Cookie ice-cream sandwiches

Photographer: Kate
Makes 12 generous ice-cream sandwiches

Those of us who were lucky enough to grow up in little old New Zealand will no doubt have fond memories of the Mr. Whippy truck winding its way through our suburban streets on a summery afternoon, playing its happy chimes, tempting children out onto the footpath to queue up for icy cold sweet treats. A personal favourite of mine was the ‘freckle cone’ – soft serve dipped in hundreds and thousands with a flake thrown in for good measure. There was always something intensely satisfying about crunching down on the sugary sprinkles, the perfect contrast to the smooth, creamy vanilla ice-cream. These cookie ice-cream sandwiches are another take on the ice cream/ sprinkle/chocolate combo – a portable sundae of sorts.

A few tips – I tried both baking this as one giant rectangular cookie (so awesome!) and then cutting into slices, and as more traditional round versions – both worked really well, and it was quite fun to have a plate of both shapes to share. Just watch the edges of the giant cookie – they may colour a little faster than the middle, so simply trim these off. Also, under-cook the biscuits slightly so they are nice and soft and don’t cause all the ice-cream to ooze out as you bite into the sandwich! Make sure you chop the chocolate nice and fine, as big chunks are hard to chomp on straight out of the freezer!

 

INGREDIENTS


2 cups flour
½ tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
170g (6 oz) butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup caster sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup finely chopped chocolate pieces – I used a mix of white and dark.


1 L (1 quart) vanilla ice-cream
Melted chocolate, chopped nuts and sprinkles to decorate

METHOD


1. Preheat the oven to 165 ˚C (330° F) on Fan Bake and arrange the oven shelves so they are spaced evenly at about 1/3 and 2/3 down the cavity. Lightly grease or line two baking trays.
2. Sieve the flour, baking soda and cinnamon into a medium-sized bowl.
3. Combine the melted butter and sugars in a large bowl. Add the eggs, extra egg yolk, and vanilla extract and mix until well combined.
4. Add the sieved flour and chocolate chunks and stir until just combined.
5. For rectangular sandwiches, roll the dough out to approx 5mm thick and bake in two large rectangles, 24cm x 36cm each (10 x 15 inch).
6. Alternatively, to make round cookies: divide the dough evenly into 24 pieces and roll into balls. Space them evenly on the oven trays, allowing plenty of room for them to spread.
7. Bake for between 12 and 15 minutes until very light brown. The darker the cookies, the crisper they will be.
8. Allow cookies to cool completely. If making rectangular cookies, cut each sheet into 12 evenly sized pieces.
9. To assemble, allow ice-cream to soften a little and use a butter knife to spread half the cookies with ice-cream. Sandwich together and immediately return to freezer in an airtight container to firm up.
10. Immediately before serving, drizzle melted chocolate over cookies and decorate with sprinkles and chopped nuts.