I like frozen already prepared ice cream sandwiches, but I don’t buy them very often. Instead, I bake my own cookies. My family likes a Chocolate Chip cookie, Vanilla ice cream combo, but don’t limit yourself.

 A couple other combos we’ve tried include Chocolate ice cream with a crisp Peanut Butter cookie or a cinnamin Oatmeal cookie with French Vanilla ice cream in the center.

You can fancy them up by rolling the ice cream sides in crushed nuts or Heath Bars, chocolate sprinkles, or mini chocolate chips. I’ve even seen them dipped in melted milk chocolate.

Most of the time when my kids and I make this treat, we cheat. I pick up a pizza from Papa Murphys and grab a container of cookie dough on the way out. The prepared cookie dough has a crisper texture when it’s baked and it’s easy. A quick treat is a good treat, in my book. We make the sandwiches when the cookies are still a little warm, so the ice cream gets melty.

If you’d like to try a Peanut Butter cookie with Chocolate ice cream combo, then I’ve got my cookie recipe listed below.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Preheat oven to 375

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup peanut butter, either natural or traditional
1 & 1/4 cup of flour
1/2 cup of brown
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg, large
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt, I use kosher

Cream butter and sugars together with mixer until smooth. Add egg, vanilla, mix, then baking powder, baking soda, salt. Add flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beat until smooth.

Take a spoon of dough (about 1 inch diameter)  and shape it into a ball in your hands. (Refrigerate dough, it’s it’s hard to handle, chilled do stacks stuck together better). Place on a cookie sheet (line the sheet with parchment paper if you want, it’s easier at clean-up time), then use a fork to push dough down. Make criss-cross marks with the fork, tines one way, the lift, and place them down across the first set.

Bake the cookies in a 375 oven for 8-10 minutes. I go for the higher number of minutes, because I’m a fan of browned cookies.

Makes approximately 38-40 cookies.

Image credit: Michelle Smith

Post from: Blisstree

National Ice Cream Sandwich Day

To take it further than that, my favorite ice cream treats are ice cream sandwiches. I love how portable they are, I love that they usually taste pretty good, and I love that not only can you quickly grab a box at the store, but you can make your own if the mood strikes. They hit the spot whether you want a snack at mid-day or an easy, virtually mess-free dessert after dinner.

Tovolo has made that last part a little more fun and a little more cute. Whether you’re a kid or an adult you can play with the making of your ice cream treats with these adorable ice cream sandwich molds!

Each set comes with three brightly colored molds — the one pictured above includes a heart with xoxo, a star with a star inset, and a dimpled “squircle.” There is also a cute holiday set with a gingerbread man, a snowman, and a snowflake, and a farmyard set with a cow, a pig, and a chicken. You simply stamp the molds onto a sheet of cookie dough before baking, and the press is filled with ice cream to go in the center once the cookies are done.

The molds are made of lightweight, durable polypropylene and ABS so they’ll stand up to years of use and washing.

[image: amazon]

Post from: Blisstree

Make Your Own Cute Ice Cream Sandwiches

It’s, well, really hot outside! I don’t like to complain about the heat because I know it gets old: Yeah, we live in the desert southwest so of course it’s going to be unbearable, why bother getting wound up about it, you know?

So we find ways to beat the heat, and easily one of our most favorites are turning regular snacks into “cool” snacks. One of my girls’ favorites are fruit skewers. Using whatever fruit we have my husband or I will cut it into chunks, skewer it, and then place it in the freezer for about half an hour, or just until it starts to get really cool and firm up.

The skewers above have grapes, banana and fresh pineapple, and we’d just run out of strawberries which probably would have made for a more appetizing picture, but they were good anyway! For an extra treat you can dab some whipped cream onto the plate for dipping. Make sure the kids are careful with the skewers, though, and never give them to younger kids – those pointy tips can do some serious damage. We have the girls slide the fruit off as they eat it instead of biting it off anyway.

You can also try homemade ice cream sandwiches using a scoop of ice cream (or frozen yogurt!) and a couple of chocolate chip cookies, and there’s always the classic standby of frozen fruit pops. Shake it up a bit with pureed fresh fruit in the juice!

Post from: Blisstree

Cool Summer Snacking