Vanilla ice cream pops with a tender, cake-like cookie crumble all around, these gluten free chocolate eclair ice cream bars are just like you remember.

There’s just no way in the world you can buy a gluten free chocolate eclair ice cream bar. Good Humor doesn’t make it, and let’s face it: they never will.

If you want to enjoy the ice cream-and-cake goodness of a chocolate eclair ice cream again, take my hand and follow me. Let’s do this.

About popsicle molds

I have this 10-pop maker from Progressive (aff link), and it works fine. If the pops you are making aren’t frozen completely solid, it can be a bit difficult to get them out of the mold.

Running hot water along the outside of the mold until the pops release is the only way, but the whole business can be a bit challenging when you’re making ice cream, not ice pops. Ice cream, by its very nature, doesn’t freeze rock solid. If it did, it wouldn’t be ice cream.

I also have these silicone molds from Silkomart (aff link) and they work beautifully. They only make 4 at a time, though, unless you want to buy multiple packages. But the pops come out without a fuss, as you peel away the silicone easily.

If you really want to make things easier on yourself, buy some packaged uncoated vanilla (or chocolate) ice cream bars. Press those into the crumb mixture, and enjoy!

How to make the cake “crunch”

The “cake crunch” is really just super soft chocolate cookie crumbs and super soft vanilla cookie crumbs, both made from the same basic recipe. The method is super simple, as you make one basic dough, then add cornstarch to one half and cocoa powder to the other.

Then, roll out the dough between two sheets of parchment, slice into rectangles of roughly the same size and bake until juuuuust set. Be careful not to overbake, and not to roll the dough too thin, or the cookies will be crunchy instead of soft.

Then, crumble the still-warm cookies, mix the chocolate and vanilla crumbs together and press onto your ice cream pop.

How these are different than the “real” thing

The original Good Humor bar has a chocolate ice cream center, surrounded by vanilla ice cream and a thin chocolate coating and then the cake crunch. Our bars are just vanilla, surrounded by cake crunch.

There are ways that we could make a chocolate-and-vanilla ice cream bar, but I decided to keep things super simple. The chocolate coating is nearly impossible on a homemade bar because the minute you dip an ice cream pop in melted chocolate, the ice cream begins to melt, so I went without.

Drizzle yours with a little melted chocolate on top, or even make some bars chocolate and some vanilla. Either way, it’s all about the cake crunch. And this one hits all the right cake crunch notes.

Ingredients and substitutions

Dairy

If you need dairy-free ice cream, you can try my no churn dairy free ice cream recipe. It’s smooth and creamy and should work great as popsicles.

If you’re dairy-free, you’ll also need to replace the butter in the cake crunch recipe. I would recommend trying Melt or Miyoko’s Kitchen brand vegan butter.

If you use Earth Balance buttery sticks, the cookies will spread more in the oven but you’re crumbling them anyway. Just be sure not to bake until the topping is crispy, since you want it to be tender.

Egg

There’s only one egg in this recipe. I think you could replace it successfully with a “chia egg.” Place 1 tablespoon ground white chia seeds and 1 tablespoon lukewarm water in a small bowl, mix, and allow to sit until the mixture gels.

Corn

In place of cornstarch, try using arrowroot or even potato starch.