This is one of my oldest recipes for homemade ice cream sandwiches. Since posting it, I’ve filled them with different flavors of ice cream including chocolate mint, Neapolitan and even bourbon. None of the photos were very good, so I finally updated them and added a few notes for success.
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Ice Cream Sandwich Shape
The recipe is adapted from one I found in the 2002 July/August issue of Cook’s Illustrated. The CI team made their sandwiches round because they wanted to show how you could slice through a pint size paper ice cream carton and make instant round circles of ice cream for your sandwiches. For some reason I was determined to make mine rectangular, so I did and they looked kind of sloppy. Squares seem to offer the best of all worlds here.
Ice Cream Sandwich Base Recipe
In my older post I was fixated on pan size. Sometimes that’s a good thing because pan size can influence how long brownies take to bake. The original recipe called for a 17x11 or 17x12 inch pan. Those size pans are pretty easy to find now online, but back in 2002 most people had 9x13 inch rectangles, 15x10 inch jelly rolls or 8 or 9 inch square pans. I tried making them in a 9x13 inch pan and they were too thick.
So then I used 2 9-inch pans. This made sense back then, but now I just feel like it’s dirtying up a second pan. So a 9-inch is perfect if you want to make half the recipe, but your best bet is to just make the full recipe and use a pan that’s as close as you can get to 17x11. And again -- make squares! The rectangles are just too big.
Taste and Texture
So how do they taste? What’s the texture like? They taste fine. You’ll get the flavor of whatever cocoa powder you used. More flavor is going to come from the ice cream, which is the star of the show. What I like best about this chocolate ice cream sandwich base is the texture, which is soft and very similar to store bought. These wouldn't be overly rich in an ice cream sandwich cake. At some point I compared this recipe to one from The New York Times (you probably have to subscribe to see it, and it’s 100% worth it) and noted those were slightly greasy. I should probably give them a second try too.
Also, sorry I can't get rid of this picture of Neapolitan, but I like it. Plus it's a reminder that I need to make these again with Neapolitan and position the squares so that each ice cream sandwich has three different flavor stripes.
Recipe
Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches
Ingredients
- 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour or weigh out exactly 5 oz/140 grams**
- ½ cup Dutch process cocoa powder (measure carefully) natural okay, too**
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅓ cup mini chocolate chips (optional)
- 2 large eggs
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar (130 grams)
- ¼ cup chocolate syrup
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled (114 grams)
- 2 pints of your favorite ice cream.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Line an 11x17 inch jelly-roll pan or something close to with parchment. If making half batch, you can use a 9-inch square pan.
- In a medium size bowl, thoroughly mix together the flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda. If you want, you can throw in some mini chocolate chips (optional).
- In a large mixing bowl using a handheld electric mixer, beat the eggs and sugar for about a minute. Beat in the chocolate syrup, vanilla extract and butter until mixture turns light brown. With a heavy rubber scraper or a spoon, stir in the flour mixture until incorporated.
- Pour batter into lined pan. It is actually very thick, so you'll also have to scrape. Spread it as evenly as you can. It will be a thin layer. Also, try to make the top as even as you can because the brownie doesn't change shape much as it bakes. One way I do this is by dampening my fingers with a little water and tap, tap, tapping the top without getting too much water onto the batter itself.
- Bake 10-12 minutes (maybe even up to 15) or until cakes seem firm and set. Remove from oven and let cool completely. Lift from pan and set cookie on a large cutting board.
- Cut the cookie lengthwise to make two long rectangles, then cut cross-wise to make 4 rectangles (this makes them easier to work with). Place one of the rectangles on a big sheet of plastic wrap and spoon ice cream evenly over the top. Cover with second rectangle and press down slightly. Wrap tightly in plastic. Repeat with second set of rectangles. Set on a baking sheet and put in the freezer overnight or until very firm.
- Using a large knife, trim the sides to give the sandwiches a clean edge. Cut each section into 4 rectangles.
Anna says
Hi Katie,
I'm glad you liked them! Thanks for the tip on flattening the dough. Mine was definitely too thin to roll, but I suppose if you used a greased rolling pin you could gently roll it over it to flatten -- I think that's what you meant, right?
By the way, did you weigh your flour or just measure it? I always weigh mine. If you measured by volume, you could have used up to 5 1/2 or even 6 oz of flour which might have contributed to the thickness of the dough.
Katie says
MADE IT: They were quite good, almost fudgy. But for a heads up, the "dough" was very very thick in my case. I would even recommend using a rolling pin greased with butter to get it nice and thin and flat, and using parchment paper instead of tin foil.
Amy @ What Jew Wanna Eat says
Ice cream sandwiches are one of my favorite desserts ever! Besides mint chocolate chip ice cream. This combines them both- yum!
Holiday Baker Man says
Perfect for the upcoming long weekend!
Rebecca says
I might need to make these soon! They look just the thing for the heat wave we're expecting.
Darlene says
Carla Hall (on the Chew) gave a great suggestion for filling homemade ice cream sandwiches. To prevent ice crystals from forming when you let store-bought ice cream soften and then re-harden, she cuts down the sides of a rectangular ice cream container, peels it away, and then slices the still frozen hard ice cream. I think she then used a biscuit/cookie cutter to cut the ice cream and brownies into round shapes, assembled, and rolled the edges in assorted treats (mini chocolate chips, M&Ms, etc).
Gloria says
These look delicious. I have a batch of your vanilla ice cream in the freezer now. Wish I would have done my homework better and read your post on how to make melt-in-your-mouth chocolate chunks for ice cream. I ended up with tasteless, hard chunks. I think I'm going to pick them out and try your oil method!!! Hate to ruin a batch of delicious ice cream!!!