Easy Ice 'Cream' Tart- Dietary Needs friendly!

I will do the following example for the Chocolate Pretzel Almond Ice 'Cream' Tart

Have you ever been asked to bring something or make something dairy free, gluten free, vegan or all of the above?!?!  Well I have...often...so off I went into challenge mode! Kickin wheat & dairy and taking numbers lol!   Here is a very satisfying EASY recipe (because good God have you looked up Gluten and Vegan baking-yikes! Looks like it takes awhile to master!)   This can be whipped up quickly- but take note you need lots of time for chilling so THINK ahead!  This can also easily be modified to a non chocolate flavor profile too if need be- the possibilities are endless!

Ingredients

1 Pint Coconut Ice 'cream' (Chocolate)
1 c gluten free Graham cracker or cookies ( I love the snickerdoodle bunnie grahams)
1 c gluten free pretzels
1/2 cup butter (or for vegan canola butter substitute)

Garnish
about 1/4 cup melted Nutella (I prefer the Justins all natural Hazelnut choc spread)
1/4 c Dark Chocolate Chips (My new fav is the Lily's sweetened w/ stevia!)
1/4 c Sliced or slivered almonds and a few pretzels

This can be made in a pie pan or similar size tart pan- based on it cutting kind of messy I actually think it could be done better in individual tart pans or even muffin tins!



Instructions:
-Allow Icecream to sit on the counter until melted - about an hour and a half, if you're pressed for time you can microwave it in 1 minute increments being careful not to heat it too hot- stir inbetween so some doesn't boil while the center is still hard

-Microwave butter in med bowl 30-45 seconds until fully melted into liquid

-Pulse in a blender or food processor the grahams and pretzels until a grainy corn meal type consistency. I notice GF pretzels are a very hard texture to blend so start with those then add the softer grahams halfway through

-Stir in meal to the melted butter and fully stir around until all the crumbs are coated with butter. If it looks too dry add more melted butter if it looks too wet add more pulsed meal.  The texture it should look like is if you were working with wet sand. You need it wet enough to bind when it chills but not sooo wet it comes out more like chilled butter with crumbs, clear as mud?

-Press wet meal into the bottom of your desired tin/pie pan. You want to use a fist or a rounded small bowl to help push it up the sides of the pan like a pie crust would be. It doesn't have to reach the top top but at least about an inch up the sides. Try to avoid holes or your icecream will melt through the holes.  It should be all even and uniform.

-Put crust in freezer for 5 min- then drizzle the melted Nutella or nut butter on the bottom of the crust so that each piece gets a nice chilled choc layer inbetween the crust!

- Pour melted icecream in the pie crust and smooth out with a serving spoon or spatula so it looks even....Add your garnish on top if it is not damaged by being frozen (for example fruit should wait)

- Put in freezer for an ideal 2-3+ hours until center of pie is firm.

To serve get out of freezer about 5 minutes before serving time. Garnish with additional toppings or fruit! 

OTHER FLAVOR IDEAS!
Salted Caramel & Dark chocolate & Pretzel
Caramel icecream, caramel drizzle, and light salt sprinkle, dark chips
Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana
   Melted PB, choc icecream, sliced bananas & peanuts for garnish
Key Lime
   Lime or coconut icecream, lemon/lime extract, lime zest and limes for garnish
Pina Colada (add mango and call it tropical)
   Coconut icecream, w pineapple chunks, coconut shred/ sliced or grilled pineapple for garnish
Chocolate Covered Strawberries
    Strawberry icecream, choc chips, nutella & choc dipped strawberry slices for garnish
Almond Joy
Same as above but add coconut shreds into icecream and for garnish
Apple Cinnamon Carmel
Cinnamon icecream, melted almond or cashew butter, sauteed green apples in brown sugar and cinnamon in 'butter' and chilled - garnish with caramel & walnuts
Pistachio Peach & Dark Chocolate
Pistachio icecream, melted nutella, dark choc chips in icecream, garnish with fresh peach slices an chopped pistachio nuts
Almond Cherry
Fresh cherry chunks in cherry or vanilla icecream (and add almond extract to melted icecream) almonds and fresh cherries for garnish- maybe dark chips too!
Lemon Blueberry
Lemon Icecream and lemon extract garnish with lemon zest and fresh blueberries!

UMMMMM THE LIST COULD GO ON FOREVER!