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Have a taste of nostalgia with these Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Bars. They're creamy, crumbly, tart, and deliciously sweet!
Who doesn't love ice cream? Especially, when it comes from a musical truck driving around the neighborhood. Yep, those were the days!
I remember like yesterday, the panic and excitement I would feel when I heard the ice cream man coming. I would quickly run to my piggy bank, dump my change out, and charge out the door.
There were moments when I had to chase that sweet-filled vehicle down the road and I had no shame. The ice cream man carried an array of cold treats and made many kids indecisive on what to choose. Not me though...I knew exactly what I wanted, and I would order the Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Bars... Every.Single.Time.
I'm sure most of you know which ice cream bars I'm talking about, right? Well, for those of you that don't know, it had two layers of creamy ice cream, one vanilla, one strawberry, and it was coated with a buttery crumb topping.
So, if you've never tried them before, now is your chance. My homemade version is much healthier and kinder than the original. The only downside is that I can't drive by your house in a cool musical truck to deliver it.
I sometimes feel bad that my son can't experience the joy of chasing an ice cream truck for a sugar high. The one in our neighborhood really lacks vegan options and leaves him to choose from chemically dyed frozen sugar water.
Doesn't sound so appealing, does it?
I hope that one day this will change, but for now, I enjoy recreating childhood treats like these Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Bars for my little man (and like these Orange Creamsicle Pops). He's pretty happy about it too.
Honestly though, even if we weren't vegan, I couldn't even enjoy the original Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Bar anymore, and I most certainly wouldn't give it to my son. The ingredients are terrifying and completely unnecessary to consume. Take a look:
Ingredients: Nonfat Milk, Cake Crunch [Bleached Wheat Flour, Sugar, Palm Oil, Coconut (Sodium Metabisulfite to Protect Quality), Salt, Sodium Bicarbonate, Artificial Flavor, Soybean Oil, Red 40 Lake, Soy Lecithin, Red 3, Red 40], Corn Syrup, Water, Sugar, Palm Oil, Soybean Oil, Coconut Oil, Contains 2% Or Less of Each of The Following: Whey, Strawberries, Citric Acid, Mono and Diglycerides, Locust Bean Gum, Guar Gum, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Carrageenan, Red 40, Caramel Color, Vitamin A Palmitate.
Kind of scary, huh? What kills me though, is all the red dye in it. There are four types, and they are all cancer-causing ingredients. This makes me sad, and nobody should be ingesting this garbage...especially children.
Simple Ingredients
Simple IngredientsGood news, because you can recreate this childhood favorite at home with just a few pantry items. Here's what you'll need:
For the vanilla ice cream layer
- Full-fat coconut milk
- Pure maple syrup
- Vanilla extract
- Salt
The original Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Bar had both vanilla, and strawberry flavored ice cream. However, my family prefers all vanilla ice cream. The strawberry flavor comes from the crumb coating.
If you want strawberry ice cream instead, feel free to blend 1 cup of fresh strawberries into the mixture. If you want both strawberry and vanilla, you can make one of each flavor, and layer them into the mold. It's just more time-consuming that way. Another option is, making some bars with all strawberries, and some with all vanilla. It all works!
For the crumb topping
- Vegan vanilla cookies (I used gluten-free)
- Freeze-dried strawberries
- Vegan Butter
You'll need popsicle molds, too. The ones that I use can be purchased here. I like them because they are BPA-free, inexpensive and they work great. I've had them for years, and I've used them a lot (I used wooden sticks for photo purposes, but the set comes with everything).
Easy to make
Now that you have all your ingredients, you can put these tasty treats together in a snap. Just toss the ice cream ingredients in a blender and give it a whirl. Pour the mixture into your molds and freeze them for 6-8 hours.
While those are chilling, you can make the buttery crumble topping (my favorite part). Pulse the cookies in a blender or food processor to form small crumbs. Place them on a plate, and pour the melted butter on top and incorporate with your hands to form soft buttery crumbles. Now Pulse the freeze-dried strawberries and add them to the vanilla cookie crumbs.
When the ice cream is frozen, run the molds under warm water for 1 minute (this will release them easier). Let them thaw for 2-3 minutes so the crumbs will stick. Line a baking sheet or plate (that will fit in your freezer) with wax paper. Coat the bars with crumbs and place them back in the freezer for 15 minutes. Voila, they are now yours to enjoy!
Are you ready to get nostalgic? Let's do this!
I’d love to hear from you
If you make these Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Bars, I’d love to hear what you think. It would really make my day. You can also follow me on Instagram and share your creation with me. Just tag me @veganhuggs and hashtag #veganhuggs so I don’t miss it.
π Recipe
Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Bars (Vegan + GF)
Ingredients
Crumb Topping:
- Β½ cup freeze-dried strawberries , more if preferred
- ΒΎ cup GF vanilla cookie crumbs (about 24 1-inch cookies)(any vegan vanilla cookies will work)
- 1 tablespoon vegan butter , melted
Ice Cream:
- 1 14 oz can full-fat coconut milk
- β cup pure maple syrup , more to taste (sub agave)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- β teaspoon Himalayan salt (or preferred salt)
Instructions
Crumb Topping:
- In a blender of food processor, add vanilla cookies and pulse a few times to make small crumbs (make about ΒΎ cup of crumbs). Pour onto plate. Pour melted butter on top and incorporate with your hands to form soft crumbs.
- Now add the strawberries into the blender/food processor and pulse a few times to make small crumbs. Don't over pulse or it will turn into powder (some powder is ok). Pour into vanilla crumbs and mix together. Set aside.
Ice Cream:
- In a blender, add coconut milk, maple syrup, vanilla and salt. Blend on medium until smooth. Taste for sweetness and add more if needed. Pour into molds and freeze for 6-8 hours.
- Remove ice cream from molds by running under warm water for a minute. Place ice cream on a wax paper-lined baking sheet or plate (one that will fit in the freezer). Let bars thaw for 2-3 minutes, so the crumbs will stick.
- Place thawed bar into the crumbs. Using a spoon or hands, cover ice cream with crumbs, pressing gently all around. If it's not sticking, let it thaw for 1-2 minutes more. Place back on wax paper and repeat step until bars are finished. Place back in freezer for 15 minutes. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
* If you want strawberry ice cream instead of vanilla, just add 1 cup of fresh strawberries to the mixture and blend (frozen will work too). * If you want both strawberry and vanilla in the same ice cream bar, you can add Β½ cup of strawberries to half of the mixture, and layer the flavors into the mold. It's more time-consuming this way because you need to freeze each layer before adding the next layer(freeze 20 mins for each layer). * Another option is, making some bars with all strawberry, and some with all vanilla. It all works! * Makes 6-7 ice cream bars * Prep time doesn't include freezing time. *Store in airtight container for 4-6 days. I feel like they don't taste as fresh after that.
Nutrition
Krissy
Delicious! Wow! Definitely was a favorite growing up, haven't had in years. For the cookies, I used lemon shortcake ones I got from the store. Used Agave. Needed to thaw longer before the crumbs would stick, but my oh my these are quite tasty! Thanks for the recipe!
Melissa Huggins
My pleasure Krizzy! Glad it worked out with the substitutions. π
cheyenne
I have coconut cream or coconut whipping cream, could i use this?
Melissa Huggins
You can use coconut cream. You may need to thin it a little with any non-dairy milk. Do you have that one hand?
Cheyenne
Yes , also i bought the coconut milk right now stay. Itβs very thick should i blend it like so!?
Melissa Huggins
Yes, just pour it all into the blender. Most cans have the cream on top and water underneath. Is that the case with yours?
Kristin
Hey Melissa,
What a great recipe, just the thing I need to keep the summer going for a little bit longer!! Quick questionβ Iβve got a cuisinart ice cream maker and am wondering if it would be worth while to make the ice cream in that first before putting it in the popsicle molds but also thinking that might be uneccessary. What do you think? Thanks again!
Melissa Huggins
Hi Kristin, thank you! I haven't tried this mixture in my ice cream maker, but I think it would make it super creamy. It would probably be really good!! Let me know if you try it and I'll share with my readers. Thanks for stopping by π
Tee
Can you substitute coconut milk with soy milk?
Melissa Huggins
Hi Tee, I've only tried them with full-fat coconut milk. I think the soy will work, I just don't know if they will be as creamy. I'd love to hear how they turn out for you though. Thank you for stopping by π
Abi
Should we only scoop out the cream of the coconut milk? Wouldnβt the water make these super hard?
Melissa Huggins
Hi Abi, I make it with the whole can. It comes out perfect! Thanks for stopping by π
Hannah Teson
I made these today, and they are so good!!! Thank you so much for the recipe!
Melissa Huggins
Hi Hannah, thank you so much! So happy you liked them. Have a wonderful weekend! π
Sara
Just the type of vegan copycat recipe I was looking for! My only question is, where does one find freeze dried strawberries?
Melissa Huggins
Hi Sara, you can find them at most grocery stores. Target sells them too. π
Vegan Town - ΧΧΧΧ ΧΧΧ’ΧΧ Χ
Beautiful images! Looks original and tasty π
Sara
This recipe is SO awesome, Melissa - I used to love these bars, so much!! And you're so right, there was something about hearing the ice cream truck that just took the excitement level to 100 as a kid. As soon as I saw these bars it brought back those great memories, and I'm super happy to have a healthy version of these bars now! I love that you used freeze dried strawberries for the coating, I'm sure it adds great texture and that awesome strawberry flavor, of course. Can't wait to try these!!
Anna
Melissa, they do look delicious and better than a real deal!
We get Ice cream Van on our street at least once a day (and it's going to get even more frequent, now the Summer is coming...), and I always want to go and chase it, but then I remember they are not soo good for you. But who cares, when you can make your own and they look this good?!?
Pinning this for sure!
Melissa Huggins
Hi Anna, Thank you! I wish our ice cream man had better options. Until then, it's homemade all the way. Summer is pretty much here and already hotter than hell. The beauty of living in the desert π
Jasnin-Veeatcookbake
I do not know it but my husband know it. He said totally delicious. I think I should do him the favor and make some. π
Melissa Huggins
Hi Jasnin, that would be so nice! I'm sure he would love them. They were a childhood favorite of mine π
Mary Ellen | VNutrition
Melissa these look amazing! I used to love those Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Bars too. I saw them in your newsletter and had to come by to say I can't wait to try these!
Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!
Melissa Huggins
Thank you, Mary Ellen! It's nice to have childhood favorites again, with a healthier and kinder twist. My son loves these! Have a beautiful weekend! π