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The California Table

California Cuisine with a Coastal Vibe

July 28, 2015 By Lisa Dearen 31 Comments

PB & Chocolate Icebox Cake

ice-box-cake-gluten-free-2

Every family has them. No, not black sheep … family recipes! And typically they’re comfort food recipes, because do you really need a handed-down recipe for making salads?!

In my family, our comfort food consists primarily of desserts: my grandmother’s strawberry shortcake, her Congo Bars (known as blondies to those not in the know) and Cookie Lert.

Cookie Lert is the icebox cake found on the back of the Nabisco chocolate wafer box, those elusive wafers that appear only around the holidays, each narrow yellow box inspected for broken cookies before gingerly being placed into the shopping cart.

Why we call it Cookie Lert, no one knows, but, traditionally, it’s our go-to Christmas dessert and has been since before I can remember. And while I found worthy substitutes for my grandmother’s strawberry shortcake (gluten-free Bisquick) and her Congo bars (see my recipe here), Cookie Lert baffled me. Other gluten-free chocolate wafers on the market proved insufficient, and I’d all but given up until Pamela’s offered to send me a box of their latest gluten-free goodie, graham crackers.

gluten-free-graham-crackers-pamelas

Pamela’s chocolate graham crackers are an ideal substitute for the Nabisco chocolate wafers, should your family have a love of icebox cakes. Icebox cakes are ideally made with a dry, crisp cookie that is thin enough to absorb the whipped cream topping – and that’s exactly what you’re getting with Pamela’s chocolate graham crackers! Icebox cakes are super easy: they set in the fridge (aka icebox) overnight, and your reward is a creamy, cake-like dessert that doesn’t require heating up your kitchen.

This summer, I’ve been craving peanut butter and chocolate, especially in cup form a la Reese’s peanut butter cups; Trader Joe’s has their own version, which taunt me every time I pass through the freezer aisle.

ice-box-cake-gluten-free-pamelas

For this cake, I relied on this recipe from Martha Stewart (I also use her recipe to modify my grandmother’s Cookie Lert, but don’t tell anyone). Pamela’s kindly sent me a sample pack of their new graham crackers, which included the mini chocolate grahams, perfect for this recipe. You could also use the regular sized grahams and shape the cake as a square. (Whipped cream and the right cookie are rather forgiving, as you’ll find if you delve into the world of icebox cakes.)

Pamela’s graham crackers, which also include a cinnamon and honey variety, are perfect for eating straight from the box, as I discovered at my daughter’s beach camp yesterday when she and her friends left me with empty boxes and tummies full of Pamela’s grahams.

I hope you’ll give Pamela’s graham crackers a try, whether for s’mores at your next beach BBQ or for your very own icebox cake. To get you started, I’ve joined forces with Pamela’s for this awesome giveaway which includes a pack with one box each of their Honey Grahams, Cinnamon Grahams and Mini Chocolate Grahams. Enter below, and good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

xoxolisa

Disclosure : This giveaway is sponsored by Pamela’s Products. I received product for my review. All opinions are my own.

Filed Under: Desserts, Reviews

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Liz Schmitt says

    July 28, 2015 at 4:49 PM

    Looks divine!

    Reply
    • Lisa Dearen says

      July 28, 2015 at 8:04 PM

      Thanks, Liz – it was good, too good in fact! I had to send half the cake home with guests so I wouldn’t eat the entire thing!

      Reply
  2. Smitha @ Running with SD Mom says

    July 29, 2015 at 9:30 AM

    Love s’mores! And I like to crush grahams and out it in top of things too!

    Reply
  3. Dandi D says

    July 29, 2015 at 1:09 PM

    I usually just eat them straight out of the box!

    Reply
  4. Erica @ Erica Finds says

    July 29, 2015 at 1:36 PM

    I like them straight from the box but now I am craving smores! Thank you for linking up!

    Reply
  5. Laura Royal says

    July 29, 2015 at 1:39 PM

    I like to eat them with peanut butter and jelly on top!

    Reply
  6. Amy Lauren says

    July 29, 2015 at 2:03 PM

    I would probably eat these right out of the box or maybe with some peanut butter as a snack.

    Reply
  7. Judith says

    July 29, 2015 at 2:38 PM

    I love eating graham crackers with pb and bananas!

    Reply
  8. liz l says

    July 29, 2015 at 4:34 PM

    Smores or as a pie crust-lol

    Reply
  9. Katie H says

    July 29, 2015 at 6:25 PM

    I like to dip them in cream cheese!

    Reply
  10. Becca Z says

    July 30, 2015 at 5:24 AM

    my fave way to eat grahams is topped with nut butter at tea time

    Reply
  11. Renata says

    July 30, 2015 at 5:31 AM

    I love crumbled graham crackers as an ice cream topping! Yum and I love that these are gluten-free!

    Reply
  12. Vidya Khan says

    July 30, 2015 at 8:02 AM

    I eat them with a cup of tea usually for breakfast,weird i know.

    Reply
  13. Joann Woolley says

    July 30, 2015 at 8:27 AM

    S”mores for sure! But my kids eat up all the graham crackers out of the box before we have a chance to make s’mores most of the time.

    Reply
  14. Ray says

    July 30, 2015 at 8:39 AM

    I enjoy them with peanut butter!

    Reply
  15. Amy V. says

    July 30, 2015 at 12:48 PM

    I eat them with homemade vanilla frosting just like when I was a little girl! 🙂

    Reply
  16. Heather says

    July 30, 2015 at 1:28 PM

    i love them with peanut butter!

    Reply
  17. Dana Coughlin says

    July 30, 2015 at 1:29 PM

    Love to eat them right out of the box, but smores are good too 🙂

    Reply
  18. Denise @ Healthy Family Media says

    July 30, 2015 at 2:34 PM

    That looks SO delicious! I love graham crackers with a glass of super cold milk

    Reply
  19. Georgia says

    July 30, 2015 at 5:14 PM

    I like them right out of the box!

    Reply
  20. cris says

    July 30, 2015 at 5:57 PM

    S’mores or as a crust for a cheesecake!

    Reply
  21. Joan Kubes says

    July 30, 2015 at 6:43 PM

    I like using them to make a cream pie.

    Reply
  22. steph says

    July 30, 2015 at 7:09 PM

    just plain grahams for this girl!

    Reply
  23. Amy Z. says

    July 31, 2015 at 6:46 AM

    Graham crackers in s’mores are always great!

    Reply
  24. Steph says

    July 31, 2015 at 9:40 AM

    I like to make pie crusts from them for cheesecake

    Reply
  25. Denise says

    July 31, 2015 at 4:23 PM

    Definitely in Smores

    Reply
  26. Nicki says

    July 31, 2015 at 9:20 PM

    Kind of weird but I sandwhich mine with peanut butter 🙂

    Reply
  27. Susan DeVaux says

    July 31, 2015 at 10:09 PM

    Straight outta the box for me!

    Reply
  28. Nikki Fahey says

    August 1, 2015 at 5:25 PM

    in yogurt

    Reply
  29. Dianne h. says

    August 1, 2015 at 9:41 PM

    S’mores

    Reply
  30. Kenny says

    August 2, 2015 at 9:34 PM

    I like Graham crackers with chocolate

    Reply

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