Healthier Snickers Ice Cream Bars
One of our favourite treats growing up was an ice cream sandwich,and this is a brilliant healthier version that feels so nostalgic and our kids absolutely love it in the summer! It's a clean, whole-food version of the classic ice cream bar. Featuring a velvety cashew vanilla ice cream layer, a gooey salted date caramel, crunchy nuts, and a crisp dark chocolate shell.
Takes 2 hours 20 minutes
Serves 24
Ingredients
The Vanilla Ice Cream Base
- 240 g roasted salted cashews (approx. 1½ cups)
- 60 ml maple syrup ¼ cup
- Pinch of salt
The Gooey Peanut Butter Salted Caramel Layer
- 240 g dates pitted (approx. 1½ cups / 10 large dates)
- 100 g roasted cashew nuts approx. ⅔ cup
- A big pinch of sea salt
- 10 tbsp warm water 150ml / just over ½ cup
- 150 g smooth peanut butter approx. ½ cup + 2 tbsp
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
The Crunch & Chocolate Shell
- 70 g roasted salted peanuts (approx. ½ cup)
- 250 g high-quality dark chocolate 70% or higher (approx. 1½ cups chopped)
- 1 tsp coconut oil
Instructions
Blend the ice cream base
- In a food processor, combine the 240g of roasted salted cashews, 60ml of maple syrup, 1 tsp of coconut oil, and a pinch of salt. Blend on high for 60 to 90 seconds until the mixture is a nut butter consistency.
Freeze the first layer
- Pour the creamy mixture into a lined pan to create the base layer. Line a standard loaf tin or a square baking dish with parchment paper, leaving some overhang on the sides to use as handles later. Pour the blended ice cream base into the tin and place it flat in the freezer for 1 to 2 hours until it is firm to the touch.
Make the date caramel
- In a small saucepan, add the 240g of pitted dates and 100g of roasted cashews. Pour in the 10 tbsp of warm water and bring to a gentle simmer for a few minutes on the stove to soften the dates. Strain the water out of the saucepan into a bowl (saving the liquid). Put the softened dates and cashews into the food processor. Add the 150g of smooth peanut butter, 1 tsp of vanilla extract, a big pinch of sea salt, and a splash of the saved date water. Blend until it forms a thick, ultra-sticky, glossy caramel paste. If it's too thick to spread, add an extra tablespoon of warm water.
Layer the caramel and nuts
- Spread the caramel over the frozen base and press the remaining nuts into it. Take the frozen ice cream base out of the freezer. Gently spread the salted date caramel evenly across the surface. Take the 70g of peanuts, chop them roughly, and scatter them over the caramel. Press down firmly with your hands so the nuts get locked into the caramel layer. Return to the freezer for 30 minutes.
Slice into bars
- Lift the mixture out using the parchment paper and cut into uniform bars. Once the caramel and nut layer is set, lift the block out of the tin using the parchment handles. Place it on a chopping board and use a sharp knife to slice it into 6 to 8 rectangular bars. Place the bars back on a lined tray in the freezer while you melt your chocolate.
Coat in dark chocolate
- Dip the frozen bars into melted chocolate to seal the layers. Melt the 250g of dark chocolate with 1 tsp of coconut oil in the microwave in 30-second bursts. Pour the melted chocolate into a tall glass. Take each frozen bar and dip it completely into the chocolate, letting any excess drip off. Because the bars are freezing cold, the chocolate will harden into a crisp shell almost instantly.
Storage
- Store your finished bars in an airtight container in the freezer. When you are ready to enjoy one, let it sit on the counter for 3 to 5 minutes. This allows the date caramel to become perfectly gooey and the cashew base to soften into a premium ice cream texture!
No mention of peanut butter in the instructions ???
My apologies for that oversight! You are completely right.
To fix it, just blend the 150g of smooth peanut butter right into the caramel layer along with the dates, sea salt, and warm water.
Thanks for catching that!
Do I need to use two kinds of cashews in this recipe-salted & unsalted?
Hi Nancy! The recipe technically uses roasted salted cashews for the base and plain roasted cashews for the caramel. However, you can absolutely just use roasted salted cashews for both layers to keep it simple! If you do, just skip or reduce the extra pinch of sea salt called for in the caramel layer so it doesn’t get too salty.
This recipe is completely different to the one for the picture on facebook, also the ingredients list is different to the instructions…I’m so confused! Is the vanilla layer cashews and maple syrup or cashews and dates and are there cashews in the peanut layer? There are in the ingredients list but not the instructions. I think the site might need to be updated!
Hi there! So sorry for the confusion there was a mix-up between the ingredient list and the instructions when this was first posted. We’ve updated and fixed the recipe, so hopefully it all makes perfect sense now! Let me know how it goes if you give it a try! 🍫✨
Looks lovely ! As there are no dates mentioned in the ingredients for the ice-cream base, does “half the dates” refer to half of the 240g mentioned in the gooey layer?
Hi Fiona! So sorry for the confusion. The dates actually belong entirely to the gooey caramel layer (all 240g of them)! There shouldn’t be any dates in the ice-cream base at all.
I have just completely updated the instructions to clear up that mistake, so it should all make perfect sense now. Hope you enjoy making them! 🍫✨”