This gorgeous Strawberry Icebox Cake is made with low carb, grain-free chocolate wafer cookies. The ultimate summertime dessert goes keto. THM friendly.
I am going to confess to something of a pet peeve here. You know those recipes that say “only 4 ingredients!”? Those recipes often irritate me. I am not against easy or uncomplicated recipes as a whole, but in many cases, it strikes me as false advertising. I probably wouldn’t have batted an eye at them a few years ago, when I didn’t have to consider my own ingredients so carefully. But now I see that for most of these recipes, there are far more ingredients than actually advertised. Because the ingredients themselves often contain a number of other ingredients. Ingredients that I can’t eat, like sugar and wheat. So when a recipe description says “so easy, only 4 ingredients”, I think to myself “well, so easy for you! If I want to make it, I am going to have to the cookies for that cookie tart crust from scratch!”. The same recipes often bill themselves as “no bake” as well, and that’s only because someone else has done the baking for them, in some factory far away. Again, if I want to make it, I am going to have to turn on the oven and do some baking.
This may seem awfully grumpy of me, and I swear I don’t begrudge my fellow food bloggers and recipe developers the ability to use store bought cookies in their no-bake crusts. It’s just that I come at this from a completely different perspective now. Things I used to take for granted, like store bought cookies and breads, are simply no longer an option. And in so many ways, this is a huge blessing, because the foods I eat and the ingredients I use to make them are far healthier and less processed. But it’s made me a tad more sensitive to the “easy recipe” label, and made me realize that easy isn’t necessarily a good thing. Not if it means the recipe contains ingredients I don’t want my loved ones to consume. If I want to make a comparable recipe, I have to go old school and make the cookies from scratch with my own low carb, gluten-free ingredients. I’m okay with this, but I do have to consider the time and effort involved.
So you won’t see me selling this low carb strawberry icebox cake as “easy, with only a few ingredients”. It wasn’t easy and it contains well over 10 ingredients. But it is most certainly worth the effort, and once the low carb chocolate wafer cookies are baked, it is really is quite easy to throw together. The cookies themselves aren’t overly difficult and can be made a day or two in advance of when you want to serve the cake. It’s an impressive summertime dessert and a great way to showcase strawberries when they are in season. And I guarantee you that your guests won’t be able to distinguish this from the version made with store bought cookies. I served this at a backyard barbecue and every guest gobbled it up and said how fantastic it was and that they wouldn’t have known it was sugar or gluten-free if I hadn’t told them. The empty plates, with every crumb gone, were high-praise indeed. I am insanely proud of this one!
Low Carb Chocolate Strawberry Icebox Cake
Ingredients
Chocolate Wafers:
- 3 1/2 cups almond flour
- 2/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup Swerve Sweetener or other granulated erythritol
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 large eggs, slightly beaten
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp stevia extract
Filling:
- 2 1/2 cups whipping cream
- 1/4 cup powdered Swerve Sweetener or other powdered erythritol
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups strawberries, hulled and thinly sliced
- 1/2 ounce sugar-free dark chocolate, for garnish
Instructions
- For the wafers, preheat the oven to 300F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine almond flour, cocao powder, erythritol, baking powder and salt. Add in eggs, butter, vanilla and stevia and stir well until dough comes together.
- Roll out dough between two pieces of parchment paper to about 1/8 inch thickness. Lift off top piece of parchment and set aside. Using a 2 ¾ inch diameter cookie cutter, cut out circles of dough and use a knife or offset spatula to loosen and lift gently. Place cookies on prepared baking sheet. Gather up scraps of dough and reroll until too little is left to roll out. You should get about 50 cookies.
- Bake cookies until firm to the touch, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. They will crisp up as they cool.
- For the filling, whip cream, powdered erythritol and vanilla extract until it forms semi-stiff peaks (somewhere between soft peaks and stiff peaks, don't overbeat but you want it to holds its shape).
- To assemble the cake, use at least a 9-inch cake stand or plate.
- Place one wafer in the center of the plate and 6 wafers in a circle around it. Spread about 1/2 cup whipped cream carefully over the wafers and top with sliced berries.
- Repeat with remaining wafers, whipped cream and berries until you have completed 7 layers of wafers.
- Top with any remaining cream (you should have plenty) and sliced berries in a decorative fashion.
- Using a cheese slicer, shave chocolate over top.
- Refrigerate and let firm up, about 3 hours.
Nutrition
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OMG – this looks GAWJUS! I LOVE Icebox cake..it’s been years since I’ve had it. Honestly, I always ate the cookies that were leftover with a cold glass of milk. Can’t do that now but I’m going to make these cookies just to have! Thanks Carolyn!
If you just make the cookies, do a half batch. I had to make what amounts to a double batch for this recipe!
I was so happy to see this on Facebook this morning! My family made a similar dessert growing up and when I tried to make it last year with store-bought GF wafers it was awful. Your cookies look exactly as I remember them. Do you think I could use regular sugar for the sweetener in the cookies? Nice job!
Hi Lisa! You’d be fine with regular sugar in the wafers, that would work just as well.
You are here for me in a pinch AGAIN! I have a backyard barbecue tomorrow, and a bunch of strawberries growing that haven’t already been scarfed up by the dog (we finally put a fence) and a birthday cake to make.
Thank you lovely. 🙂
You are welcome!
Once again, you amaze me! Cannot WAIT to make this — and yes, I am a fan of the “Famous” chocolate wafers. Glad to have a healthy substitute. Going to the store now for strawberries, excuse me…
those “Famous” wafers were always so hard to find when I was baking conventional recipes. It never occurred to me to make my own until I could no longer eat them!
Ice box cakes scream summer to me. This looks Delish.
It’s gorgeous! You should definitely be proud of this one!!!
Thanks, Mellissa!
That is a stunning cake if I ever so one! How did you serve it up, cut slices like regular cake? I think I’d like picking the wafers off one by one with that luscious cream on each bite! YUM!
It slices pretty nicely after it’s been in the fridge for a while, but you need to make sure you use a very sharp knife!
Wow!!! That is SO PRETTY! 🙂
Thank you!
Looks wonderful!
CANNOT wait to make this, thank you!!!
This is just Beautiful! Along the lines of individual servings spoken of, if we made the cookies a little smaller and maybe adjust the baking time, they could fit in an individual trifle cup/container. I’d imagine there are so many more flavors that could be made from the cookie recipe also. Wonderful recipe!
This dessert is so beautiful, Carolyn. You deserve to feel proud of this artistic creation, made all the more impressive since it is low-carb, gluten-free and sugar-free. Good job!!
It’s gorgeous, but I can only imagine what a mess it will become after even just one slice cut. If I made it, I’d do it in a rectangular pan, that way when pieces are cut, there’s some support to hold it together, though I’m sure it looks much prettier the way you made it.
You can make it that way, it would be fine. It’s actually not so bad to cut, though, after it sits in the fridge a few hours and as long as you use a very sharp knife. The first 10 slices looked great…the last few got a little messy. 🙂
Any idea what the Net Carbs in only the wafers would look like? Been craving chocolate like crazy but don’t want the sugar &/or carbs! 🙂
Yes, that was pretty easy to calculate. If you assume 2 wafers per serving, it’s 4.7 g of carbs and 2.5 g of fiber, so 2.2 g NET CARBS. And if you’re only going to make the wafers, just make a half batch!
I completely agree with you on the “only four ingredient” thing…..although I don’t have to watch the ingredients as closely I hate processed foods AND I think that if I am going to take the time to bake something it better be from scratch and not full of store bought cookies and icing, ick!
Thanks, Kimberley. When you’re trying to do more whole foods and natural ingredients, it certainly gets tough with the “easy, no-bake” recipes.
Girl! I am just blown away! You should give yourself a BIG pat on the back for this one. Beautiful! Just a work of art! I am in your camp with processed foods. I don’t tolerate wheat well, at all. And, refined high glycemic sugars are a big no-no. Lately, I’ve learned that dairy is not good for me either. Another intolerance. But, whipped coconut cream will definitely work here! Thank you for all of your hard work on this one! xo
Round of applause ! Like you, I have been sad about no longer being able to buy the chocolate wafers for use in desserts but this is great. I always liked the wafers as they were not too sweet. These cookies look like they could be used to make ice cream sandwiches with low carb ice cream. Great job.
Yes, these would make great ice cream sandwiches!
This looks amazing!
How long do the wafers keep and how do you store them? (Airtight bag, etc?) I would love to make a batch of wafers and dip them in some almond milk or something for a quick treat… or serve this in individual servings with just a few wafers sandwiching some filling, and a dallop of filling on top to hold strawberries on.
My mom and I always made icebox desserts in individual dishes. If you’re not making this for a celebration, that could solve the cutting and serving issue. I like those Pyrex ramekins for such things. They allow for a nice-sized portion and since they are glass, the layers show prettily.
Great idea, Susan!
Make a half serving of the wafers…they should last 4 days or so.
Yeah, I was thinking I’d half it. 4 days isn’t too bad. Stored air-tight?
No need to be air tight. They actually stay more crisp if left out in the air.
Sorry, I meant half BATCH of the wafers.
This looks amazing, how the heck do you slice this up?
Very carefully! It comes out pretty well as long as you let it sit in the fridge for a few hours first. The last few slices are a bit messy.
You are seriously always amazing me with your ninja kitchen skills!
Oh, BLESS YOU!!! I can not even believe I found this, right now, today!! I was seriously just posting on a friends Facebook earlier tonight ( yes i know that sounds backwards, but my post was at 11:30pm, and i am writing this at 2:30 am- just so I don’t confuse anyone) -anyway… I was ooohing and awhhing about her daughter’s yummy request for a whipped cream and oreos ‘cake’ which took me on a trip down memory lane to my birthday cake request pretty much every year! We called it icebox cake, and it is THIS very thing!!… but of course the store bought cookie version with sugar, and carbs and all that.
But i couldnt stop thinking about how yummy they always were, sooooo I really wanted to make one, and was mulling over in my head just how I was going to do that and keep it Trim Heath Mama friendly…. and then The LORD smiled down on me for some unknown and yet glorious reason and low and behold, you have already figured it all out!! 🙂 So now all I have to do is gather my ingredients and MAKE IT! This is a happy momment! 🙂
Oh, I want to share too, in case you ever want to make another…;) my mom would vary them here and there by adding different extracts into the whipped cream and/or cookies! So we’ve had peppermint, orange, coffee, almond, raspberry, coconut and of course tried and true vanilla!! I have enjoyed each and every version!! 🙂
Thank you so much for this, and what an amazing thing whole timing of this was! So cool!! 🙂
So glad you found this recipe, then! And I’ve certainly thought of many variations, especially coffee…how good would tHAT be!