BANANA CHOCOLATE CHIP CHAI NICE-CREAM SANDWICHES WITH GINGER BISCUITS

Makes 5 sandwiches

For the gingerbread cookies:

100 g (3½ oz/½ cup) coconut sugar
2½ tbsp almond butter • 3 tbsp maple syrup • 1 large egg
50 g (2 oz/¼ cup) coconut oil, softened but not melted
1 tbsp ground ginger • ½ tsp ground cinnamon • ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ tsp salt • ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
130 g (4½ oz/1 cup) buckwheat flour, plus extra to sprinkle
50 g (2 oz/½ cup) oats (or gluten-free)

For the chai nice cream:

60 ml (2 fl oz) almond milk • 100 g (3½ oz/¾ cup) cacao butter
3 chai tea bags (or black tea for a more subtle flavour)
6 large bananas, peeled and frozen
60 g (2 oz/½ cup) cashews, soaked for 4–6 hours, then drained
1 tsp vanilla extract • ½ tsp ground cinnamon • ½ tsp ginger powder
¼ tsp ground cloves • ¼ tsp ground cardamom
a large pinch of Himalayan crystal salt or sea salt
170 g (6 oz/1 cup) dark chocolate chips

Ice-cream sandwiches are so good! You forget how good they are until you have one. The flavour combination of the chai and ginger is really gorgeous. They also have the added bonus of looking a lot more difficult to make than they actually are.

Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F/Gas 4) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. To make the cookies, pop the coconut sugar, almond butter, maple syrup, egg, coconut oil, spices, salt and bicarbonate of soda in a bowl, and give it a good whisk. Add the buckwheat flour and oats, then stir until well combined. Your dough should hold its shape when pressed, but not feel dry.

Sprinkle the prepared baking sheet with flour. Generously dust the dough with flour and carefully roll out to a little thicker than 3 mm (1/8 in) on top.

Use a 7.5 cm (3 in) round cookie cutter to cut out cookie shapes and carefully transfer to the lined baking sheet, leaving about 5 cm (2 in) between them. You may need to dust your cutter in some flour if the dough proves too sticky. Then transfer to the baking sheet and bake for 8–10 minutes, until only slightly browned on the edges as they’ll continue to harden as they cool.

Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool completely. (Or for a melty, delicious treat, you can sandwich the warm cookies with the nice cream. Bib optional, but recommended.)

To make the chai nice cream, warm the almond milk and cacao butter in a saucepan until just boiling. Turn off the heat, then add the chai teabags and leave to infuse for 10 minutes. Remove the teabags and discard.

Place the bananas and soaked cashews in a food processor and blend until almost the texture of ice cream. Add the vanilla extract, chai almond milk, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, cardamon and salt and process again for 20 seconds, until you reach the desired consistency.

To assemble the sandwiches, use an ice-cream scoop to scoop out 5 large balls of ice cream and put on the bases of 5 cookies (face down) and then top with another cookie (face up). Use both hands to carefully press the cookies together, applying as much pressure as you dare to sandwich them together. Decorate the nice-cream layer with the chocolate chips (as pictured on the previous page).

Devour straight away, or pop back in the freezer on a lined tray to set. The sandwiches will be happy sitting in the freezer, stored in a Ziploc® bag or freezerproof container, for a good few weeks, though they are best if eaten within the first several days. Before serving, let them thaw slightly for 15 minutes, or if you are impatient like me, give them a zap in the microwave for about 20 seconds.

Top Tip: If the dough is too delicate to handle, pop them in the freezer for 5 minutes to firm up before baking.