Sweet Summer Ice Cream Sandwiches

Has anyone ever been extremely annoyed when trying to make ice cream sandwiches? You put the ice cream on one cookie and place the other on top and hold your breathe, hoping it will work this time. But no. You bite into the sandwich and your teeth hurt because the ice cream is so cold. Then the ice cream spreads out and soon there is none in the middle of the sandwich. A couple of bites in and you’re just eating two slightly soggy cookies. Not cool. My inner child is crying and screaming hysterically and turning red in the face.

But there is a solution!

I decided to try beating some heavy whipping cream and adding my favorite vanilla ice cream until I liked the taste. I thought the whipping cream would make the sandwich airy and easy to bite into (preventing spreading) while the ice cream would provide the staying structure for the mixture, which I poured into muffin tins.

This does take a while to set so I would recommend doing this the night before you want to devour the ice cream sandwiches or first thing the morning of. They are super easy to pop out. I just slipped a knife along the edge and gave it a slight push. I then placed them on parchment paper and put them back in the freezer so they could harden up again.

Then I made the chocolate chip cookies and let them cool completely. This is honestly the hardest part. Eating hot cookies straight out of the oven is my favorite past time. I had to guard them from being eaten (from myself and others).

The chocolate chip recipe is really basic and easy but make sure you use coarse sea salt! It really ups the taste and you get little bursts of salty goodness with every bite. Assembling the sandwiches is pretty easy too. As you can see from the colorful sprinkles though, I decided to spice up my ice cream sandwiches.

I grated some bittersweet chocolate onto a plate, added some sprinkles, and rolled the edges of the ice cream sandwich fillings in it before putting them between the cookies. They taste sooooooooo good and are completely easy to eat:  no ice cream spreading everywhere and melting down your hands and arms and no tooth aches. Easy and awesome.

Hopefully this provides a solution to all you other people who have been frustrated by this. Also, you can get into the 4th of July spirit by using red and blue sprinkles if you want. Enjoy!

Sweet Summer Ice Cream Sandwiches

Servings 5 ice cream sandwiches

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 13 minutes mins

Total Time 28 minutes mins

Ingredients

Ice Cream Cookie Filling

• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 cup favorite vanilla ice cream
• 1/4 cup grated bittersweet chocolate 60% cocoa solids
• 1/4 cup sprinkles

Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1/2 cup butter melted, salted
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1.5 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon generous coarse sea salt
• 2/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate chunk sized, 60% cocoa solids

Instructions

• Either the night before or in the morning, make the filling.
• Beat the heavy whipping cream until it starts to form soft peaks.
• Add the ice cream a 1/2 cup at a time, beating until it becomes incorporated into the whipped cream.
• Pour into standard-sized muffin tins and put in the freezer for the whole day or overnight.
• Once they've set overnight, take them out of the freezer. Place parchment paper on a baking sheet. Run a knife along the edge of each muffin hole and pry out the ice cream fillings, placing them on the parchment paper. Put them back in the freezer.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Melt the butter in the microwave.
• Beat the butter and sugars together until smooth and creamy.
• Add the vanilla extract and egg and beat on low until just incorporated (about 12 seconds).
• Beat in the flour, baking soda, and salt until they are fully incorporated.
• Add the chocolate chips and the chopped chocolate chunks and mix into the dough with a spatula.
• Roll the dough into 13 or 14 balls and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a non-stick baking mat.
• Bake for 10 to 13 minutes until slightly darker around the edges.
• Let the cookies cool on the pan and then transfer them to cooling racks.
• Once the cookies are completely cool, grate about 1/4 cup bittersweet chocolate onto a plate. Add 1/4 cup sprinkles on top and shift the plate a little to mix them together.
• Take one of the ice cream filling servings out of the freezer and quickly roll the edges in the grated chocolate and sprinkles. Place it on top of one cookie and then take another cookie and place on top. Serve immediately. If you want to serve the ice cream sandwiches all at once just place each finished ice cream sandwich in the freezer while you assemble the others.

Notes

12 balls of dough make cookies a little too big for the ice cream fillings so 13 or 14 works best, but it's slightly different every time.

Author: Megan Wells

Course: Desserts