I recently replanted my annual herb pot with an ambitious variety of green edibles. The future was bright: fresh, pungent, natural flavorings happily flourishing outside my back door, romantically waiting for their next role in an illustrious whim of kitchen-oriented inspiration.
At least that was the plan.
The slugs ate the dill, the oregano never grew, the cilantro disappeared (in all seriousness… where did it go?), and we’ll just refer to the parsley as “pre-dried.”
On the other hand, the mint is practically taking over the entire garden. So in the spirit of making lemonade out of lemons, I thought it might be a good idea to make chocolate mint ice cream sandwiches out of mint. With off-the-charts levels of cool vibrant flavor, this is a recipe I’m going to be making as much as possible.
Chocolate Mint Ice Cream Sandwiches
Another persuasive example of junk food without all of the junk. Luxurious and decadent, yet full of living whole foods, this innovative recipe is loaded with essential minerals and healthy fats.
(For the ice cream):
½ cup hemp milk, almond milk, or other non-dairy milk beverage
2 frozen bananas
½ medium-sized Hass avocado
2 Tbsp agave nectar
½ tsp peppermint extract
1 Tbsp minced fresh mint
several drops of liquid chlorophyll (optional – enhances green color)
(For the cookie):
1/3 cup raw cacao powder
1 cup almond flour (ground almonds)
8 dates
¼ cup agave nectar
1/3 cup raw cacao nibs, plus a little extra for rolling
Blend: In a blender, combine non-dairy milk of choice, bananas, avocado, agave nectar, mint extract and fresh mint. Blend until smooth. Stir in liquid chlorophyll if desired. Transfer to a small bowl.
Freeze: Freeze the ice cream for 1-2 hours.
Mash: Combine all of the cookie ingredients in a food processor, and process until thoroughly chopped. Form “dough” into two even halves.
Assemble: Use a muffin tin, and line 6 of the muffin molds individually with saran wrap or tin foil. Sprinkle lightly with cacao nibs. Using one of the cookie dough halves, place a spooful of dough evenly into the bottom of 6 the lined and “nibbed” muffin molds. Press firmly to form a “cookie.” Next, fill each of the molds evenly with the partially frozen ice cream. Line an empty muffin mold with saran wrap, and use to form 6 more cookies from the second half of the cookie dough, sprinkling with cacao nibs prior to pressing each time. Top each mint ice cream with a cookie to form a sandwich.
Freeze: Freeze sandwiches for 2 more hours. To serve, simply remove ice cream sandwiches from the saran wrap or aluminum foil and serve whole or sliced, if desired. If wrapped tightly, these sandwiches can keep in the freezer indefinitely for future enjoyment.
Makes 6 sandwiches.
Raw, vegan, & gluten-free
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