Paleo Pumpkin Ginger Snap Ice Cream

Introduction

Happy September, friends! For some of you, September is still considered summer. For others, like me, it’s the Fall kickoff month. Also known as the first BER month. Followed by OctoBER, NovemBER, and DecemBER.

Leaves are starting to turn bright, beautiful shades of reds, oranges, and yellow. The mornings are dewy, the days are hot, and the evening air is crisp. It’s the special time of year where dressing in layers of all 4 seasons is a must.

With the outside temps still feeling like summer, but the calendar saying it’s fall, I wanted to create a recipe that tastes like BOTH IN ONE. What better way to do that than with an autumn flavored ice cream? YUM!

When looking at the original cookie recipe, I knew I had three edits to make. The first one was the almond meal. Almond meal has a slightly more gritty texture, so I prefer finely sifted Blue Diamond Almond Flour. It’s an easy 1:1 substitute that makes a big difference.

The second substitution is the coconut oil. I’m not a big fan of coconut taste in things that aren’t supposed to be coconut flavored. The refined coconut oil options that aren’t as flavored are much more expensive. So, I simply substitute my favorite dairy free butter, Country Crock Plant Based. This ratio is also 1:1.

The third, and final, edit is the freshly grated ginger. I would actually prefer fresh, but unfortunately I did not have any on hand. So, ground ginger spice it is! The ratio for this is NOT 1:1. For every tablespoon of fresh ginger called for, 1/4 tsp of ground ginger can be substituted in it’s place. That means that for this recipe, you will need 1/2 tsp of ground ginger spice.

After making the edits in each component, I started the process of creating that final product. The first step was to make the ginger snaps.

I followed the recipe (with my edits) to make the dough. Once the dough was made, I scooped out tablespoon sized scoops and rolled them into balls. Once all the dough was rolled out, I used a fork to gently smash a grid pattern into each cookie.

The grid process took some patience. The dough is very sticky and if I didn’t wipe the fork off after each smash, the cookie would get stuck. If your cookies get stuck, it’s not the end of the world. Just gently pull them off and reshape them if need be.

Once the cookies were in the oven, I started the ice cream base. I followed the original recipe (with extra maple added) and poured it into my glass container to chill. Then, I popped it into the freezer to thicken up before adding the cookies.

At this point, the cookies were cooling, the ice cream was chilling, and I was napping. LOL! About an hour later, the ice cream was thick enough to hold the cookies without sinking to the bottom.

I crushed up 75% of the cookies and mixed in into the ice cream base. Then, I crushed up a little more to make the top pretty. I reserved a few cookies for sundae garnishing later. I’m all about pretty food!

For a visual guide for this recipe, check out the video I made while crafting my Paleo Pumpkin Ginger Snap Ice Cream! For more fun videos and recipes, be sure to follow the Messy Masterpiece Blog Instagram page.