I was excited when I first came upon this recipe & knew in an instant I would try my hand at it. Ice cream sandwiches are synonymous with summer. I loved them as a kid & I love them as an adult. My family, skeptics as they are, were like, “It’s ice cream sandwiches, you can just buy those.”

My sequential thoughts unfolded like so: Pssh. Naysayers. Have I taught them nothing? Shouldn’t they know better by now? I’ll show them. Homemade is always better. (With the exception of brownies – Ghirardelli boxed brownies is where it’s at! I’ve yet to try a homemade brownie recipe that has swayed me. I’ve tried. Many times.)

Now after having made these twice this summer, my husband straight up told me, “These are so good. You should quit your job & make these all day.” I’ll take that as a victory. And, no, I’m still gainfully employed.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 tsp salt

3 tbsps milk

1 egg white

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder (* see notes)

2 1/2 cups vanilla ice cream (or more if you like a thicker sandwich)

Preparation:

Make the cookie:

Heat oven to 325 degrees F & line a 9 x13 pan with parchment paper that extends up the two short sides of the pan. Coat the exposed sides with butter or nonstick spray.

If butter is not at room temperature, melt halfway & whisk until fully melted. Whisk in the sugar, salt, & milk. Whisk in the egg white & vanilla, ensuring the egg white is fully mixed in. Stir in the cocoa powder & baking powder; thoroughly mix. Lastly, add flour & stir until no white streaks are present.

Spoon mixture into prepared pan & spread into an even layer.

Bake for 15 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack. Dock all over with a skewer. Let cool completely or place in freezer for 15 minutes. Remove ice cream at the same time & allow to soften for these 15 minutes.

Assemble the sandwiches:

Once cold to the touch, run a knife around the pan & use the parchment paper to slide it out of the pan. Cut in half width wise. Return the parchment paper to the pan to help shape the sandwiches. Return the first cookie half back to the pan, placing upside down over the parchment paper, & press up against the edge. Scoop the ice cream & spread it evenly over. Press the second cookie half, right side up, onto the ice cream. Use the sides of the pan& parchment paper to help the ice cream keep its shape in the cookie & place the pan in the freezer. Freeze for a minimum of 5 hours, but preferably overnight.

Once ice cream is fully solid again, transfer to a cutting board, remove parchment paper, & cut into rectangles. Eat immediately or store in airtight container in freezer.

Notes:

Use 2 tbsps regular cocoa powder & 2 tbsps black cocoa powder, if you have it.

This recipe is easily doubled.

I’ve found it’s almost easier to spread the cookie mixture onto the parchment paper outside of the pan so I get more of a visual that it’s even. In the picture above, I doubled the recipe & spread the top layer in the pan & when I made the bottom layer, I spread it outside of the pan & then inserted it into the pan. The bottom layer was more even.

Source: https://smittenkitchen.com/2021/06/chocolate-ice-cream-sandwiches/