Challenge winners!

I hope all of you in Canada or the US enjoyed a lovely long weekend. Mine was full of sunshine, long walks, family and ice cream sandwiches!

After the final entries rolled in, Lisa and I spent Saturday morning studying the posts and scoring each recipe against the judging criteria.

I know we said it already, but it bears repeating: we were both incredibly impressed by the fabulous flavour combinations, the creative use of seasonal fruit and the sheer determination you all demonstrated in creating such amazing raw, vegan treats. You have certainly expanded our repertoires and inspired new experiments in our kitchens—and hopefully in many others across the blogosphere. Thank you to everyone who participated in all the fun.

When we tallied the totals, three finalist emerged. As the judging criteria stipulates, creativity and presentation were what set the winners apart from all the enticing entries. If we went on flavour alone, you’d all be winners.

With our list of finalists in hand, it was time to get rolling and churning out some sensational ice cream sandwiches. The best part about ice cream sandwiches is that they take far less time to make than cake pops—and there is no need to MacGyver a special box to hold up ice cream sandwiches. We are getting more seasoned at these challenges and did some important prep work in advance, but we were both quite impressed by how quickly the final products came together.

After a lovely tasting party on the beach (which had to be kept short to accommodate our quickly melting treats), we ranked the finalists. A big congratulations goes to:

First Place: Chantal’s Chocolate Orange Creamsicle Ice Cream Sandwiches

We loved the fantastic, fresh orange flavour. It was intense enough to surpass the raw cacao cookie to dominate the flavour profile, making this an incredibly refreshing dessert for a hot summer’s day. We also loved the use of simple ingredients like bananas, oranges, nuts and dates because it meant anyone can make this one at home.

Second Place: Callie’s Chocolate Bacon Ice Cream Sandwiches

As soon as we read this post, we knew the combination was something we simply had to try. We’ve seen chocolate and bacon paired in other baked goods but reinvented as a raw dessert was quite a creative twist. The chocolate ice cream was rich with a smoky element from the mesquite. Callie paired it with a cookie laced with tamari and savoury spices, which made for an ice cream sandwich experience unlike any we’ve had before.

Third Place: Karen’s Carrot Cake Ice Cream Sandwiches

Inspired by a favourite dessert, Karen’s recreation of a classic carrot cake definitely played on our love for cinnamon. It complemented the subtle carrot and oat cookie as well as the banana and chia flavours in the ice cream (we made ours smooth). Full of wholesome ingredients and classic comfort food flavours, each bite created a sweet sense of nostalgia.

Picking the three finalists was a very difficult task. As we read through each and every entry we were thrilled to see:
• Creative blends of seasonal berries and bananas combined to mimic the luscious, creamy texture of conventional ice creams (Miriam’s Chocolate Blackberry Ice Cream Sandwiches and Deanna’s Triple B Bites);
• Decadent delights that deliver a sense of sinful indulgence but with a list of angelic ingredients (Sasha’s Cacao Hazelnut Vanilla Ice Cream Sandwiches, Deanna’s Coconut Cacao Nib Ice Cream Sandwiches, Samantha’s Chocolate Almond Butter Ice Cream Sandwiches and her intriguing Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream Sandwiches); and
• Complex recipes with layers of different flavours and textures that create a really unique taste experience (Shannon Marie’s Neopolitan, Michelle and Lori’s Macadamia Nut Butter Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches, and Marcy’s Basil Lemon Lime and Guacamole Ice Cream Sandwiches).

Lisa and I had a lot of fun getting our hands covered in melting ice cream and sticky cookie dough all for the sake of discovering some winning recipes.

We know that you put in just as much time and effort to create your entries so we’re excited to share a special coupon code from Navitas Naturals with everyone who entered. Please email to receive the code. For the three winners, please email us your mailing address so we can send you your much-deserved prize.

Now that we’ve announced all the winners, we’re already planning for the next big event. We have some ideas but would love to hear your suggestions. Which dessert favourite would you love to see rawified by your favourite food bloggers?