Dairy-free ice cream, gooey date caramel, toasted cashews, all bundled in dark chocolate. Think: snicker’s ice cream bar but vegan and paleo!
Or the short, sweet, slightly more nostalgic translation of that title is: Snickers Ice Cream Bars. But homemade. And healthier. And (even thought I’m not qualified to say it because I created them so I’m biased but I’m still gonna say it) better.
How to Make Caramel Cashew Ice Cream Bars
We’ve got some delish layers to discuss…
- dairy-free vanilla ice cream
- tahini date caramel
- roasted cashews (or peanuts)
- dark chocolate
Dairy-Free Vanilla Ice Cream
It wouldn’t be an ice cream bar without the ICE CREAM. This is what makes this copycat candy bar extra summer-perfect, and (extra perk!) means they melt so you better devour quick.
All this layering is complicated enough, so we are keeping the ingredients very simple: cashews, maple syrup, coconut milk, vanilla. And if you re-read those ingredients you’ll realize it’s gonna be a HELLA creamy ice cream layer too. You could use store-bought vegan vanilla ice cream too, just let it melt, spread into a layer in the bottom of the pan, then re-freeze.
Tahini Date Caramel
This layer is equally as decadent and almost as easy. We are using medjool dates because 1) natural caramel flavor 2) healthier than refined sugar 3) they prevent the caramel from freezing completely so we get some gooeyness going on. I personally chose tahini because I LOVE the flavor with dates and with chocolate, but you can use other nut/seed butters instead. It will be a little thick to blend, but try your best not to add any extra water than necessary.
Roasted Cashews
All these creamy/gooey layers need some CRUNCH to balance. Obviously peanuts would be the classic choice, but for keeping it paleo (and what was in the pantry) reasons I used roasted cashews instead. Up to you! Or get crazy and used chopped pistachios or hazelnuts even.
Dark Chocolate Coating
The thin, snappy, deliciously decadent coating to bundle all these layers together. Hu Gems (use code FEASTINGONFRUIT for 20% off) are my favorite and melt to a perfectly thin consistency without having to add any coconut oil, so that’s what I recommend.
More Homemade Candy Bar Recipes You’ll Love
- Vegan Paleo Kit Kat Bars
- SunButter Butterfingers
- Matcha Coconut Bars
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Candy Bites
Caramel Cashew Ice Cream Bars
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 8 hours (chilling time)
- Total Time: 9 hours
- Yield: 12 bars 1x
- Category: ice cream
- Method: no bake
- Cuisine: american
Description
Dairy-free ice cream, gooey date caramel, toasted cashews, all bundled in dark chocolate. Think: snicker’s ice cream bar but vegan and paleo!
Ingredients
Ice Cream
- 2 cups (250g) raw cashews, soaked 3+ hours and drained
- 1/3 cup (105g) maple syrup
- 1/2 cup (120g) full-fat coconut milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Caramel
- 1/4 cup (70g) tahini (or nut/seed butter of choice)
- 3/4 cup (150g) pitted medjool dates, soaked 30 minutes
- 1/4 cup (50g) coconut oil
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1–2 tbsp water as needed
1 cup roasted chopped cashews (or peanuts if not paleo)
4oz dark chocolate, melted
Instructions
- Blend ice cream ingredients until very smooth.
- Pour into a loaf pan lined with parchment paper. Freeze.
- Blend caramel ingredients, adding water one tbsp at a time as needed (some chunks are okay).
- Spread on top of the ice cream layer. Top with chopped cashews. press in lightly.
- Freeze overnight.
- Slice into bars, coat in melted chocolate, chill until set.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bar
- Calories: 383
- Sugar: 18g
- Sodium: 58mg
- Fat: 27g
- Saturated Fat: 10g
- Carbohydrates: 31g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 7g
Keywords: healthy, chocolate, candy, summer, dairy free, date caramel, peanut free, paleo, vegan, snickers
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OMG! Dare I say, I believe these are your best photos to date??!! But I’m also biased because ice cream is undoubtedly by favorite food group! So many variations of crunchy elements and ice cream flavors to play with here too. Toasted coconut or buckwheat would be awesome. and berry or salted caramel ice cream. Why is summer so short??
★★★★★
I have such a love/hate relationship with photographing ice cream things, but the leftovers are definitely one of my fave subject matters😆 I am sure you are all too familiar with that struggle too! And ooooh yes I love the sound of ALL those variations😋
I’m planning to make this for my 2 years old son.
Can I use date paste instead of maple syrup/honey to make the ice cream?
And what else could I use to coat the bars? He doesn’t eat any chocolate.
Thanks so much for your recipe!
Hey! Yes date past will be fine for the ice cream layer. Hmm the coating alternative is tricky…what exactly in chocolate are you trying to avoid, the sweetener or the cocoa itself?
Wow I love everything about this! Amazingly delicious and pretty easy to make. Any tips on getting the chocolate on the entire bar, including the bottoms? I made a mess of it and wasn’t able to get a nice coating on the sides or bottoms.
★★★★★
Yes actually I do have tips! Cut the bars, put them back in the freezer > melt the chocolate > line a plate/pan with wax paper. Dip just the bottoms of each bar in chocolate and let it drip so you just get a thin coat > place on the wax paper and freeze until the chocolate is hardened > drizzle dip the tops/sides > place back on the wax paper (or a wire rack although sometimes the bottoms will stick to the rack if you take too long and they melt too much) > refreeze. That’s my method! Also thinning out your chocolate with coconut oil and/or using Hu Gems (they melt SO well, super thin and drizzly) makes a big difference too. Hope that helps!
Thank you! I’ll do that method next time. I did use Hu Gems. They are great 🙂
I have been following your website for a long time! I made my first comment today.
It looks like the perfect combination of chocolate and cream!!!
Hi Natasha! I appreciate the long time support and so happy to finally hear from you☺️ These are SUPER dreamy, one of my favorites!