Sunday, July 3, 2011

OMG, Great Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches!

When I was a kid, we had a store around the corner called Urban's Market.  We used to get penny candy (for a penny) and candy bars and popsicles for 5 cents.  When you walked in, on the left, there was a freezer with a siding glass top that contained all of the ice cream novelties.  What I loved about their ice cream sandwiches was that the cookie was crunchy, not because it was frozen, but because it was a crisp cookie and it didn't get soft and stick to my fingers.  This summer my son and I have tried Blue Bunny and Blue Bell ice cream sandwiches, hunting for the kind I grew up with.  Though not perfect, Blue Bunny was the winner when it comes to the crispness of the cookie.  Blue Bell stuck to my fingers when unwrapping the paper, though they are good otherwise.
As a jumping off point, I found a chocolate dough recipe in my Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook.  I made the dough yesterday and it is in our Man-Frig (named because it contains beverages, one of which is beer, though there is a drawer with snacks for my son) and it is set at the coldest setting.
Today, I have to roll out and bake the dough.  It has a few steps so I'll be busy. Then I'll scoop ice cream in order to get real tall sandwiches.  My husband wants Blue Bell Fat Free Strawberry Cheesecake Yogurt  but he'll have to settle for Raspberry Sherbert since that's all I found.  I am looking for some sort of White Chocolate that I am going to squish Fresh Raspberries into and I think my son wants something chocolatey.  (I got Dutch Chocolate for my son and I found Black Raspberry, so we are all in heaven.)  Once assembled,  I'll wrap them in parchment paper.  Hopefully I'll get the results I am looking for and if not this go around, it's sure fun trying!
In the meantime, here is the dough recipe.  In a bowl, measure 1 1/4 Cups Flour, 1/4 Cup + 2 Tbl Dutch Process Cocoa Powder, 1/2 tsp Baking Powder, 1/2 tsp Baking Soda and 1/4 tsp Salt.   Using a wire whip, stir to combine the dry ingredients.  In a mixer bowl with a paddle, beat 1 Stick UnSalted Butter, 2/3 Cups Brown Sugar and 1/3 Cup Sugar.  Add 1 Egg and 1 tsp Vanilla and beat to combine.  With the mixer on the lowest setting, add the dry ingredients and mix until combined.  With floured hands, divide in half, flatten and wrap in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for a least 1/2 hour.
Remove from the refrigerator 1 at a time and roll out dough to 1/8" thickness and freeze.  Cut out 2" circles and freeze the circles.  Gather the scraps and repeat the process until all the dough is cut.
Preheat the oven to 350 and bake for approximately 12-14 minutes until the cookies feel firm.  Once cooled, fill with ice cream and freeze until ready to serve.  Thank you Mrs. Urban for all the childhood memories!!
In the end, my son ate 2.  Need I say more?

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