Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Bars (Vegan + GF)

Have a taste of nostalgia with these Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Bars. They're creamy, crumbly, tart and deliciously sweet!

Course Dessert

Cuisine Gluten-Free, Vegan

Prep Time 25

Total Time 25

Servings people

Calories 157kcal

½ cup freeze-dried strawberries , more if preferred
¾ cup GF vanilla cookie crumbs (about 24 1-inch cookies)(any vegan vanilla cookies will work)
1 tablespoon vegan butter , melted

In a blender of food processor, add vanilla cookies and pulse a few times to make small crumbs (make about ¾ 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.

In a blender, add coconut milk, agave, 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!

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 ½ 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!
Prep time doesn't include freezing time.
Store in an airtight container for 4-6 days. I feel like they don't taste as fresh after that.