I had this crazy idea that what I needed in my life were more ice cream sandwiches. Not like regular old ice cream sandwiches but like, creamy, sweet but maybe tangy buttermilk ice cream madness in between huge, chewy, slightly salty chocolate chip cookies. I’m not sure how this idea struck me, but once it had taken hold there was absolutely no turning back. I couldn’t stop thinking about it or talking about it… and if you make these I’m pretty sure you’ll feel EXACTLY the same way. These babies are like the ice cream sandwich version of heaven and every twist and turn on my journey to making them was worth it. Come with me!
So, I started this whole thing by calling my friend Sarah, who had this excellent chocolate chip cookie recipe that she shared with my former bookclub gals about 5 years ago. THAT’S how good this cookie is y’all… I remembered it FIVE years later and I remembered who made them.
When I asked her to share the recipe she said, “It’s just the New York Times ultimate chocolate chip cookie dough or something. You can even google it. Isn’t it amazing?” She’s getting married, so I also told her her wedding invitations were lovely (it’d just come in the mail and it is!) and asked if she’d seen the new SyFy series The Magicians, based on a book trilogy we both liked. It’s just so awesome to have other bookworm gal pals, isn’t it? AND ones that like science fiction AND make cookies that are to die for? Did I hit the jackpot or what?
So, once I had the recipe procured, I reviewed it and realized it had to be made 24 HOURS in advance. Well, it was a good thing I was stuck to this idea like white on rice, because even a full-day of preparation didn’t deter me. (If I’m only sort of into and idea, committing to two days of cooking wouldn’t really have seemed so great, but I was on an Ice Cream sandwich quest, for heaven’s sake! what was 24 hours to me?)
I made the cookies, then while I waited, I made up my ice cream. I decided that since I was experimenting with buttermilk vanilla, I’d just use my standard vanilla custard base and use buttermilk instead of regular whole milk. SUCCESS. Y’all, this stuff is anything but plain-jane vanilla. It’s sweet, and creamy, with a slight hint of tang. It is SO fine and would be Ah-Mazing with some berry compote or a drizzle of salty caramel. But I digress…
Saturday, I baked most of the cookie dough, trying out different sizes of cookies to make the perfect sized sandwich.(3 large tablespoons of dough, smushed out really, really thin is JUST the right size in my opinion).
After the cookies had been baked, I tried my hand at putting them together and had a HUGE, GIANT Fail as I stupidly used a couple of the warm cookies and cold ice cream to make my first small batch of sandwiches. As I wasn’t using liquid nitrogen to freeze these babies, everything melted in the freezer almost immediately and I had a huge mess to clean up. Thankfully, I’d saved most of the cookies and most of the ice cream, and the second set came off without a hitch.
These are a MUST make. MUST. MUST. RIGHT NOW. TODAY. (Orm you know, at least start today).
Stop all your preparations for Easter or Purim or spring break or whatever else you’ve got going on and make them, then thank me later.
the smallest size I tried: 2 tablespoons. a nice snack, but I wanted MORE.
- For the Ice Cream:
- 2 Cups Heavy Cream
- 1 pinch salt
- 6 egg yolks
- 1 Cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1½ Cup Cold Buttermilk
- For the Cookies:
- 2 cups minus 2 tablespoons cake flour
- 1 ⅔ cups bread flour
- 1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 ½ sticks unsalted butter
- 1 ¼ cups light brown sugar
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1¼ bag of semi sweet chocolate chips
- For the Ice Cream:
- Start by putting the buttermilk in a metal bowl and cooling it in the freezer or fridge.
- Then begin with the custard. To make the custard, heat the heavy cream and salt until it is steaming (BUT NOT BOILING. Don't boil it!)
- Turn the heat down once it steams.
- Mix the sugar and the egg yolks together and pour in the steamed cream about ⅛ Cup at a time into the yolks and mix thoroughly each time. Use about ½ of the cream.
- Add the yolk/sugar/cream mixture AND the vanilla back into the pot and stir, bringing up the heat again to medium, but not boiling it. You're just cooking the egg here, but you don't want to have scrambled egg in your custard.
- The custard should coat the back of a spoon when it's done.
- Pour the custard into your cold buttermilk, and then cover with plastic wrap and let cool in the refrigerator for AT LEAST 2 hours.
- Pour it into your ice cream maker and churn for about 20 minutes or so, and then freeze to harden in a storage container for at least 4 hours before serving.
- For the Cookies (I'm just going to cut & paste the NYT recipe here as they're directions are EXCELLENT and I changed nothing but did add in my note about size.):
- Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
- Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.
- Scoop 6 3 tablespoonfuls of dough onto baking sheet, molding them into flat disks, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up.
- Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more.
- To Make the Sandwiches:
- Let the cookies cool ENTIRELY (I'd put them in the freezer for a few minutes) then scoop our two or three generous scoops of the buttermilk ice cream and place around the bottom cookie. Smush the second cookie on top, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze for at least an hour.
- Serve and try to stop yourself from eating ALL of them.
- Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day.
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