There’s always room for ice cream, right! That’s the rule we’ve always gone by in our home and especially when it’s the hand held variety! Crunchy crust, chocolatey ganache, yummy ice cream…filling! We’re all about enjoying our favorite plantain strips from Artisan Tropic in inventive and new ways, so why not as the crust and crunchy topping for our new and tasty ice cream crunch bars!
Plantains are naturally sweet so they’re perfect combined with some buttery macadamia nuts and little bits of chocolate, oh my goodness what a flavor and texture adventure! Paired with your favorite paleo ice cream (or not, you do you and use whatever ice cream works for you) these tasty bites are rich and delicious! They come together pretty easily and can be made DAYS in advance of your next family gathering. Like let’s say, Labor Day…that is somehow already upon us? How in the world does it arrive sooner every Summer? Makes our hearts hurt a bit over here. We are such warm weather fans! However, we’ll be making ice cream treats like this no matter the temperature outside! Enjoy!!!
ice cream crunch bars
an amazing hand held Paleo ice cream treat, made with a sweet plantain crust
Credit: backporchpaleo.com
Ingredients
- 2 4.5 oz bags Artisan Tropic sweet plantain chips
- ½ c raw macadamia nuts, roughly diced
- ½ c dark chocolate chips, roughly chopped
- 6 tbls coconut oil, melted
- ¼ c maple sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- pinch of Redmond Real Salt
- 2 pints of your favorite ice cream, use two flavors if you want to swirl it ganache layer (opt)
- ¾ cup raw milk, or full fat coconut milk
- 1¼ cup dark chocolate chips
Directions
- Prepare an 8″ x 8″ cake pan by rubbing a little bit of coconut oil on it, then lining with parchment paper, set aside.
- Place plantain chips in a food processor and pulse a few times until they are roughly crushed. Pour into a large bowl, add macadamia nuts and chopped chocolate chips. Stir to combine and set aside. You should have approximately 3½ cups.
- Melt coconut oil, add vanilla and maple sugar and stir to combine. Pour over plantain mixture and mix with a rubber until well combined.
- Spoon 2½ cups of mixture into the prepared pan, press carefully into the bottom creating an even layer covering the entire surface. Place in freezer to set up while you make ganache, if using.
- To make ganache, warm milk slightly in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and add chocolate chips, stir until all chips are melted. Remove crust from freezer and pour ganache on top and using a spatula smooth to cover the entire bottom. Return to freezer so ganache can set up.
- Remove ice cream from freezer to soften. You’ll want a thick frosting like consistency so you can smooth it out over the crust (or ganache if using.) Spoon into pan and smooth out over the bottom.
- Sprinkle remaining 1½ cups of plantain mixture on top and press into the ice cream. Return to freezer to so ice cream can firm back up. Wait at least a couple hours or even overnight.
- When ready to serve, remove from freezer and lift out of the pan with parchment paper. Allow a few minutes for ice cream to soften and then cut into desired size servings.
Looks amazing! I don’t see coconut oil, vanilla and maple sugar in the ingredient list…?
Hahaha, thank you sooo much for pointing this out! The complete ingredient list hadn’t been uploaded correctly, so sorry about that! It has been updated and should make more sense now. Thanks for reaching out and asking, we appreciate it! 🙂 ~Michelle
Awesome. Thank you!
You’re most welcome!!