Ice cream sandwiches are one of those treats that always taste better when you make them yourself. When you buy them at the grocery store, the flat and frozen cookies are often dry and lack the delicious flavor you find in homemade ones.
These summer treats are a fun activity you can make with kids and allow their creativity to shine! Set up an sandwich bar and allow them to choose their flavor of ice cream and types of sprinkles or candy to put around the sides.
You're aiming for a fun time and delicious treat, so don't expect perfection! You can use your favorite cookie recipe for this recipe, but I use the one below because it creates a chewy, containable cookie that bakes evenly.
Ingredients:
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, leveled
- 1 1/2 tsps cornstarch
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 12 Tbs unsalted butter, room temp
- 3/4 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk, room temperature
- 2 tsps pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Ice cream, whatever flavors you love
- Sprinkles, crushed candy, additional mini chocolate chips or whatever you want to decorate the sides of the sandwiches
Directions:
MAKE THE COOKIES
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat mats.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt together.
- Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or in a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugars together on medium-high speed until combined, about 2 minutes. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract, and continue to beat on medium-high speed until combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture slowly, mixing at low speed, until just combined. Add the chocolate chips.
- Using a medium ice cream or cookie scoop, scoop cookie dough into balls onto lined baking sheets. If you're eyeing this, the balls should be about 1 1/2 Tbsp of dough. Leave 3 inches between cookies as they will slightly spread. Bake 12–13 minutes. They will continue to cook on the sheets once you remove them from the oven, so do not overcook. Allow to cool on pan and transfer to a wire cooling rack.
ASSEMBLE
1. Gather your sandwich ingredients (ice cream and sprinkles). Place the sprinkles, crushed up cookies, mini chocolate chips, etc. in their own shallow bowls
2. Allow the ice cream to SLIGHTLY soften so it's more pliable when spreading on the cookies.
3. Using your ice cream scoop or medium spoon, scoop about 1/4-1/3 cup ice cream and spread onto the bottom of a cookie. Spread evenly to the edge of the cookie. You can always add more ice cream if the sandwich isn't as fat as you'd like.
4. Roll in the bowl of toppings and use a spoon to help press them into the sides.
5. Using clear plastic wrap, wrap sandwiches individually and immediately place in freezer. Enjoy!
