Gingersnaps and Ice Cream

Yummmm. Almost as good as s’mores! Well, maybe not, but ice cream is my downfall so you’ll just have to go along with me. Not quite as easy to make as s’mores, but you can cheat a tad and just buy some butter pecan ice cream rather than make your own. But if you have a super recipe and love making ice cream, these would taste much, much better if you made your own. Who am I to push for more work when there are so many other things to do in the summer? So I’ll fess up: because I wanted something fairly speedy I bought some Häagen-Dazs butter pecan.

Can’t remember where I got this recipe, but I have used it a lot. It may have come from a magazine, but I forget which one. I make a bunch and freeze them- usually doubling the recipe because it doesn’t make nearly enough for the appetites around here. God I hate having these in the freezer. So tempting. Never once has an adult OR a child thought these were anything less than ambrosial. If you like to get your kids involved in the kitchen, they would have fun sandwiching the cookies with the ice cream…although how much ice cream would eventually make it between the cookies is a bit problematic….like all things kids make in the kitchen.

Anyway, I love pulling these out of the freezer for a surprise dessert. Uncomplicated and delicious. Perfect for summer. Can you imagine the cookie and ice cream combinations that would be fun to try? I seem to remember seeing something on Tartelette where she had wrapped an ice cream sandwich up in a darling package- you could make them elegant by doing the same thing.

Gingersnap and Ice Cream Sandwiches

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons unsulfured molasses
1 large egg yolk, room temperature
3/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 pint butter pecan ice cream
extra sugar

Method:

Preheat oven to 350°. Cream butter, sugar and molasses until light and fluffy. Add egg yolk and beat to combine. Whisk flour, soda, salt, ginger and allspice together and then fold into the butter mixture.
Roll dough into 1 1/2 inch balls and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Press with sugared fingers to make a 3 inch disk.
Sprinkle with sugar and bake for 11- 13 minutes.
Transfer to a rack to cool.
Soften ice cream and scoop onto a cookie. Top with another cookie and freeze. Should make about 5 sandwiches. Let stand 10 minutes before eating. (Although I never did!)