These homemade hazelnut ice cream bars have a creamy hazelnut filling that's coated in a crunchy chocolate shell. They're made with dry roasted hazelnuts and coconut cream and sweetened with maple syrup. This ice cream bar recipe is dairy free and paleo friendly.
It's that time of year again - time for making all of my favorite homemade ice cream bars! I recently made a batch of my pistachio ice cream bars and paleo ice cream bars to share with the family and we ate those in no time.
These hazelnut ice cream bars are a new family favorite and another recipe I'll be making every summer. They have a creamy hazelnut ice cream filling that's coated in a crunchy dark chocolate shell. The filling is made with dry roasted hazelnuts, coconut cream and sweetened with maple syrup.
So skip the store bought ice cream bars this summer and make your own at home. These taste so much better and they're better for you!
Why You'll Love these Hazelnut Ice Cream Bars
- paleo friendly - made with simple, wholesome ingredients you can feel good about.
- dairy free - the ice cream filling is made with coconut cream and almond milk (or coconut milk).
- easy to make - simply blend the ice cream ingredients, pour the mixture into a popsicle mold, freeze and then dip in melted chocolate.
- healthier than store bought - these hazelnut bars don't have any gums, fillers or preservatives. Plus, they're lower in sugar than store bought options.
Ingredients
You can find the full recipe for these hazelnut ice cream bars in the recipe card below, but here's an overview of the ingredients you'll need:
- coconut cream - you'll use just the thick white cream from a can of full fat coconut milk/cream. This ingredient is needed for texture purposes. If you swap it for a milk like almond milk then your ice cream bars will be icy.
- almond milk - you can swap this with any other milk. Or swap with more coconut cream if you want the filling to be creamier and richer.
- hazelnuts - I recommend using dry roasted hazelnuts, but you can use raw or roast your own. You'll need hazelnuts to make the ice cream filling and for the chocolate topping.
- collagen peptides - while this ingredient is optional, it will make your ice cream bars creamier. Plus, it adds a boost in protein. You may use an unflavored or vanilla protein powder instead (like a beef protein isolate).
- maple syrup - to sweeten the ice cream bars. Honey or a sugar free liquid sweetener will work as well.
- vanilla extract - for flavor
- salt - enhances the flavors
- dark chocolate - I recommend using a dark chocolate with a cocoa content between 65-85%. I used Pascha's coconut sugar chocolate chips.
- coconut oil - optional for thinning the chocolate.
How to Make Hazelnut Ice Cream Bars
You'll need a blender and popsicle molds to make these ice cream bars. I love my mini silicone popsicle molds and use them all the time for making ice cream bars. Here are the steps:
- Place your silicone popsicle molds on a baking sheet and add the popsicle sticks.
- In a blender, combine all of the ice cream filling ingredients.
- Blend, starting at a low speed and increasing the speed until the mixture is smooth and the hazelnuts have been well pulverized.
- Pour the mixture into your popsicle molds, filling each slot to the rim.
- Place the ice cream bars in the freezer and freeze overnight, or for at least 6 hours.
- Once the bars are frozen, chop the hazelnuts for the chocolate topping.
- Melt the dark chocolate and coconut oil, then place it in a tall glass that's wide enough to fit an ice cream bar. Mix in the chopped hazelnuts.
- Grab the ice cream bars from the freezer and take them out of their molds. Then dip them, one at a time, into the melted chocolate.
- Place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet to set.
Tips and Tricks
- Use a high powered blender. To fully pulverize the hazelnuts and blend the ingredients, you'll want to use a high powered blender.
- Use silicone popsicle molds. I highly recommend silicone molds because they make it easy to remove the frozen ice cream bars.
- Let the ice cream filling freeze overnight. Doing so, will ensure that the bars are fully frozen.
- Use a chilled baking sheet. After you've dipped the ice cream bars in chocolate, place them on a chilled baking sheet (lined with parchment) to set. If the baking sheet is cold, the chocolate sets faster and you'll get prettier looking ice cream bars.
- Work quickly when dipping the bars in chocolate. The filling for the ice cream bars will melt at room temperature, so I recommend working quickly when you're dipping them in dark chocolate. Make sure your chocolate is already melted and ready to go before you retrieve the bars from the freezer. Quickly remove the bars from the molds, then dip them in the dark chocolate.
Storage
You can store these hazelnut crunch ice cream bars in a baggie in the freezer and enjoy within 3 months.
FAQ
No, collagen is not required. That being said, it does add to the texture of the bars without affecting the taste. If you don't want to use collagen I suggest swapping it with an animal based protein powder (like beef protein isolate).
If you aren't dairy free, then you can swap coconut cream for heavy whipping cream. But other than that, I don't recommend a swap. The coconut cream is what gives these bars a creamy texture.
More Recipes You'll Love
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Hazelnut Ice Cream Bars (Dairy Free, Paleo)
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 8 small ice cream bars 1x
Description
Homemade hazelnut ice cream bars with a creamy hazelnut filling and crunchy chocolate coating.
Ingredients
Ice Cream Filling
- ½ cup coconut cream
- ½ cup almond milk (or coconut milk)
- ¼ cup dry roasted hazelnuts
- ¼ cup collagen peptides
- 2 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
Chocolate Coating
- 2 Tbsp dry roasted hazelnuts
- ¾ cup dark chocolate chips
- 1 tsp coconut oil
Instructions
- Place your silicone popsicle molds on a baking sheet and add the popsicle sticks.
- In a blender, combine all of the ice cream filling ingredients. This includes the coconut cream, almond milk, hazelnuts, collagen peptides, maple syrup, vanilla and salt.
- Blend, starting at a low speed and increasing the speed until the mixture is smooth and the hazelnuts have been well pulverized.
- Pour the mixture into your popsicle molds, filling each slot to the rim. You should get about 8 ice cream bars.
- Place the ice cream bars in the freezer and freeze overnight, or for at least 6 hours.
- Once the bars are frozen, chop the hazelnuts for the chocolate coating.
- Melt the dark chocolate and coconut oil, then place it in a tall glass that's wide enough to fit an ice cream bar. Mix in the chopped hazelnuts *
- Grab the ice cream bars from the freezer and take them out of their molds. Line the baking sheet they were on with parchment paper.
- Dip the bars, one at a time, into the melted chocolate. Let the excess drip off the ice cream bars, back onto the glass.
- Place the dipped ice cream bars on the lined baking sheet to set.
- Store in an airtight baggie in the freezer.
Notes
*To melt the chocolate and coconut oil, you can either melt it in the microwave, or on the stovetop. For the microwave: place the chocolate and coconut oil in a microwaveable dish. Melt on high at 20-30 second intervals, stirring between. For the stovetop: place the chocolate and coconut oil in a small saucepan and melt over extremely low heat, stirring frequently.
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