Guilt-Free Nice Cream

Makes 10 cookies (5 sandwiches)

For the cookies:

120 ml (4 fl oz) brown rice milk or any nut milk • 1 tsp lemon juice
65 g (2 oz/1/3 cup) soft brown sugar or coconut sugar • 3 tbsp melted coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla extract • 1 large egg • 120 g (4 oz/1 cup) buckwheat flour
30 g (1 oz/¼ cup) unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) • a pinch of sea salt

For the coffee nice cream:

6 bananas, peeled and frozen • 3 tbsp peanut butter
2 tbsp coffee liqueur • 60 ml (2 fl oz) almond milk
2 tbsp espresso, chilled • 1 tbsp instant coffee granules • ¼ tsp salt
2 tbsp agave syrup • 2 tbsp brown rice syrup • 2 tbsp melted coconut oil
2 tbsp tinned coconut milk, chilled (thick part only) • 30 g (1 oz/¼ cup) chopped chocolate

These chocolate cookies are really light and airy, more like little fluffy cakes in the shape of a cookie. They make the perfect exterior for some indulgently delicious nice-cream sandwiches. Swoon.

Preheat the oven to 170°C (340°F/Gas 3), and line a baking tray with parchment paper.

To make the cookies, pour the nut milk and lemon juice in a jug and let it sit for a few minutes (this helps the milk thicken a little). Crack the egg in a bowl, add the coconut sugar, melted coconut oil and vanilla extract, then beat. Add the thickened almond milk and beat again. Stir in the remaining ingredients, beating until well combined.

Spoon 10 tablespoons of the cookie batter onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving a small space between each one. Bake for 7 minutes or until cooked. Remove from the oven, let cool on the sheet for 5 minutes, then carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

In the meantime, make the coffee nice cream. Put the bananas in a food processor and blend until thick and creamy, scraping down the sides every 30 seconds.

Process until the mixture becomes completely smooth and the consistency of soft-serve ice cream. Add in the remaining ingredients, except the chopped chocolate, and blend until incorporated. Mix in the chocolate by hand.

Use an ice-cream scoop to scoop out 5 large balls of nice cream and put on the base of 5 cookies (face down) and then top with another cookie (face up).

Use both hands to carefully press the cookies together enclosing the nice cream. Place the sandwiches in a freezer-proof dish, cover with cling film (plastic wrap), and pop back in the freezer. These will stay fresh for up to a week.

Before eating, either let your sandwich sit out of the freezer for about 15 minutes or unwrap it and microwave for 20 seconds. The more frozen the cookie sandwich, the duller the flavour, and the harder your teeth need to be.