Get Inspired By Giada De Laurentiis And Add Frozen Bananas To Ice Cream Sandwiches

Even a classic treat like an ice cream sandwich deserves a bit of an upgrade. Culinary celebrity Giada de Laurentiis tucks pieces of frozen bananas into the ice cream sandwiches she makes at home, and the fruity topping can be easily customized to suit the preferences in your household. Borrow inspiration from PB&J sandwich recipes and layer banana slices on top of peanut butter ice cream before finishing with chocolate drizzles and freezing, or turn up the dials on a pint of Chunky Monkey Ben & Jerry's ice cream by enhancing the jazzed-up banana-flavored ice cream with actual pieces of fruit. 

De Laurentiis assembles her ice cream sandwiches in stages, first by separating batches of chocolate-chip cookies into two groups and covering one half with banana slices cut into ¼-inch pieces and coating the other half of the cookies with layers of melted chocolate and toffee candy pieces. After freezing these open-faced cookies for up to an hour — until the chocolate is firm and the bananas have frozen — she scoops ice cream on top of the banana-covered cookies and sandwiches them together with one of the toffee-coated pieces. Once the sandwiches have been smushed together, she sets the treats back into the freezer for several hours until firm. 

Though the time to make ice cream sandwiches from scratch might be lengthy, biting into one of these zhuzhed-up sweets makes the effort worth it. Experiment with using caramel gelato or chocolate-chunk ice cream to build your banana-enhanced ice cream treats. Colorful candy sprinkles can add an instant boost of fun for younger eaters, while toasted almonds and sea salt placed on top of scoops of boozy bourbon ice cream can offer a more mature treat intended for adults at your party. Tuck drizzles of Nutella or caramel and chocolate sauce inside of the sandwich pieces to create the dessert of your dreams.

You can also play up the inclusion of the banana and turn your ice cream sandwich recipes into a more tropical lane with scoops of blueberry, coconut, or mango sorbet or an easy two-ingredient watermelon sherbet before sprinkling toasted coconut flakes on top as a garnish. Explore more savory profiles by sneaking maple-cinnamon candied bacon into your frozen creations and snaking ribbons of tahini or peanut butter in between the layers of ice cream, banana, and cookie pieces. Let your cravings lead the way because you can't go wrong when compiling these banana-adorned frozen sandwiches at home.