Test Kitchen #20: Ice Cream Sandwiches

Inspired by the shortbread crust in last week's fruit tart and still having ice cream on the brain, I got the idea to make ice cream sandwiches. By rolling out the dough and cutting circular cookie shapes, I hoped to create cookies that would be firm enough to hold the weight of the ice cream.

We used the same steps and ingredients for the crust from the White Chocolate Fruit Tart, but doubled the recipe to get more cookies. Using a circular cookie cutter that was about 3.75" in diameter yielded about 14 cookies to make 7 total sandwiches.


Never forgetting the photo op, we used a couple of quick tricks to ensure a pretty cookie. Dad dug out an antique metal tin that was filled with Grandpa's cookie cutters. The one we chose to use had a scalloped edge around the outside. Once we cut the cookie dough out, I used a small juice glass, with a diameter about a half inch less than the cutter and lightly pressed it into the dough to make an inner border. For the big finish, Dad pulled out a steak brand in the shape of an "H" that a friend had given him as a gift and we stamped the center of each cookie.


Ingredients & Steps:

• 1 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 gallon of half fat, Neapolitan Ice Cream
  (Chocolate, Vanilla and Strawberry in the same box.)

(Variation to consider: Swap out the confectioner's sugar for granulated Splenda)

1. In a small mixing bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually add flour; mix well.

2. Cover dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

3. Roll to about 1/8" thick. Cut dough with cookie cutters.

4. Combine scraps of dough and re-roll to make more cookies. Place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

5. Bake at 300° between 28-35 minutes. Transfer to cooling racks and then refrigerate between 45-60 minutes or until firm.

6. When cookies are ready, squeeze the entire gallon of ice cream onto a cutting board. Cut half inch thick slices of ice cream, using the circular cookie cutter to create a round chunk to go in between two cookies.

7. Immediately wrap with plastic wrap or wax paper and place back in the freezer.


The Verdict:
This week's experiment was a clear winner of the Pretty Award. The cookies were good, but could have been a little thinner. There's definitely a magic formula to finding just the right cookies for an ice cream sandwich. Either the cookie is too stiff and snaps in half when you bite into it shooting the ice cream out the other side or the cookie is too soft and you're left with doughy finger prints. (I hate that!)

Unfortunately in this case, the cookie got really hard in the freezer and the ice cream didn't get hard enough. (This might have been because I used the Churn Style ice cream which tends to be a little more creamy.) I left four sandwiches at Mom and Dad's house, who were having the Cohen's over for dinner. I gave two to my friend, Beth, to share with her husband, Joe and Matt and I shared the last one. Matt liked the cookie but, we had to ultimately take the sandwich apart and just eat it open-faced with the ice cream spread on top. I liked using a shortbread style cookie for the sandwich as opposed to the traditional chocolate cookie. We'll just have to work on tweaking the consistency of the dough next time.