Cooking School- Ice Cream Sandwiches, 2 ways

Summer is in full swing. It is hot.
When I saw these ice cream sandwiches in an recent issue of Cooking Light, I knew we had to make them. I knew they would be the perfect after-swimming treat. I tore out the page and put in my recipe-holding-clip-magnet on the fridge for a later date. Then my daughter told me that she wanted to make Ice Cream Sandwiches for our next Cooking School subject. She saw the recipe and decided these would be perfect. In the back of my mind I remembered another ice cream sandwich I had been wanting to try and so, we had to do a double whammy, making two types of ice cream sandwiches. Luckily, my sister and brother were here, so they were able to help make and consume both of these treats.

We made the cookies part of both of these recipes first. Then we mixed up the different ice cream mixtures and proceeded to put the sandwiches together. We used Edy's Slow Churned Vanilla Bean ice cream in both sandwiches.

Now, let me say that I have never had a margarita, so I don't know exactly if these replicate the same flavors, but the combination of a soft, chewy sugar cookie, that is loaded with lime flavor and a splash of salt, and the lime sherbet/vanilla ice cream filling, was really good. The cookies were also delicious on their own. This was made known by the fact that my brother polished off quite a few of them.

The Classic Ice Cream Sandwiches pictured above were just like a ice cream sandwich that you would get from a box at the grocery store, except better. The chocolate cookie was soft and perfectly chocolate-y. They were amazing.

Either one of these would be a great ending to a 4th of July picnic or meal.


Here is the recipe for Margarita Ice Cream Sandwiches from Cooking Light



Here is the recipe for Classic Ice Cream Sandwiches from Martha Stewart

Lemon Ice Cream with Lemon Curd Swirl and Chewy Lemon Sugar Cookies

It seems like I always have either leftover egg whites or egg yolks that I need to do something with. The whites usually go in the freezer until I accumulate lots of them because then I can make angel food cake.
I use the yolks within a few days and ice cream or pastry cream seem to be the easiest way to use them up.
I had some leftover lemon curd that I had made for some mini cupcakes and since I really don't like to waste things like that, I was hoping I could incorporate it into whatever ice cream I decided to make. I also had tons of lemons, so lemon ice cream won out.
This recipe makes a deliciously tart and bright lemon ice cream. The lemon juice, zest and sugar are combined first and chilled. Then the egg yolks are tempered with the hot milk. After both of those components are thoroughly chilled, they are combined with the cream. The technique makes for a very smooth finished product. I swirled my leftover lemon curd into the ice cream base, after it was done churning.
I thought this ice cream would be great for an ice cream sandwich so I searched until I found a chewy cookie that I thought would make a good base. I found this recipe on My Baking Addiction and Jamie said herself that she liked the lime version of this cookie better than the lemon, but I was willing to take my chances.
These cookies were perfect for the ice cream.

My son could hardly wait for the pictures to be taken because he really wanted to eat this ice cream sandwich.
He begged me to take some photos of him "posing" with the dessert, so I did.

He was not disappointed by this dessert in the least!

Ultimate Lemon Ice Cream from Tartlette
Finely grated zest of 3 lemons
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup sugar or 2/3 cup agave nectar
4 egg yolks
pinch of salt
1 cup milk
2 cups heavy cream

In a non-reactive bowl, mix the lemon zest, juice and sugar (or agave nectar). Refrigerate one to two hours to blend flavors.

In a large bowl, slightly beat the egg yolks to break them up. Heat milk to barely boiling in a large heavy saucepan.
Whisk 1/4 of the milk into the egg yolks to temper them and then whisk in the rest of the milk. Return the combined mixture to the saucepan and gently heat (do not boil) until the mixture coats the back of a spoon.
Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Combine milk mixture with heavy cream and lemon mixture. Churn in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions.

Chewy Lemon Sugar Cookies as seen on My Baking Addiction

adapted from Rock Recipes

Ingredients
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Zest of one large lemon, finely minced
4 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar for rolling cookies

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. Using a mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until smooth and very fluffy.
4. Beat in egg, vanilla extract, lemon juice and lemon zest.
5. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients.
6. Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and roll in sugar. Place on lined cookie sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart.
7. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly browned.
8. Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.

Makes approximately 24-30 cookies depending on size

Peppermint Patties with Peppermint Ice Cream

So, in a couple of hours we leave for Disneyworld.
We are driving through the night and we will go to the Magic Kingdom in the morning.
This is the first time I have ever been there, as well as the first time my kids have ever been there. We are going with our good friends who have children the exact same ages as our kids.
It is going to be fun!
We will be spending Christmas down there.
I can't wait!
I wanted to leave you with a yummy treat.
I saw these festive Peppermint Patties on Aggie's blog a week or so ago.
Aggie is one of 5 bloggers who participates in the Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club, and this month their theme was a Cookie Exchange.
I know that I have seen these cookies in a Cooking Light cookbook a couple of times, but when I saw them on Aggie's blog, I realized that I had to make them.
Her pictures were absolutely scrumptious and around the holidays, you can always use a lighter treat.
I have also been wanting to make Peppermint Ice Cream, but kept on telling myself it was not necessary. I happened to find a recipe for Peppermint Ice Cream from Cooking Light and decided to combine the two recipes.
Originally these ice cream sandwiches are supposed to be filled with vanilla ice cream and then rolled in crushed peppermint candy, but I decided to make and use the Peppermint Ice Cream.
I also decided that I would try and take pictures before the sandwiches set up in the freezer. Bad idea! Talk about a melty mess.
So, then I let the ice cream set in the freezer for a couple hours and followed the instructions, which said to wrap the sandwiches once you fill them with ice cream and roll them in candy, in plastic wrap and let them set up in the freezer for 4 hours before serving. Genius!
Who would have thought that actually following the instructions would make a difference? Just kidding on that one.

The ice cream was a little bit overly sweet for me on its own, but with the cookies it tasted just right.
I added 1/2 tsp peppermint extract to the ice cream, to up the peppermint flavor.
My kids also sneaked a couple of cookies plain and thought they were delicious.
This is a fun, festive holiday treat, that can be made in advance and the results are yummy! Just make sure to give yourself enough time to let the sandwiches set up properly.

Have a great week!



Aggie's post about Peppermint Patties

Recipe for Peppermint Patties

Recipe for Peppermint Ice Cream

Chewy Gingerbread Cookies and Toasted Coconut Shortbread turned into Ice Cream Sandwiches

The other day on Twitter, I caught wind of someone's plan to make Lemon Curd Ice Cream. I think the idea started with Nancy-who had found the recipe (check out her blog for some great ice cream recipes this week), and other bloggers were planning on joining in- Kayte, and possibly some others. I am not quite sure who all ended up making the ice cream.
I had a little bit of lime curd left from the Tiramisu Cake, so I checked out the recipe and saw that I had a little bit more than enough to make the Lemon Curd Ice Cream, but in my case Lime Curd Ice Cream- I will post more about that tomorrow.
As soon as I made the ice cream, which I must add is super delicious, smooth and has just about the perfect consistency, I decided that it was begging to be smooshed between some sort of cookie.
The first idea I had was a chewy, gingery cookie- so I thought either these Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies or these Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies. (Both are in Martha Stewart's Cookie Book and the recipe on her site is slightly different-I baked them for less than the suggested time after reading some of the comments and I am glad I did- they were chewy)
I sent out a tweet asking people what cookie would be best. Lori aka Recipe Girl suggested some sort of shortbread and also put up a link for these Coconut Sugar Cookies.
Tracey found this link for Toasted Coconut Shortbread and Jessica ended up making those too, for her beautiful TWD creation this week.

At first I thought I would be really ambitious and make 4 cookies-but the next day I realized that was too much and I decided on 1 shortbread and 1 chewy.

I really thought the gingerbread cookie would taste great with the lime because of my tasty experience with this lime cream pie with a gingersnap crust. I left the chocolate out of those cookies and they were perfectly chewy and spicy. I accidentally left the cinnamon out of the dough, so they were very gingery. We loved them. My kids really loved them.
The coconut shortbread was very delicious too. Just as a shortbread should be. Buttery, coconutty, and at the end, just a bit of a salty taste. Very delicious.

Both tasted good with the ice cream. My husband thought the gingerbread cookie overshadowed the ice cream, but I disagreed.
I rolled some of the coconut shortbread ice cream sandwiches in toasted coconut, just to use up what I had left.
Perfect summer dessert!
Yum. Come back tomorrow for the Lime Curd Ice Cream!


Recipe for Toasted Coconut Shortbread on smitten kitchen

Recipe for Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies (I left out the chocolate)

One Year Ago-Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti