick.
Dump the batter into the prepared pan, spreading it into a thin even layer. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until the brownie wafer is fully cooked and bounces back when lightly touched. Let cool completely in the pan.
Once cool, slice the wafer in half widthwise (so you have two 13x9 rectangles).
Pull the ice cream out of the freezer to soften for a couple of minutes. If using homemade ice cream, skip the freezer and spread the thick soft-serve-like ice cream onto the chocolate wafer straight from the ice cream maker.
Line a quarter sheet jelly roll baking sheet (13x9) with a large piece of plastic wrap. You can also use the same half-sheet baking pan if you don't have a quarter sheet - I just find the quarter sheet helps hold in the ice cream. Place one half of the chocolate wafer, face down, on the plastic wrap.
Scoop the ice cream over the top of the wafer and use an offset spatula or knife to spread it into a smooth even layer all the way to the edges of the wafer. Place the second half of the wafer, face-up, over top of the ice cream, pressing lightly to seal it with the ice cream.
Pull the edges of the plastic wrap up over the sides, adding more plastic wrap as needed to wrap the entire sandwich in plastic wrap.
Freeze on the baking sheet until solid before slicing into 15 sandwiches (At least 4 hours, but preferably overnight). Store any remaining ice cream sandwiches in an airtight bag or container in the freezer.
Notes
Type of Cocoa Powder
I recommend Dutch-processed cocoa powder, but both Dutch-processed and natural unsweetened cocoa powder will work! If you use natural cocoa powder, your chocolate wafers won't be quite as dark.
Flour Substitutions
Sweet Rice Flour: Sub in tapioca flour by weight. Alternatively, substitute both the sweet rice flour and oat/buckwheat/teff measurements for Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 gluten-free flour.Almond Flour: Sub in hazelnut flour or chestnut flour by weight to add slightly more unique notes to the base! For a nut-free version, use the buckwheat or oat flour option, subbing the 42g almond flour for 25g gluten-free oat flour, buckwheat flour, or teff flour (note: the oat/buckwheat/teff flour options use less flour because they have less fat than almond flour).
Dairy-Free
For dairy-free chocolate wafers, sub out the butter for melted refined coconut oil or non-dairy butter. Use your favorite plant-based ice cream for the filling.
This nutritional information has been automatically calculated, and as such, may be incomplete or inaccurate. Please reference the specific ingredients you use for the most accurate nutritional information.