Banana Split Ice Cream Sandwiches

When I think of classic ice cream desserts, I think of the iconic banana split. Scoops of ice cream placed in a shallow dish, topped with whipped cream and maraschino cherries and sandwiched between a banana cut in half. What if we took a fun spin on the banana split? Bring on Banana Split Ice Cream Sandwiches!

These Banana Split Ice Cream Sandwiches have the classic flavors of a banana split, but with the convenience of an ice cream sandwich. Vanilla ice cream is sandwiched between two banana flavored, sprinkle covered cookies. The cookies are firm around the edges, but soft in the middle and the sprinkles give them a nice crunch!

A FEW NOTES BEFORE WE GET STARTED

• Room Temperature Ingredients:
  • Butter: It’s important that your butter is softened. In a pinch, you can put your butter in the microwave for about 5 seconds on each side, but watch closely to make sure it is just softening and not melting.
  • Eggs: You want to make sure that your eggs are at room temperature to ensure that they are properly incorporated into your batter. If you forget to leave them out before you start baking, place them in a bowl of warm water for about 15 minutes until they become room temperature.
• Measuring Your Ingredients: I strongly encourage that you use a kitchen scale to measure your ingredients and ensure that you have the most accurate measurements possible.
  • However, if you don’t have a scale on hand and will be using cup measurements, make sure to use the “spoon and sweep” method when measuring to avoid packing in too much of any dry ingredient.
• Oven Temperature: Make sure to preheat your oven for at least 15 minutes before you start baking.
  • I recommend purchasing an oven thermometer to get to know your oven so you can adjust your baking temperatures accordingly. Some ovens run slightly warmer or colder so its important to know yours to make sure your baked goods come out right.

These ice cream sandwiches are super easy to make! To get started, preheat your oven to 350º F and blend together the butter and sugar on medium speed in a stand mixer until combined.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl before adding in the eggs, one at a time, and continuing to mix. Grab a second small bowl to whisk together the flour, finely crushed freeze dried banana, baking powder, and salt. Make sure that you blend the freeze dried banana in a food processor so it is very fine.

With the mixer on low, add in the flour mixture and mix just until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Take the whole bowl of dough and place it in the fridge to chill for about 10 minutes. I recommend using a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop for a good sized cookie.

Scoop all cookies into balls and place them on a parchment lined cookie sheet, popping them into the fridge to chill for another 10 minutes.

Now comes the fun part! Roll each ball of dough in your favorite jimmies sprinkles, ensuring that they are completely covered. Place them a few inches apart on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake them for 14-15 minutes.

The cookies will be firm around the edges, but still slightly soft in the middle. Let them cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before moving them to a cooling rack.

Once all your cookies have cooled, carefully flip over half of your cookies. There are lots of different ways to add the ice cream depending on the type of ice cream you're working with.

If you make your vanilla ice cream from scratch, you can pour it in a lined 13x9 baking dish and use a circular cookie cutter to cut out circles of it that fit perfectly between your cookies.

If you're using a smaller carton of ice cream, you can use a knife that's been held under hot water and slice through the container while it's on its side to get small circles of ice cream.

And lastly, if you're working with a large carton of ice cream, you can just use a good old fashioned ice cream or cookie scoop to scoop ice cream directly onto the cookies.

Once half of the cookies have ice cream, carefully place another cookie on top and gently press down, making sure not to break the cookies. Serve these immediately or wrap individually in plastic wrap and foil to freeze up to two weeks. Enjoy!

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