Ice Cream Sandwiches

My sisters are coming to visit!!!  First time either of them will get to see our house here in Southern California, and I'm so excited.  Besides the two days we got to see each other over spring break for Goong Goong's funeral, we haven't seen each other since Christmas, 2011.  That is sad.  So in honor of sisterly love, we all thought it was high time for a sister get-together vacation!  Thank you Mom for helping us all get together - we'll miss you :)

Both Carina and Jamie have their birthday in late July.  Carina's was just last Sunday, and Jamie's is this coming Saturday.  It will be so fun to get to celebrate together!  We'll have all the friends over, so everyone can meet - I love watching my different worlds collide :)  And I thought for a treat at the party, it would be fun to have little ice cream sandwiches!  Why little?  Well I guess I've kinda just in the mindset of small finger food, and it sounded like fun.

I found a recipe for the "classic" ice cream sandwich on one of my favorite food blogs: smitten kitchen.

Ingredients
2 2/3 cup  all-purpose flour
2/3 cup plus 1/4 cup extra dark or Dutch-processed unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 tsp salt
2 large egg yolks
1 Tbs vanilla extract (I ran out, so I used a tsp of ground vanilla bean)
1/2 gallon of your favorite ice cream (I used vanilla bean and coffee)

Procedure
Preheat oven to 350°F degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Sift together the flour and cocoa and set aside. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar, and salt together until light and fluffy. Add the yolks and vanilla and mix until combined, then scrape down sides and mix briefly again.
 

Add the flour mixture a little at a time then mix until combined.

 
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and divide into two equal pieces. If the dough is too soft to handle, wrap and chill it until firm enough to roll out (I didn't have this problem, but if you do, smitten kitchen recommend 30 minutes only; any longer and it becomes crumbly to roll out). Roll each batch into a 1/4-inch thick rectangle, about 10 by 8 inches. Cut into rectangles.  You can make them whatever size you desire, just try and make them uniform!  Go ahead and re-roll the scraps.

 
Use an offset spatula to transfer the rectangles to the prepared baking sheets; you’ll only need an inch space between them. Poke the cookies with holes using the blunt end of a skewer, or at smitten kitchen advised, "use the tip of a thermometer (totally brilliant tip from Amy, by the way; it made far better indentations than skewers that I usually use for docking) to poke the cookies with holes (Amy recommends 14 holes but I used this as my guide and made more)."

Bake the cookies for about 18 minutes, or until they stay relatively firm when tapped in the center. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining cookie dough, rerolling scraps as needed.

Meanwhile, line the bottom of a jellyroll pan with parchment paper, allowing it to overhang on two sides (it will act as a sling for the ice cream). Spread the softened ice cream into the pan, smooth the top and freeze until firm, about one hour.

Run a knife along the exposed sides of the pan to loosen the ice cream. Holding onto the parchment paper, lift ice cream out of the pan and onto the work surface. Using one of the cookies as a template, cut ice cream into rectangles.  I used a spatula to transfer the ice cream onto the cookies.  Alternatively, you can use kitchen shears to go right through the ice cream and the paper underneath, then flipped each piece of ice cream onto a cookie, peeled off the paper, and finished sandwiching the rectangle of ice cream with a second cookie.

When the ice cream begins to get too soft to handle, simply pop it back in the freezer until firm.  I had a try sitting in the freezer, and immediately transfered the sandwiches to the tray as soon as each one was assembled.   Wrap each ice cream sanwich in plastic wrap.  If your ice cream is too soft, they will continue to lose their shape unless you wrap them in plastic wrap right away. I however, didn't want to individually wrap so many mini ice cream sandwiches, so I just made to to work quickly, and refreeze the ice cream when necessary, so as not to deal with soft soupy ice cream.  Either way, when you're finished, wrap everything up well, so it doesn't take on the freezer flavors and smells.  Freeze until just before serving.

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