Though Summer is nearing the end, I couldn’t resist sharing this incredible recipe for good old-fashioned ice cream sandwiches, with a modern twist (think chocolate sugar cookies, and salted peanut butter cup ice cream). The recipe comes from the ever-talented Rachel of Sugar-Coated Inspiration. These Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream Sandwiches made with homemade salted chocolate & peanut butter swirl ice cream and chocolate sugar cookies are basically the best thing ever. And yes, these ice cream sandwiches taste just as good as they look.
The cookies have an amazing fudgy brownie center, with crisp edges. The ice cream is sweet and smooth with swirls of salty peanut butter, sweet chocolately custard, and chunks of peanut butter cups (this may also be the creamiest, yummiest, and EASIEST ice cream you’ll ever make from scratch!) The combination is out of this world.
DOUBLE CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER ICE CREAM SANDWICHES
CHOCOLATE SUGAR COOKIES
Makes 2 dozen large cookies
INGREDIENTS
WET INGREDIENTS:
2 cups sugar {+ a bit more to roll the cookies in}
⅛ cup coconut oil
2 sticks of butter
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
DRY INGREDIENTS:
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups flour
¾ tsp salt
DIRECTIONS
In a bowl, add the butter, coconut oil, and sugar {I chose to add coconut oil to this dough because I love the flavor/texture it gives these cookies—however, you could always replace it with vegetable oil, or just more butter}. Cream these ingredients together until light and fluffy.
Next, add in the egg and vanilla. Then continue to beat until everything is combined.
Now, put all of the dry ingredients into a separate bowl. Combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix it all together.
Into the wet bowl, slowly add your dry mix in ingredients — stirring each time you add more. Continue this process until all of the dry is combined into the wet, and you have a solid, chocolately dough!
Finally, refrigerate for 30 minutes {or overnight if you’d like to make the dough ahead of time}.
When your dough is chilled, preheat the oven to 350°F and line separate baking sheets with parchment paper.
Scoop your dough out into round balls, and roll them one at a time in the extra sugar. Then place each sugar-coated cookie dough ball onto the parchment lined sheets.
Once they are coated generously in sugar flatten each with your hand to ensure that the cookies bake evenly on the parchment paper.
Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes, and voilà! Allow to cool completely before using for the ice cream sandwiches.
Cookie recipe adapted via Handmade Charlotte
SALTED CHOCOLATE AND PEANUT BUTTER SWIRL ICE CREAM
Makes one large batch of ice cream (more than enough to fill one dozen cookie sandwiches)
INGREDIENTS
CHOCOLATE CUSTARD BASE
1 egg + 1 yolk
½ cup sugar
1 ½ cups whole milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
a pinch of salt
1 cup heavy cream
MIX-INS
mini peanut butter cups
natural peanut butter
fleur de sel
DIRECTIONS
Watch the quick video above for a simple visual tutorial, or read on for more detailed instructions. (By the way, if chocolate and peanut butter aren’t your thing, you can still use this custard base and add in any mix-ins your heart desires!)
The first step to making this ice cream is making the custard base that will go into your ice cream maker — and if you don’t have an ice cream maker, not to worry! There are tons of ways to make ice cream without an ice cream maker.
To begin, add one whole egg and one yolk into a small bowl. To that, add the ½ cup of sugar and whisk until the mix is light yellow and frothy.
Next, heat up the milk in a small saucepan on medium heat until it’s simmering. Once the milk is hot enough, you can temper the egg and sugar mixture.
This is a delicate step, because you can’t let the eggs get too hot, or they will scramble and ruin the texture of your custard! Don’t worry though, it’s not as difficult as it seems. All you need to do is slowly add a small amount of the warm milk into the egg mixture and whisk it in quickly. This will bring up the temperature of the eggs without scrambling them.
Once you’ve added the first bit of milk, go ahead and add the rest of the milk into the eggs and continue to whisk. Don’t worry if there are a few scrambled bits because you’ll strain them out later!
Once the eggs have been tempered with the milk, pour the mixture back into the saucepan and continue to cook on medium heat, and occasionally stir, for about 8 minutes—or until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
During these 8 minutes, you can stir in the vanilla, cocoa powder, and salt.
When the custard is thick, take it off the burner and carefully strain it through a thin sieve into a new bowl.
Then, allow the custard to cool to room temperature for about 30 minutes. Once it’s cooled, stir in the heavy cream and refrigerate until it’s very cold.
{I allowed mine to cool overnight, the longer it sits, the creamier the final product will be—but if you’re in a rush, a few hours will do.}
Now that your custard is ready, turn on your ice cream maker…and churn!
Normally, this process takes from 15-20 minutes. However, my custard was very cold, so it only took about half that amount of time to firm up.
Once the ice cream is solid, transfer it into a freezer safe container.
Mix in the chopped peanut butter cups and a few globs of natural peanut butter — yum!
Finally, sprinkle lightly with fleur de sel ( … really just a fancy sea salt).
Freeze until solid, and enjoy!
Custard Base adapted via Cooking Equipment
ASSEMBLY
Last but not least, assemble your cookie sandwiches — the trick is to use an ice cream scoop and very frozen ice cream — and enjoy!
By the way, these ice cream sandwiches store really well in the freezer! Assemble them ahead of time and then wrap each separately and freeze for later.
Special thanks to Rachel of Sugar-Coated Inspiration for this amazing recipe!
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Yum, this dessert looks like a lot of fun to make!