These decadent brownie ice cream sandwiches are made with the fudgiest brownies split between two pans, baked, and layered with homemade no churn vanilla ice cream.
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The perfect brownies…
Whenever you're making homemade ice cream sandwiches, you want to be able to bite into the sandwich without having it fall into your lap in pieces. That's a basic requirement, right?
The ice cream adds plenty of sweetness, and the contrast between the rich chocolate of the brownies and the sweet cream of the ice cream is what makes thesebrownie ice cream sandwiches a fast favorite.
…made in two square pans
You may be tempted to bake the brownie batter in a single 9-inch x 13-inch baking pan, rather than 2 square pans. I have tried baking brownie recipes in a larger pan, but I find that the edges burn before the center has a chance to fully set.
It's particularly important for these brownies to bake up flat (without a dome toward the center), and stable. You'll have to transfer one of the uncut layers on top of the ice cream, which is on top of the other brownie layer, still in its pan.
Freezing the baked and cooled brownie layers helps make them easier to handle. But if your brownies are too cake-like, or underbaked at all, you'll find it difficult to layer them. Of course, if you'd prefer a more classic take, try our gluten free ice cream sandwiches with soft chocolate wafer cookies.
What type of ice cream works best for ice cream sandwiches?
In the warm weather, I make quite a bit of homemade ice cream. It's far from the only ice cream my kids eat in the summertime, but it's so useful to have still-unfrozen freshly “churned” ice cream for making into ice cream pops and ice cream sandwiches.
Once ice cream has been churned, or no-churned like our homemade no churn vanilla ice cream, it's soft and fluffy, and so easy to spread. You can see it in the how-to video included in this post.
If you don't want to make homemade ice cream, you can use store-bought ice cream. The easiest way to do it is to buy a cardboard quart-sized or larger container of ice cream and literally slice through the cardboard horizontally with a sharp knife, at least 1-inch thick.
Peel away the container that remains on the slab of ice cream, and place it on top of the bottom brownie layer, still in the pan. You'll probably need two slices to place side by side on the brownies. Top with the other brownie layer.
Ingredients and substitutions
Dairy
You can make the brownies without dairy, and I've even tried it myself. Replace the butter with an equal amount by weight of Earth Balance Buttery Sticks, or vegan butter like Melt or Miyoko's Kitchen brand, and the cream with nondairy milk (not non-fat!), use nondairy chocolate.
If you do use Earth Balance, eliminate the salt as an ingredient. Buttery Sticks are already pretty salty.
For the ice cream, you can use your favorite nondairy vanilla ice cream (or whatever flavor you like). You can also use our recipe for nondairy no churn ice cream recipe.
Eggs
If you're egg-free, you can try using two “chia eggs.” A chia egg is 1 tablespoon ground chia seeds mixed with 1 tablespoon lukewarm water and allowed to gel. I can't promise it will work, though, as I haven't tried it in this recipe.
Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (105 g) basic gum free gluten free flour blend (69 grams superfine white rice flour + 23 grams potato starch + 13 grams tapioca starch/flour)
- ¾ cup (60 g) Dutch-processed cocoa powder (if you use natural cocoa powder instead, add 1/8 teaspoon baking soda to the recipe)
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅓ cup (67 g) granulated sugar
- ¾ cup (164 g) packed light brown sugar
- 2 (100 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs at room temperature, beaten
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 9 tablespoons (126 g) unsalted butter melted
- 3 ounces bittersweet or unsweetened chocolate melted
- 2 tablespoons (1 fluid ounce) heavy cream at room temperature
- 2 quarts softened or homemade vanilla ice cream
Instructions
Make the brownie layers.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F.
- Grease two 8-inch x 8-inch baking pans lightly then line them with parchment paper that overhangs all 4 sides of the pan, or line with nonstick aluminum foil. Set the pans aside.
- In a large bowl, place the flour blend, cocoa powder, salt, and granulated sugar, and whisk to combine well.
- Add the brown sugar, and whisk again to combine, breaking up any lumps.
- Add the eggs and vanilla, then the melted butter, and melted chocolate, and the cream, and mix to combine.
- The batter should be thick but smooth.
- Divide the batter equally among the two prepared baking pans (each pan will have about 400 grams of batter), and spread into an even layer in each with a wet spatula.
- Place the pans in the center of the preheated oven and bake just until firm to the touch (about 20 minutes).
- Allow the brownies to cool completely in the pans.
- Transfer one cooled brownie layer from the baking pan to a flat surface like a small cutting board or baking sheet, and place in the freezer for about 20 minutes.
- Chilling that layer will make it easier to transfer it to the top of the ice cream without its breaking.
Assemble the ice cream sandwiches.
- Pour one recipe of homemade ice cream or softened store-bought vanilla ice cream over the top of the brownies still in their pan. Spread into an even layer.
- Top with the other brownie layer, top facing up.
- Freeze completely, still in the pan.
- Remove from the freezer, slice into rectangles and serve.
- Wrap any leftover ice cream sandwiches tightly and freeze for up to 2 weeks.
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Thanks for stopping by!
Hi, I’m Nicole. I create gluten free recipes that really work and taste as good as you remember. No more making separate meals when someone is GF, or buying packaged foods that aren’t good enough to justify the price. At Gluten Free on a Shoestring, “good, for gluten free” just isn’t good enough! Come visit my bio!
Amanda says
BTW, I really appreciated having the amounts of rice flour, etc… listed as an alternative right in the recipe.
I did not have a gum-free blend on hand & it was really nice to still be able to make the recipe without clicking through to another link and calculating the proportion needed.
Nicole Hunn says
I’m so glad that note was helpful to you, Amanda. I just had a “notes” field added to recipes, and I plan to add more information in that field going forward that will help you avoid hunting and gathering portions for recipes that are incorporated by reference.
Amanda says
Loved these! We reduced the sugar a bit & the flavor profile really reminded me of cookies & cream. YUM!
Thanks for another great recipe, Nicole!
Sabrina says
If making the ice cream at home, should it be frozen and softened before adding to the brownies? Or can it be frozen for the first time when adding to the brownie layers?
Nicole Hunn says
Churned (or “no-churned”) and cold but not yet frozen. Frozen for the first time in between the layers! Don’t worry, you’ve got it.
Linda Starns says
Can Pillsbury GF Brownie Mix be used ?
Nicole Hunn says
I really recommend that you make the recipe as written, since I don’t know if a brownie mix will bake flat in two short layers, as you need to make brownie ice cream sandwiches, Linda.
Deb says
You have the cream measurement 2 TBS = 2 fluid ounces. Should it be 1 fluid ounce? Looking forward to making this.
Nicole Hunn says
Yes, good eye thanks for pointing that out I will fix the typo!
Denise Mares says
Thanks for getting back to me Nicole. I wasn’t looking for a blondie recipe, I just don’t care for chocolate, and these brownie ice cream sandwiches looked really good.
Nicole Hunn says
I do have a Chipwich-style ice cream sandwich recipe that you might like, Denise. You could replace the chocolate chips with white chocolate chips (although the chips really work best as minis, so maybe small chunks of nuts?).
Denise Mares says
Can I leave out the cocoa out, and can I substitute white chocolate instead of chocolate? Is there any adjustments for high altitude?
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Denise, it sounds like you’re looking for a blondie recipe, not a brownie recipe. This recipe can’t be versioned like that, no. You need the chocolate and the cocoa to make brownies. I do have blondie recipes (just use the search function!) but none that I feel confident would bake up flat like these.
I’m afraid I don’t know what adjustments, if any, must be made for baking at high altitude, since I can’t recreate the condition. But from other readers’ comments over the years, the “regular” high altitude adjustments seem to work equally well for gluten free baking.
Cindy L Ranuio says
Would it be possible to use a sugar substitute for this, like Lakanto?
Nicole Hunn says
I’m honestly not sure, Cindy. I’m inclined to say yes, if you use the different kinds (an alternative granulated sugar and an alternative brown sugar). But keep in mind that alternative sugars tend to be drying, so you may need to add some more cream to the brownie batter to get it to the right consistency. Watch the video carefully for that texture, and you should be able to do it.