High on the list of cooking things that I’ve got far more opinions on than anyone has ever asked of me (and may have even, at times, prayed I’d stop yapping about), are homemade ice cream sandwiches. Why? Because it’s devastating when you realize something that should bring us nothing but incandescent summer joy — ice cream! cookies! — rarely work as well as promised. Most cookies become so hard once frozen, you feel like you’re breaking a tooth with each bite. Unyielding cookies also squeeze the ice cream out the sides, leading to drips down your arms and an immediate bad mood (for adults; kids, naturally, love it). While writing Smitten Kitchen Keepers, I became obsessed with creating a deeply nostalgic homemade chipwich-style ice cream sandwich that did everything right and I had three big a-ha moments along the way:
- Chocolate chip cookies might be rock-like from the freezer but do you know what is not? Cake! I found that making my cookies a little more cakey — blondie-like, even — by adding some milk yielded a cookie that was the perfect texture from the freezer.
- Freezing mutes flavors so slightly bumping up the sweetness and saltiness of the cookie you’re freezing really helps it have a perfect flavor when you eat them frozen.
- Finally, filling ice cream sandwiches individually is for people with more time and/or patience on their hands than me. Instead, I poured a single layer of cookie batter into a pan and divided it in half once it was baked. These halves formed the top and bottom of a slab of ice cream sandwiches I cut into individual ones once they were frozen. [I also use this technique for these classic Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwiches.]
And while I am truly as obsessed with the SKK Blondie Chipwich recipe now as I was in 2022, when a chipwich-loving friend had a birthday this month, I realized the next best thing to individual blondie chipwiches was a one cake-sized one we serve in wedges. Do I need to tell you what a commotion a giant chocolate chip cookie ice cream cake causes? Especially when you’re not even lying when you said it was “easy peasy” because it has a one-bowl, hand-whisked cookie batter that bakes quickly and storebought ice cream? It’s happy, retro, and speckled with so many chocolate chips, well, I found some melted into the kitchen floor the next sunny morning. But, uh, you’ll make sure they all get in mouths first, okay? I’m counting on you.
Chipwich Ice Cream Cake
- 1/2 cup (4 ounces or 115 grams) unsalted butter, any temperature, plus extra for coating the pans
- Scant 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup (215 grams) packed light brown sugar
- 1/3 cup (80 ml) milk, any kind, cold is fine
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup (130 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups (9 ounces or 255 grams) miniature chocolate chips, divided
- 3 cups (1 28-ounce container) vanilla ice cream
In a large bowl, melt butter half in the microwave or in a medium-sized pot on the stove, then stir until the butter finishes melting. (This keeps the temperature down.) Add salt, brown sugar, and milk, whisking until smooth. If it’s not cool yet, let it cool a bit more (you do not want the egg to scramble or the chips to melt) before adding the egg and vanilla, whisking until combined. Sprinkle batter with baking powder and mix very well into the batter. Stir in flour and 1/2 cup (3 ounces or 85 grams) of the chocolate chips, stirring until flour disappears.
Pour half the batter into each pan and smooth the top flat. Sprinkle the tops of each round with 2 tablespoons of the chocolate chips.
Bake for about 15 minutes, until cookies are golden at the edges and set but soft in the center. Transfer to a cooling rack for 5 minutes, then remove from the pans, peeling off the parchment underneath. I like to then transfer my cookies to the freezer for 10 minutes so that they are fully, fully cold before we begin assembling the cake. If your ice cream is rock-hard in the freezer, transfer it to the fridge for these 10 minutes so it will be easier to scoop.
Assemble the cake: Line one of the 8-inch round cake pans with plastic wrap that extends up the sides of the pan in two directions. This will make it easier to remove the cake. [An 8-inch springform can work too but risks leaking before the ice cream is fully frozen again; I’d still use some plastic inside for security.]
Place first chocolate chip cookie round top side down in the bottom of the pan. Scoop vanilla ice cream all over and use a spatula to spread it evenly. Place second chocolate chip cookie top side up on top and press it firmly against the ice cream. Use any plastic that has extended over the sides to cover the cookie, but it’s okay if it’s not fully covered.
Chill the ice cream sandwich cake for 3 to 6 hours and ideally overnight, until firm.
To finish and serve: Remove the cake from the freezer. Run a knife along the edges of the cake pan and then use the plastic wrap to help lift the cake out of the pan. Pat remaining 3/4 cup chocolate chips onto the sides of the cake. Cut the cake into 8 to 12 wedges and serve right away.
Do ahead: Ice cream cake keeps in the freezer for weeks, not that I’ve ever had one last that long.
Note
The (Abridged) Blondie Chipwich (individual ice cream sandwiches) from Smitten Kitchen Keepers: To make these as individual ice cream sandwiches: pour the batter into a single 9×13-inch pan. Once baked, cut the cookie in half, flip so that the top side of each cookie faces the outside, and fill with the ice cream, using the sides of the pan to help it keep its shape. Once frozen solid again, cut into 12 small squares, and press reserved chocolate chips onto sides. For the full recipe, and 99 others that (I’m biased but) are too fantastic to miss, grab a copy of Smitten Kitchen Keepers wherever you like to buy cookbooks.