Vegan Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies and Pumpkin Vanilla Ice Cream Sandwiches

It stays pretty warm all through October and even into November here in California. But the Autumn spirit is still in the air. And these ice cream sandwiches are the perfect solution to this conundrum. Creamy pumpkin spiced cashew ice cream between chocolatey hazelnut cookies are super easy to make. I made these mini sized, about and inch and a half wide. They were so fun to eat!!

 Pumpkin Vanilla Ice Cream

You can either make your ice cream or buy it. I used my cashew vanilla ice cream recipe but omitted the chocolate chips. Add in about 1/4 cup organic pureed pumpkin and 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice. If you are short on time, you can just buy the ice cream! I rarely see any flavors other than chocolate and vanilla when it comes to store bought almond or nut-based ice creams. But you can easily transform store bought vanilla into pumpkin spice by adding in the pureed pumpkin and spices on your own.

Line an 8 x 8 inch square baking dish. Line with parchment paper. Smooth your pumpkin ice cream into an even 1 inch layer. Refreeze till completely firm, at least an hour. With a round cookie cutter roughly the same size as your cookies, cut out rounds from your block of ice cream. Place the rounds on a parchment lined tray and keep in the freezer until ready to build your sandwich cookies.

 

 Vegan Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies

(makes about 40 cookies, or 20 ice cream sandwiches, depending on size)

For the cookies, I veganized this chocolate hazelnut cookie recipe.

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon finely ground flax seeds

3 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon vanilla

 1/2 cup vegan chocolate hazelnut spread (I used Justin's brand)

1/2 cup Earth Balance vegan butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup turbinado sugar to coat the cookies

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Combine flour and baking soda. Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine ground flax seeds, water, and vanilla.  Let sit for 5 minutes.

In the bowl of a standing mixer, combing chocolate hazelnut spread, Earth balance, sugar and brown sugar. Mix on medium speed about 3 minutes till creamy. Add in flax seed and mix to combine. Slowly add the flour and baking soda and mix just until smooth dough forms.

Shape the dough into 1 inch balls. Roll in turbinado sugar to coat. Set on parchment or silpat lined baking sheet. Bake for 4 minutes. Remove from oven. With the bottom on a jar or a any flat surface, gently flatten each cookie. Return to oven and cook for 4 more minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely.

To assemble, place 1 pumpkin ice cream round between 2 chocolate hazelnut cookies and press gently. Eat right away or store in the freezer wrapped in plastic wrap or parchment paper.