Ice Cream Sandwiches

This is a chocolate shortbread recipe. You may use any tender cookie recipe. You merely need a cookie that crumbles when bit rather than squishing the ice cream out. Both sugar cookies and shortbread cookies make excellent ice cream sandwiches. The shortbread cookies from our Tally Nut Sandies work well as do the chocolate and vanilla sugar cookies from The American Classic Sugar Cookie Kit.

3 one-ounce squares of semi-sweet baking chocolate
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 dash salt
4 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour

Ice cream

Directions

1. Melt the chocolate and one tablespoon butter in the microwave. Set aside.
2. Cream the remaining butter and powdered sugar together. Add the salt.
3. Add the four egg yolks, beating after each. Add the vanilla.
4. Add the flour in three parts, beating after each addition.
5. Scrape the dough onto a large sheet of waxed paper. Pat the dough into a square or round log. Wrap it in waxed paper and smooth the edges into a uniform log. Refrigerate the log for at least an hour.
6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the dough into 3/16-inch thick slices. Place them on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for eight to ten minutes or just until set. Cool on a wire rack. Once cooled, place the cookies in the freezer to chill.
7. Once the cookies have chilled, fill them with slightly softened ice cream. The top sides of the cookies should be facing out. Place the sandwiches in the freezer until they are completely firm.

FROM: THE PREPARED PANTRY

Candy Bar Ice Cream

INGREDIENTS

2 quarts half-and-half cream
1 cup milk
2-1/4 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 eggs, beaten
4-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 Butterfinger candy bars (2.1 ounces each), chopped

DIRECTIONS
In a large heavy saucepan, heat the cream and milk to 175°; stir in sugar and salt until dissolved. Whisk a small amount of hot mixture into eggs.
Return all to the pan, whisking constantly. Cook and stir over low heat until mixture reaches at least 160° and coats the back of a metal spoon.
Remove from the heat. Cool quickly by placing pan in a bowl of ice water; stir for 2 minutes. Stir in vanilla. Press plastic wrap onto surface of custard. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
Stir in candy bars. Fill cylinder of ice cream freezer two-thirds full; freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. Refrigerate remaining mixture until ready to freeze. Allow to ripen in ice cream freezer or firm up in the refrigerator freezer for 2-4 hours before serving. Yield: 3 quarts.

From Country Woman