Enjoy these easy to make strawberry shortcake ice cream bars! Simple ingredients to make a classic summertime treat. Dairy, gluten, and nut free!
Cool and creamy dairy free ice cream filled with strawberries and with an easy to make strawberry crunch on the outside. This no-bake dessert is way easier to make than you think and is the perfect dessert to keep in the freezer for those hot summer days.
Free from: Dairy, casein, eggs, soy, peanuts, fish, shellfish, crustaceans, mollusks, celery, corn, sesame, mustard, lupin, sulfites, nightshades, tomatoes, and more
Options for free from: Wheat/Gluten, tree nuts, coconut
When I was a kid, I wanted these treats from the ice cream truck so bad but they were filled with allergy ingredients I couldn’t have! So this year I made it my mission to come up with a recipe that was gluten free, dairy free, egg free, nut free, food dye free, and coconut free! this homemade version totally delivers. This is all delicious real strawberry flavor that is the perfect treat.
These vegan strawberry shortcake ice cream bars are an easy recipe, filled with all the nostalgia goodness like you remember and they are filled with good ingredients! Honestly, the most difficult part about this recipe is waiting for them to freeze.
Want more perfect summer treat ideas? Check out these s'mores cupcakes (gf + v), gluten free angel food cake, or coffee popsicles!
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Why You’ll Love these Strawberry Shortcake Bars
- Simple ingredients
- Delicious copycat recipe
- Super easy to make
- Gluten free, dairy free, egg free, soy free, nut free, coconut free recipe!
Ingredients
Here is a quick rundown of what you'll need. For allergy substitutions for any ingredients, see below.
- Dairy free milk + Dairy free cream: I like to use both to get a smooth and creamy ice cream bar. However, if you can’t find a good cream that is safe for your allergies, you can use all of the safe dairy free milk.
- Strawberry jam: This gets mixed into the ice cream to make it strawberry flavored. Use your favorite store bought brand or homemade. You can also use fresh strawberries if you prefer.
- Sugar + Vanilla: I like to add this to make it a little sweeter and the vanilla flavor brings out the depth of flavor in strawberries.
- Pinch of Salt: Just a pinch!
- Whipped Topping: A light coating of this gives the crunchy topping something to stick to. See below for substitutions.
- Rice Crispy Cereal + Freeze-Dried Strawberries: This is what makes the yummy crunchy strawberry crumbs for the crumb coating.
Optional ingredient but highly recommended: Dragon Fruit powder! This turns the ice cream a really pretty shade of pink and the flavor compliments the strawberry so well. My favorite company to purchase this from is Unicorn Superfoods.
Allergy Substitutions
If you can’t find gluten free rice crispy cereal, feel free to use any gluten free vanilla cookie to get similar crumbs. I have a great vanilla gluten free cookie recipe here! Or use a gluten free vanilla sandwich cookie, like golden oreos or gluten free shortbread cookies.
If you can’t use cool whip, coco whip, or true whip, here is a different method of coating the bars. Melt 2 tablespoons of your safe butter and stir this into the rice crispy and strawberry mixture. Then, gently pat this melted butter and strawberry cookie mixture onto the outside of the ice cream bars and freeze as normal.
Recommended Equipment
A good popsicle mold is essential for this recipe. I like this one because it is BPA free and uses wooden popsicle sticks. Other popsicle molds I like are this metal one. If you don't have molds, you can make this in paper cups with popsicle sticks. When the strawberry ice cream bar is frozen solid, just rip the paper away.
Instructions
For the full instructions, complete with ingredient measurements, please see the recipe card below.
First up, make the strawberry ice cream base. In a measuring cup or a large bowl, whisk together the dairy free milk, dairy free cream, strawberry jam, sugar, and vanilla extract. Add the dragon fruit powder if you are using that as well. Whisk it together until it is smooth, creamy, and a pretty shade of pink!
Tip! If you are using real strawberries, blend the strawberries in a bowl of a food processor or blender until they are more of a strawberry puree. Then, add that to the milk/cream mixture and add a few small bite sized bits of strawberry into the homemade ice cream. Prepare the rest of the recipe as directed.
Pour into your popsicle mold. Fill them up almost all the way, leaving a little bit of room for it to expand while freezing.
Now for the hard part. It’s time to wait overnight for this to chill! If you can’t let it go overnight, depending on how cold your freezer is, it will take about 6 to 8 hours for this to fully set in the freezer.
Next, make the crumbly topping for the bars. In a small bowl, combine the freeze dried strawberries and the rice cereal (or cookies). Using a rolling pin or potato masher, crush them until they are nice sized crumbs. You don't want them to be too fine crumbs, more like a cake crunch sized crumble.
To remove the ice cream bars from the mold, place the mold in a baking dish and fill with hot water. This will help release each bar.
Now, take the coco whip and using a spoon or knife, coat each ice cream bar in the whipped cream. Sprinkle the crumble topping on top until they are totally covered.
Place the bars onto a plate lined with parchment paper and place them back in the freezer to fully set for 30 minutes. Serve and enjoy!
FAQs
The ice cream bars are from Good Humor and they are sold in ice cream trucks and in most grocery stores. However, they are loaded with ingredients that many people are allergic to, which is why I made this recipe.
Top Tips
- Make sure you let these bars freeze for at least 8 hours if not overnight and into the next day. They need a long time to get cold.
- To make the bars come out of the mold smoothly, set it into a baking dish and fill it up with warmed water. This will help release the ice cream bars from the mold easier than trying to run it under hot water.
- You can use any other type of freeze dried fruit to make these. Blueberry, pineapple, or mango would all be amazing!
How to Store
Keep any leftover strawberry shortcake ice cream bars in the freezer in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
More Strawberry Recipes to Love
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Recipe
Equipment
- mixing bowls
- mixing spoons
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- Popsicle mold
Ingredients
- ½ cup soy cream your choice of dairy free cream
- 1 cup dairy free milk
- ½ cup strawberry jam
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons white sugar
- 1 teaspoon dragon fruit powder optional but recommended
- 1 cup freeze dried strawberries
- 1 cup rice crispy cereal
- ⅓ cup dairy free whipped cream your choice of dairy free whipped cream
Instructions
- Make the filling. In a blender or large bowl, whisk together the dairy free cream, dairy free milk, strawberry jam, vanilla, white sugar, and dragon fruit powder (if using). Mix well. Carefully pour into the popsicle molds and freeze 8 hours or overnight.
- Mix the crumble topping. In a bowl, crumble together the freeze dried strawberries with rice cereal. You want it to be crumb like.
- Combine and serve! Using a knife or spoon, coat the ice cream bar in some of the dairy free whipped cream. Sprinkle with the strawberry crumb mixture until it is fully coated. Pop back into the freezer on a parchment lined plate and freeze for an additional 30 minutes. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Allergy Substitutions
- If you can’t find gluten free rice crispy cereal, feel free to use any gluten free vanilla cookie to get similar crumbs. I have a great vanilla gluten free cookie recipe here! Or use a gluten free vanilla sandwich cookie, like golden oreos or gluten free shortbread cookies.
- If you can’t use cool whip, coco whip, or true whip, here is a different method of coating the bars. Melt 2 tablespoons of your safe butter and stir this into the rice crispy and strawberry mixture. Then, gently pat this melted butter and strawberry cookie mixture onto the outside of the ice cream bars and freeze as normal.
- How to Store
- Keep any leftover strawberry shortcake ice cream bars in the freezer in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
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