If you own an Instagram account, you probably know everyone is freaking out about ice cream sandwiches this summer. From classic approaches like vanilla ice cream sandwiched between two chocolate-chip cookies, to untraditional versions where cookies are replaced with things like donuts, pop-tarts, or churros, for what I’m convinced is solely for straight-up shock value, the general population is definitely glad this old-timey dessert is making a comeback.
Now, I’m on Instagram far more than I should be, and I have not seen nearly enough ice cream sandwiches that include bacon (or that are paleo, but that’s a different story). As a matter of fact, I don’t even think I’ve seen one with bacon at all. What. A. Crime. Well don’t worry, The Bacon Princess is here. And to compensate, bacon appears not once, but TWICE in this ice cream sandwich. First, bacon magically hops into the bowl with cinnamon and sugar, intent on being rolled all over that snickerdoodle dough. And THEN, it decided to candy itself with some espresso powder, hell-bent on corrupting the pureness of vanilla ice cream (in the best way). The bacon…it has a mind of its own!
Level: Easy
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Cooling Time: about 15 minutes
Total Time: about 40 minutes
Servings: 4 sandwiches
Ingredients:
6 slices bacon, diced
2 cups almond flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 pinch salt
1/3 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup + 2 to 3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon coconut sugar, optional
2 tablespoons espresso powder
ice cream – your choice. Paleo ice cream exits, I promise. Or you can make it using a recipe like this.
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a medium frying pan over medium-low heat, add diced bacon and sauté for about 5 minutes, or until fully cooked.
3. Using a slotted spoon, remove half of the cooked bacon to a plate lined with paper towels to absorb the grease. Pat dry.
4. Remove as much grease from pan as possible.
5. Over low heat, add espresso powder and two to three tablespoons of maple syrup to the bacon left in the pan. You can use coconut sugar if you have it, or maple syrup will be fine.
6. Cook for a couple minutes, or until the maple syrup bubbles for a little while.
7. Remove to a plate lined with parchment paper (not paper towel or it will stick!). Let sit until you are ready to assemble the sandwiches.
8. Once the cooked plain (not candied) bacon is cooled and as much of the grease as possible has been absorbed, put in a food processor/Vitamix and pulse until very fine. If you don’t have an appliance, chopping as finely as you can will do.
9. In a medium-sized bowl, combine almond flour, salt, and baking soda.
10. In a separate, small bowl, combine coconut oil, 1/4 cup maple syrup, and vanilla.
11. Add wet ingredients to dry and combine fully.
12. In another small bowl, combine cinnamon, ground bacon, and coconut sugar, if you are using.
13. Grab a heaping tablespoon of dough, roll into a ball, and then roll in the cinnamon/ground bacon mixture, making sure all sides are covered.
14. Place covered balls of cookie dough on your baking sheet, at least 2-3 inches apart. This batch of dough yielded 8 cookies for me.
15. Tear yourself a small piece of parchment paper, place over a cookie ball, and, using a measuring cup, gently flatten each cookie. The parchment paper is so the dough doesn’t stick to the measuring cup. Also, don’t go too overboard, just gently press until the balls turn into semi-flattened discs.
16. Bake cookies for 10 minutes, or until bottoms of cookies are slightly golden brown.
17. Let cool on baking sheet for about 2 minutes, and then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.
18. Take cooled candied bacon, add to food processor/Vitamix and pulse until fine. Again, if you do not have an appliance, chopping as fine as you can will be okay.
19. Transfer candied bacon bits to a plate.
20. Once cookies are cooled completely, scoop your favorite ice cream (I used vanilla Luna & Larry’s Coconut Bliss– the best Paleo ice cream there is!) onto one cookie and smooth out.
21. Sandwich other cookie onto the one with ice cream and roll in the candied bacon bits.
22. Eat the hell out of it. Just a note: you can totally assemble these babies, put them in a Ziploc, and throw them straight into the freezer to enjoy later.
Annie Trimber 