Summertime Saltine Ice Cream Sandwiches

While we love a good new, creative, and out-of-the-box summer dessert idea, at the end of a sweaty summer day there’s just one thing we want: a fantastic ice cream sandwich. One of our absolutely favorite things is to play around with the classic treat and see how we can make it better than ever. Today’s idea does so by combining the ice cream with a totally unexpected ingredient: saltine crackers. Yes, you read that correctly; the perennial sick-day snack is becoming a vital part of summer dessert! Taking inspiration from the Southern classic “Sweet and Saltines,” this ice cream is sandwiched between layers of saltine cracker toffee, PLUS chocolate and almonds. You have to see this one to believe it, so check it out.

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SALTINE ICE CREAM SANDWICHES

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS

  • 32 saltine crackers
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, cut into chunks
  • ½ cup packed light brown sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 ⅓ cups (8 ounces) bittersweet chocolate chips
  • ½ cup toasted sliced almonds
  • 2 to 3 cups of vanilla ice cream, softened 5 minutes at room temperature

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius). Line two 9-inch-by-9-inch square baking pans with foil and spray with non-stick spray.
  2. Line up 16 crackers salt-side-up in the bottom of each pan.
  3. In a small saucepan, melt the butter and sugar over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes until melted. Whisk to emulsify. Stir in the vanilla.
  4. Pour half of this toffee mixture over each tray of crackers, and spread evenly to cover the crackers.
  5. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until the toffee is bubbling and the edges have just started to darken.
  6. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the cracker toffee and let it sit for 5 minutes until melted. Spread the chocolate in an even layer, and then top with the sliced almonds.
  7. Freeze both pans for 15 to 30 minutes until solid. Remove from the freezer and carefully peel off the foil from the bottoms.
  8. Line one of the pans with plastic wrap, then put a sheet of the crackers in it chocolate-side-down.
  9. Scoop the softened ice cream onto the crackers and spread it out in an even layer.
  10. Lightly press the other toffee cracker sheet over top the ice cream layer.
  11. Freeze for 6 to 8 hours, until solid, before cutting them into sandwiches.

Easy, delicious, sweet and salty— is there anything not to like about this idea? We don’t think so. The layers of almonds, chocolate, and saltine toffee really take this idea to the next level. What do you think of this idea? Have you ever made anything like these ice cream sandwiches before? What about saltine cracker toffee? Give it a try and tell us how it turns out for you!

Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen