Ice cream sandwiches are the pinnacle of summer food.  They evoke images of hot, sticky afternoons spent lounging outside in the company of good friends without a care in the world.  Obviously, some incarnation of these summer goodies needed to make an appearance at my Mini-Urban Cookout.

The outside of an ice cream sandwich needs to have a little crunch to it, in my opinion.  It needs some strength to hold up to all the soft ice cream in the middle.  While a brownie would taste divine, it may become overly mushy when sandwiched against ice cream.  To get the best of both worlds, the flavor of a brownie with the staying power of a cookie, I pulled out an old favorite recipe for brownie roll-out cookies.

Lessons I Learned From Making Ice Cream Sandwiches:

1.  Just because you need a large batch of these, do not make a double batch in a large baking sheet.  While this may seem like a great idea (trust me, it will), working with a baking sheet-sized brownie-cookie is ridiculously difficult.  Plus, attempting to cut apart this massive baking sheet-sized monster required frequent re-freezing to prevent all the ice cream from melting.  Moral of the story: Don’t be like me.  If you need a large batch, use several smaller pans.

2.  You cannot have too many ice cream sandwiches.  You just can’t.

3.  It doesn’t matter how they look, they will taste incredible.  And you will be a hero.

Two-Bite Ice Cream Sandwiches
Inspired by Smitten Kitchen’s Brownie Roll-Out Cookies

3-4 cups mint-chip ice cream
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

Directions:

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Whisk flour salt and baking powder in a large bowl and set aside.
- Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time. Mix in the vanilla. Mix in the cocoa.
- Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet mixture. Continue mixing until smooth and fully incorporated.
- Wrap dough in plastic and chill for 1 hour.
- Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface until roughly 1/8th inch thick.
- Line two 8×8 or 9×9 pans with parchment paper (or foil) with a few inches left on each side as overhang to act as handles to help remove the brownie layers.
- Using a sharp knife, cut two pieces of dough to fit inside the lined pans. Using a large spatula, carefully lay the dough into the lined pans. Don’t worry if the dough cracks or can’t be moved in one piece. Simply use your fingers and the palm of your hands to press together any cracks. (You will probably have some extra dough, this is fine. Make some cookies.)
- Bake 8-10 min or until cookies are slightly puffed. Remove from oven and let cool.
- Meanwhile, remove ice cream from freezer to allow it to soften.
- Once the brownie base has cooled, scoop ice cream onto one layer of the brownies. Using an offset spatula, carefully spread the ice cream evenly across the brownie base until it is about 1/2 inch thick (or thicker if you prefer more ice cream in your sandwiches).
- Using the parchment or foil handles, carefully remove the second brownie layer from the pan. Use a wire rack or extra pan to flip the brownie layer upside down. Remove parchment or foil liner. Place on top of the ice cream layer. Press slightly to even out the ice cream.
- Cover with plastic wrap and place in freezer. Freeze for several hours.
- Once completely frozen, remove from freezer. Using the parchment or foil handles (and a small knife, if needed, to loosen the sides), remove the frozen sandwich sheet from the pan. Place on a cutting board or counter.
- With a sharp knife, cut the sandwich into 1 1/2-2 inch squares. If the ice cream starts to melt, place back into the freezer for a few minutes to firm up before continuing to cut.
- Store the sandwiches in an airtight container, layered with wax paper, in the freezer. Serve cold.

Similar Recipes:

• Honey Pecan Dark Chocolate Shortbread
• Chocolate Caramel Cookie Bites
• Oatmeal Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Cranberry Pistachio Blondies

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