homemade chocolate cookie ice cream sandwiches;

Do you ever crave an ice cream sandwich? On those hot days, with a chilled cookie and creamy vanilla ice cream smushed in between? Don’t ever tell me it’s more convenient—those things are drippy, sticky, and delicious! Chocolate cookie ice cream sandwiches are made for messes, but they sure are tasty.

These chocolate cookie ice cream sandwiches are made with my chocolate crackle cookie recipe and then you sandwich ice cream in between and roll with colorful sprinkles. The best part is, you can choose festive sprinkles for any occasion. These would work lovely with some orange sprinkles for a Halloween treat, especially because the cookie is dark and crackle-y. Or if you’re bringing them to a summer BBQ, try some red white and blue for festivity. Or just go with classic multicolored sprinkles like I’ve done here.

Of course you could make your own ice cream from scratch. These would taste amazing with my recipe for brown sugar cinnamon ice cream. But making chocolate cookie ice cream sandwiches does take a little bit of elbow grease, so I don’t opt to make the ice cream myself usually. This time around I used Turkey Hill French vanilla. If you give me an option between regular vanilla and French vanilla, I’ll go French every time. The egg yolks make it extra creamy and give it that slightly yellow tinge. That said, I also won’t turn down ice cream churned with real vanilla beans—that sh*t is delicious.

Firstly, your cookies need to be cool. This is not a “take the cookies out of the oven, wait 5 minutes and assemble” kind of recipe. These chocolate cookie ice cream sandwiches are cold, and therefore all your parts have to be the right temperatures. Usually I’m several days and well into eating the batch of chocolate crackle cookies before I get to making ice cream sandwiches.

You could wait a couple hours for the cookies to cool, but I usually wait overnight and do ice cream assembly the next day. I also will make the cookies a little smaller in size for ice cream sandwiches since you’re eating 2 cookies and a scoop of ice cream together. I find my 2 Tbsp scoop to make the perfect size cookie

The second key is to get your ice cream soft, but not melted. I like to scoop mine out of the container and leave it on the counter for a while. You can microwave it on defrost, but I find it’s too easy to add one zap too many and suddenly it’s too soft. (That said I’ve also left ice cream on the counter and forgotten about it until it’s soup. Don’t do that.)

The perfect texture to assemble your chocolate cookie ice cream sandwiches, is for the ice cream to be soft enough to scoop and spread with your fingers but still solid. Like soft serve right when it comes out of the machine. But if you can stir a spoon through the ice cream, it’s too soft.

Thirdly, precut some cellophane or have a helper nearby for wrapping. Putting together these chocolate cookie ice cream sandwiches are messy and you have to work fast. They work best when you wrap them individually. Plus they make them easy to grab and go for sticky fingers. I will lay out the cookies and match up the lids to the bottoms based on size. And then when the ice cream is a good consistency, it’s go time!

You can use a knife or a spoon works well to spread the ice cream, but honestly I usually resort to my fingers. (Washed of course.) It’s just faster and easier to manipulate the sweet cream, and the heat from your fingers gives you a little extra smooshing to work with.

I just love the texture of these chocolate cookie ice cream sandwich cookies. The chocolate crackle cookies are soft enough that a stint in the freezer makes them chewy without breaking your teeth. The chocolate pairs perfectly with so many flavors. Vanilla is a classic, but also try mint chocolate chip. I can’t think of a flavor that’d be bad with these. Plus that extra little crunch from the raw sugar on the cookies adds a little texture to every bite.

Secrets to Success;

• Make sure your crackle cookies are cool or cold, not fresh from the oven. Make sure your ice cream is that perfect softness—soft, but not melted. Make sure your sprinkles are ready to go. Temperatures, timing, and working fast are the keys here for successful chocolate cookie ice cream sandwiches.
• Prep some cellophane squares or enlist a recruit to help you wrap the sandwiches. Your fingers will be sticky and you’ll be racing your melting ice cream, so prep can go a long way. Wrapping them individually means they’re an easy grab and go option.
• Vanilla ice cream is a classic, and my favorite is French Vanilla, but we all know that everything is best with chocolate! Go for a mint chocolate chip ice cream, or even a raspberry sorbet. I can’t think of an ice cream flavor that would be bad paired with these chocolate crackle cookies.
• Consider making slightly smaller cookies than you would for eating straight. Don’t forget, every chocolate cookie ice cream sandwich you eat needs two cookies plus ice cream and sprinkles! I use this small tablespoon cookie scoop for these sandwiches.

Looking for other summer recipes?

• For a healthy(ish) summer barbecue, try out this apple pie taco bar.
• Firecracker cookie bars are a smashing summer hit!
• Already got the grill fired up? Throw on some grilled cinnamon pineapple.