ice cream sandwiches

Life is busy, so make it sweet. Moms on tight schedules may not have time to bake cookies from scratch after a long day at the office or park, but their children can still benefit from kitchen time together and indulge in a treat. A few weeks ago, I bought a bag of Chocolate Chunk Better Bakes ($4) at Whole Foods. The container of organic pre-portioned cookie dough from Immaculate Baking Company shortened the timely task of batter-making. My daughter just popped a few circles onto a baking sheet, and I put it in a 325 degree oven for 14 minutes. Once the cookies cooled, she had fun making them into lil sandwiches by spreading ice cream or peanut butter between two and fusing them together. To fancy up the edges, she then rolled them in chocolate sprinkles or crushed peanuts. Since the dough bits are quarter-size, they make great mini desserts.

A sheet cake is the standard dessert for most graduation parties. However, my party is all about pleasing the eighth-grade graduate, so we're serving ice cream sandwiches! The handheld, frozen treat is perfect for the party because everyone loves them and they have to be made in advance. A variety of ice cream flavors can be used for the filling. Let guests select their favorite.

Wrapped in wax paper, these sandwich resemble fabulous, little gift packages. To take a look at the recipe, read more

This Summer, PartySugar and I took turns making ice cream sandwiches each week. We made fourteen different variations, but for our Best of 2007 coverage, we decided to pick our top five. Here they are, starting at the top left corner:

• Dulce De Leche Ice Cream with Chocolate Covered Graham Crackers
• Brownies with Vanilla Berry Ice Cream
• Puff Pastry With Cherry Chocolate Ice Cream
• Chocolate Citrus Biscotti With Orange Ice Cream
• Vanilla Caramel Ice Cream on Saltines

And this Heart-Shaped Chocolate Strawberry Ice Cream Sandwich wasn't one of ours, but it was so popular, I had to share it with you all again!

I can't believe that summer is just about over. Seems like we were just eating ice cream sandwiches yesterday... oh wait, we were! But in all seriousness, the end of the summer also means the end of our summer of sandwiches — after all, we have to make room for new fall features! However, just in case you missed any of them, here's a full recap.

1. Minty Fresh: Fresh Mint Ice Cream with Ice Cream Cone Cookies
2. Classic Choco-Vanilla: Chocolate Cookies with Vanilla Ice Cream
3. The Americone Dream: Americone Dream Ice Cream with Chocolate Chunk Cookies
4. Peachy Keen: Peach Ice Cream with Ginger Cookies
5. Salty Sweet: Vanilla Caramel Ice Cream with Saltine Crackers



6. Graham Caramel: Dulce De Leche Ice Cream with Chocolate Covered Graham Crackers
7. Cravers: Crave Treat Cookies with Coffee Ice Cream
8. Puff Ups: Cherry Chocolate Ice Cream with Puff Pastry
9. Bisco Inferno: Chocolate Citrus Biscotti with Orange Ice Cream
10. Minis It's Its: Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream with Bite-sized Oatmeal Cookies



11. Berry Heaven: Vanilla Berry Ice Cream with Fudgy Brownies
12. PB Choco: Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Ice Cream
13. Old School Nilla: Strawberry and Banana Ice Cream with Nilla Wafers
14. Coo-Coo for Coconut: Coconut Macaroons with Creme Brulee Ice Cream

Sadly, the end of summer is this weekend. With its finish comes the conclusion of our 14 week series on ice cream sandwiches. For my last batch of sandwiches, I focused on the perfect pairing of cookie and ice cream flavors. I was a little disappointed in the overpowering peanut butter taste of my last ice cream sandwiches, so I found myself spending quite some time debating in the grocery store. First I picked out the chewy perfectly sized coconut macaroons. Next, after much time staring into the freezers, I decided on the custardy creme brulee ice cream.

Eureka! The pairing was sheer sweetness! To see how I made this super easy and delicious dessert, read more

When I was a kid, one of my favorite desserts was banana pudding with Nilla Wafers. My mom used to make it often, and my siblings and I would chow down on it like there was no tomorrow. I haven't had it in years, but recently someone mentioned Nilla Wafers to me, and they've been on my brain ever since.

So naturally, when it came time to make this week's ice cream sandwiches, Nilla wafers were my first choice. Originally I wanted to make my own banana ice cream, however my ice cream maker wasn't ready. So I picked up a pint of the next best thing — Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey — and headed over to my sister's house.

While there I decided that her strawberry ice cream looked great too, and that a slice of banana would be a nice touch — cut yours thinner than mine so the sandwiches stay bite-sized. The Nilla Wafers were smaller than I remembered them, so I ended up using a melon baller to scoop the ice cream out. I then created a little assembly line — wafer, ice cream dollop, banana, ice cream scoop, wafer — in order to make a bunch to enjoy at once. I then stuck them in the freezer and counted down until dessert time. They made perfect appetizer sized sandwiches, and would make great desserts for a party.

I recently realized that I had never made homemade chocolate ice cream. So naturally, I decided chocolate ice cream would be involved in the next round of ice cream sandwiches. What complements chocolate more perfectly than peanut butter? I made pairs of crisped peanut butter cookies and smashed the gooey, gorgeous ice cream in between. The end result? A delicious and satisfying dessert that will please both chocolate and peanut butter lovers alike. You could easily make these sandwiches with store bought cookies and ice cream, but to check out how I made them 100% from scratch — if I had a cow I would have milked it! —, read more

It was my turn to make ice cream sandwiches this week — I know, tough task! — and I was staring at some leftover rich, fudgy brownies when it hit me. Duh! Why not cut the brownies in half and fill them with ice cream?

Once I had a plan, it was time to determine the flavor. I really wanted mint-chip, but we had vanilla in the house, and more than one open container of ice cream at a time is really bad news in our house... However, I wasn't totally thrilled with plain vanilla, so I took some fresh blueberries and raspberries and mixed them in.

To learn how to do it yourself, as well as more pictures of brownie-ice cream goodness, read more