Homemade Ice Cream Sandwich Recipe
How to Make Ice Cream Sandwiches
As a child, nothing consoled me like an ice cream sandwich. When the ice cream man puttered down the street, ringing his bell and calling all the neighborhood children outside, my immediate craving was for an ice cream sandwich. It was the perfect way to cool off on a hot summer day.
As an adult I still love ice cream sandwiches, although my standards are a bit more stringent now. I prefer sandwiches made with homemade cookies and homemade ice cream. It's not just the textures that do it for me: soft, chewy cookies paired with creamy, smooth ice cream. It's also the bittersweet richness of these fudgy chocolate cookies complemented by the sweet, mild flavor of vanilla that makes this a combo that's hard to beat. In a pinch, purchase a high-quality brand of ice cream and make sandwiches with homemade cookies. See tips at the end of the page for delicious variations. Enjoy!
Table of Contents
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Tips for Making Homemade Ice Cream
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Recipe: Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream
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Tips for Making Homemade Cookies
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Recipe: Fudgy Chocolate Cookies
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How to Assemble Ice Cream Sandwiches
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Ice Cream Sandwich Variations
Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream
Tips:
- Choose high quality milk and cream. We prefer organic if available.
- Be patient while tempering the eggs. Although it may seem unnecessary, this step is important so you don't scramble the eggs and ruin the custard.
- As soon as the custard passes the coating test, immediately remove from burner, strain and chill.
- If using a vanilla bean, split the bean and add to milk and cream during the heating process. Reduce vanilla extract to one teaspoon.
Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 30 min
Ready in: 1 hour
Yields: 1 quart of vanilla ice cream
Ingredients:
Adapted from The Perfect Scoop, by David Lebovitz
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 3/4 cup sugar, preferably raw
- 8 large egg yolks
- 1 pinch of salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions:
- In a thick-walled saucepan, heat the milk and cream until steamy. Be careful not to boil.
- Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl. A ladleful at a time, slowly pour the heated milk into the egg/sugar mixture, whisking constantly so egg yolks are tempered instead of cooked. Return egg/milk mixture to the saucepan.
- Stir the mixture constantly over medium-low heat with a wooden spoon, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the custard thickens and coats the back of the spoon. Drag a finger across the spoon and when the coating doesn't drip, the custard is ready. Remove from heat at once.
- Pour hot custard through a medium sieve. Add vanilla extract and salt. Stir.
- Chill custard at least eight hours, preferably overnight, before freezing in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.
Fudgy Chocolate Cookies
Do You Have a Sweet Tooth?
- Try Dark Chocolate Bark with Carmelized Nuts & Pink Salt for a quick and easy sweet snack.
- For more frozen treats try Decadent Mocha Almond Sundaes, Horchata Ice Cream with Bananas & Butter Caramel Sauce or Chocolate Peanut Butter Waffle Cones.
- It's hard to beat Moist Chocolate Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting & Cherry Ganache Filling.
- You can't eat just one Soft & Gooey Maple-Oat Cinnamon Bun.
- Homemade Butter Caramels with Pink Sea Salt make the perfect sweet gift.
Tips:
- Don't over-mix the cookie dough. Once you've combined dry and wet ingredients, stir just until dough comes together.
- For a less sweet version of this recipe, don't roll the cookies in sugar before baking.
- Be careful not to overbake the cookies.
- Briefly stashing baked cookies in the freezer prevents messy, melted ice cream during sandwich assembly.
- Cookies freeze well if you'd like to store them for later use.
Fudgy Chocolate Cookies Recipe
Cookies so fudgy, they're like cookie-shaped brownies
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- extra sugar, for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients: flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.
- In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to cream the butter. Add brown and white sugars and mix until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla and beat for twenty seconds longer.
- Pour dry ingredients into the butter/sugar/egg mixture, beating until just combined.
- Chill dough for at least 30 minutes.
- Roll teaspoonfuls of dough in the extra sugar.
- Put sugared balls on a baking sheet and into the preheated oven.
- Bake 10-12 minutes or until the cookies are fragrant and cracked and the edges are beginning to crisp
- Cool and store in freezer for at least 30 minutes before preparing sandwiches.
Yield: 2 dozen chocolate cookies
Assembly:
- If using store-bought ice cream, soften until it is firm enough to be scooped but soft enough to be shaped.
- If using homemade ice cream, chill in a tupperware stored in the freezer until it is of the right consistency.
- Place a small scoop of ice cream on one cookie. Place another cookie on top of the ice cream. Gently pressure the cookies between your palms until the ice cream spreads to the outer edges of the cookies to form a sandwich.
Makes 12 fudgy ice cream sandwiches
Bon Appetit!
Variations:
- Make ice cream sandwiches with your favorite type of cookies: molasses, chocolate chip or sugar cookies. You could even make sandwiches with blondies or brownies.
- Try different ice cream flavors such as chocolate, coffee or mint chip.
- Once you've assembled the sandwiches, roll them in mini chocolate chips, mini M&M's or decorative sprinkles so the ice cream layer becomes encrusted with candy.
