ice cream sandwiches

Last month we spent a glorious 24 hours in Toronto and ate our way through the super fun neighbourhood of Queen West near Trinity Bellwoods Park. Our sweet friend Lydia who happens to be a resident and major foodie gave us her bucketlist and we followed blindly. We were wise to do so. One highlight was when she directed us to Bang Bang for an ice cream sandwich.

Guys, this sandwich was EVERYTHING. The ice cream was mind blowing, the cookie, it's perfect mate. Of course Bang Bang didn't invent ice cream sandwiches - they just made them a legitimate gastronomic adventure. The cookie was chewy and salty and moist, which paired perfectly with the cold sweet creamy ice cream. I'm actually drooling as I type.

I knew I had to make a homemade version stat. I'd use way less ice cream and make my cookies thinner than Bang Bang, because hi, I want to have these every day. I decided I needed a new chocolate chip cookie recipe so this was the perfect occasion to find one. I like all kinds of cookies, but for ice cream sandwiches, I think they need to be very thin and chewy, with no big chunks or chips. I adapted a recipe from this one that I found on Pinterest. Recipe below.

Once I made them, I popped them in the freezer for a few minutes, then spread some ice cream on them with a butter knife and Bang (Bang Bang!) - ice cream sandwich heaven.

Thin chocolate chip cookies (perfect for ice cream sandwiches)

1 cup unsalted butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

1 egg

1 tb vanilla

1.5 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda 

pinch salt

100g chocolate chopped into fine bits (I use this chocolate because it's cheap + sustainable)

1. Cream together butter + sugars, then add egg, then vanilla. 

2. Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt

3. Gradually add dry ingredients to wet and once fully incorporated, add the tiny bits (shavings even) of chocolate

4. These cookies spread so do not bake more than 6 per cookie sheet at a time. I tried making 8 and it was tight! The tiny balls of dough spread so thin because you're using less flour than regular cookie recipes, but that's why they're so perfect for sandwiches!

5. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes or so, then cool in the fridge or freezer until very cold.

This is such a fun snack and a lot of fun to serve to guests. The recipe makes two dozen cookies, but I recommend keeping the dough in the fridge or freezer and only baking as many cookies as you need for however many sandwiches you're making that day. I think next time I'll roll the dough into tiny balls, freeze on a cookie sheet, and then pop the frozen balls in a bag to make it easier to make them to order. The dough lasts about a week in the fridge but much longer in the freezer, though I wouldn't bet you'll last that long :)