Ice cream cookie sandwiches

We have had some steamy hot Minnesota summer days in the past week. Summer! I love it! We have been trying to squeeze in all kinds of summer activities, you know, in between sicknesses. I am hoping the remnants of this congestion that I have will be the last of our family sickness for a while.

On our agenda for the next week: sidewalk paint (Elijah is sooo excited about this), setting up the blow-up pool in our yard and McDonald's ice cream cones (a recent potty treat that we haven't redeemed yet). This past weekend we checked off the following from our summer-fun list: running around outside with cousins while dodging Nerf bullets, driving pink Jeeps and enjoying ice cream sandwiches. 

These ice cream sandwiches were a hit with the kids for our Father's Day gathering last weekend. I heard all kinds of Mmmm-ing and Yummm-ing and slurping going on.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Generously spray two 8x8-inch baking dishes with cooking spray (more on this in a bit).

Cut a 16.5-oz. tube of refrigerated cookie dough (at room temperature) in half. Press each half into the bottom of each prepared baking dish.

Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Remove and let the cookie squares cool completely.

While making my first batch, I learned that it is really really hard to get a giant square cookie out of a glass dish in one piece. For my next batch, I used one glass dish and one aluminum dish. Once the cookies had cooled, I cut down the sides of the foil dish with scissors and easily loosened the cookie from the bottom of the pan with a metal spatula. I had no cookie breaks!

No matter what method you use, even if your top cookie does break, it's not the end of the world. I was able to piece mine together just fine and trust me, nobody eating the final product will notice! 

Keep the other square cookie in the pan and top with half of a 1.75-quart container of softened vanilla ice cream. Smooth the ice cream with the back of a spoon to make even.

Slide the other cookie right over top of the ice cream. If you use my aluminum pan trick, this step is super slick.

Cover the dish with foil and freeze for a minimum of 3 hours. Remove from the freezer and cut into 9 equal squares. It helps to let it sit out for just a few minutes before cutting the squares, but don't let the ice cream get too soft.

If you're feeling crazy, pour some mini chocolate chips into a small bowl and dip the sides of the sandwiches into the chips.

Wrap each sandwich in plastic wrap and place back in the freezer until ready to serve!

Get as creative as you wish! Use strawberry ice cream with sugar cookie dough, or chocolate ice cream with peanut butter cookie dough or use M&M's instead of chocolate chips. 

Most importantly, enjoy summer!

Printable recipe: Ice cream cookie sandwiches

Vanilla buttercream frosting

I have made more frosting this winter than during any other 5-month span in my life. Lots of cupcakes and cake and just plain old licking of spoons and fingers. Reason #489 why my baby weight is still not totally gone. I'm blaming it all on the horrendous winter we have just experienced. All I have wanted to do is stay inside and make food and eat food and then eat more and more and more.

My peppermint buttercream frosting is still my winter favorite, but can you ever really go wrong with frosting? Butter and sugar are meant to be together, especially when they are swirling around in my satisfied belly.

With an electric hand mixer, cream 1 stick of butter for 3 minutes.

Add:

3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

1/4 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix on low speed until light and fluffy. Add additional confectioners' sugar, if needed. Mmmmm!

Click here for a printable recipe!