How to Make Ice Cream Sandwiches Three Ways

You can make ice cream sandwiches three ways. Any way you choose, you can make far better ice cream  sandwiches than you can get at the store down the street.  And you can be creative mixing and  matching cookies with ice cream flavors and maybe dipping them in chocolate or frosting  them.

No matter what method you use – cooking with kids – when it comes to this recipe – is a blast! Our little ones LOVE to taste everything we make in this one – every step too! So plan on a fair amount of serious spoon and pan licking! Below is a picture of home made vanilla icecream – that we then added to the recipes for Ice Cream Sandwiches below. YUM! Of course we listen to music all the time – especially Love Song for My Child.

We’ll  show you all three ways and give you the advantages of each so that you can  choose the way that is best for you.

Method 1:  Making Ice Cream Sandwiches with an Ice Cream  Sandwich Maker

This  method uses a slick ice cream sandwich maker to make uniform and professional looking  ice cream sandwiches.  The tool cuts a  cookie sheet into uniform rectangles.  A  cookie is placed in the tool, ice cream is spread on top of the cookie, and second  cookie is placed over the ice cream.  Using  the tool, the ice cream and the two cookies are compressed together.

Read on to see how to make ice cream sandwiches with an ice cream  sandwich maker.

HOWEVER you dont need to use this. You can use the sheet method below – which is what I use.

Method 2:  Making Ice Cream Sandwiches with the Sheet  Method

This  method uses two sugar cookie sheets with ice cream frozen between the  sheets.  The sheets are sawed into  individual sandwiches using a serrated knife.

The  sugar cookies are baked in pans lined with parchment paper.  After the cookies are cooled, they are lifted  from the pans by grasping the edges of the paper.  You can use nearly any sugar cookie recipe or  mix.   (We use the sugar cookie mixes in  flavors like Huckleberry, Raspberry Lemon, and Cinnamon Banana from our favorite supplier The Prepared Pantry.)

Once  you learn the methodology, you can use any sugar cookie mix or recipe.  Our sugar cookie mixes are perfectly sized to  make a 9 x 13-inch sheet.  You can use  the frosting mix that comes with the mix to decorate or frost you ice cream  sandwiches.

What you’ll need:

• sugar cookie mix  or recipe
• 2 baking pans, 9 x 13 if you are using our mixes but other pans may accommodate other mixes or recipes
• ice cream
• parchment paper or aluminum foil

Step one:  Making the Sugar Cookie Sheets

Mix  the cookie dough according to the package instructions.  Roll the dough into two parchment lined pans  to a thickness of just less that 1/4-inch.   It is easiest to do this with a pastry  roller or pony roller.  For  this cookie mix, two 9 x13-inch pans were perfect.  Save any leftover dough to make sugar  cookies.   Bake for nine minutes or until done.  Dark pans will bake more quickly than light  pans.

Let  the cookies cool in the pans on a rack.   Once cool, lift one of the sheets from the pan and set it on a cooling  rack.  Leave the other in the pan.

Step two:  Putting Ice Cream between the Two Sugar Cookie  Sheets

Soften  the ice cream on the counter until it is no longer hard.  Spread the ice cream with the back of an ice  cream spade or spatula.  For a 9 x13-inch  pan, nearly a quart of ice cream is the right amount.  Place the pan with the ice cream in the  freezer.

Place  plastic cutting board over the cookie sheet on the rack.  Grasping the cutting board and cooling rack  together, invert the cookie sheet onto the cutting board.  Peel off the parchment paper. You will now  have a whole cookie sheet upside down on the cutting board.  Replace the cooling rack, hold the cutting  board and rack together, and invert the combination.  You will now have the cookie sheet on the  rack right side up.

Carefully  slide the cookie sheet off the rack onto the frozen ice cream.  Gently press the cookie onto the ice  cream.  Place the pan with the cookies  and ice cream into the freezer to freeze solid.

Step three:  Cutting and Finishing Your Ice Cream  Sandwiches

Remove  the pan from the freezer.  Lift the  cookie and ice cream sheet from the pan by grasping the edges of the parchment  paper.

Use  a ruler to determine cut lines.  Score  lines in the cookie where you want the cuts to be.  Use a stiff-bladed serrated knife to saw the  sheet into ice cream sandwiches returning each to the freezer once cut.  If the ice cream starts to soften before all  the cuts are made, refreeze the ice cream.

You  may dip your ice cream sandwiches in melted chocolate coating one end.  As you remove the ice cream sandwiches from  the chocolate, you may dip the soft chocolate end in sprinkles or other  decorations.

You  may also chose to frost the top of your ice cream sandwiches and sprinkle  decorations onto the frosting.

Method 3:  Making Ice Cream Sandwiches Using the Cookie  Cutter Method

This  method is the simplest and requires no tools but without a form to hold the ice  cream in and tool to uniformly cut the cookies and compress the ice cream, the  ice cream sandwiches are not as neat and professional looking.

You  need some solid cookies like gingersnaps or Snickerdoodles, not dainty cookies,  to absorb the moisture and not come apart when you bite them.  Our favorites are chocolate  sugarsnaps, gingersnaps, and Pennsylvania Dutch sugar cookies.

What you’ll need:

• cookie mix or recipe
• a baking pan
• ice cream
• parchment paper or aluminum foil

Step one:  Baking the Cookies

Bake  the cookies according to package directions and let cool.  Try to make the cookies the same shape and  size.  Match the cookies in pairs and set  aside.

Step two:  Preparing the Ice Cream

Line  a 9 x13-inch baking pan with foil or parchment paper.

The  ice cream needs to be barely softened enough to squish into the foil or  parchment paper lined pan.  If you let it  get too soft, ice crystals will form.  If  you use a spatula or the back of an ice cream spade, you can squish the  ice cream into a layer while it is still frozen.  Smooth the ice cream into a 1/2-inch thick  layer.  Refreeze the ice cream.

Step three:  Cutting the Ice Cream and Assembling the  Sandwiches

Once  the ice cream is frozen hard, remove the pan form the freezer.  Lift the ice cream from the pan by grabbing  the edges of the foil or paper and lifting.

Cut  round circles of ice cream with a cookie cutter.  Place each ice cream circle between a cookie  pair.  Press firmly together and then  refreeze.