Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream Sandwiches

Remember a few posts ago when Kate asked what your ultimate fall food was? The one you just absolutely HAVE to make when the leaves start turning? The one that says, "Fall is here and I want to savor every second of it" ?

Well this is mine.
And it wins by a landslide.
Just look. And click on that picture so you can see every last drip.


Now if you haven't noticed, Kate and I are practical girls. We have a little formula that we live by in our culinary world. It's kind of a work required + tastiness = ultimate payoff kind of thing. In other words, if something requires a significant amount of work, it better be really good. And if we can find an easier/faster/more cost effective way to do the same thing, and have it taste just as good, you better believe we're going to take the easy road.

So take my ice cream sandwiches. When I first came up with these I made soft, homemade gingerbread cookies, homemade caramel, and this fabulous pumpkin ice cream from Williams-Sonoma. They are to die for. But also a lot of work. I will say that the pumpkin ice cream is fantastic, and worth the effort if you've got the time. I highly recommend you try it if you're up for it. But I also figured I could come up with a much easier version of the whole sandwich that would taste just as great. Mission accomplished.

I came up with a great no-cook super easy Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream. (It's great with any fall dessert). Instead of homemade gingerbread, I used cake mix cookies, which I actually like much better than the gingerbread. This time of year you can also get the refrigerated pre-made roll of Pillsbury gingerbread cookie dough and that would work too. Lastly, these spice cookies would be awesome as well. I haven't tried it with those ones yet, but I'm dying to. Jarred caramel sauce finishes it off. I'm telling you- this is E-A-S-Y!

You MUST try these!

Cookies

Follow instructions for Cake Mix cookies, using a "Spice Cake" flavored mix. Use a cookie scoop so you make sure to get uniform cookies. Before cooking, use the bottom of a glass sprayed with cooking spray to flatten the cookies (they'll be better frozen if you flatten them). Under cook them. This is important! You want them very soft, otherwise they'll get rock hard in the freezer. Cold crunchy cookies are not good. Frozen, soft, doughy cookies? Good.

Easy Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream (no-cook!)

2 C Heavy Cream
1 C Whole Milk (vit D milk)
1 C canned pumpkin
2 t vanilla extract
3/4 C Brown Sugar
1 t cinnamon
1/8 t ground ginger
1/8 t nutmeg

Make sure all liquid ingredients are very cold.

Place brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg in a mixing bowl. Stir with a whisk to combine. (Doing this helps the spices to distribute better in the mixture). Add cream, milk, pumpkin, and vanilla. Stir with a whisk until the brown sugar is dissolved. How do you know if the brown sugar is dissolved? Stick your finger in there and then taste it! You shouldn't be able to feel any of the granules on your tongue.

If you have time, chill the mixture for a few hours in the fridge before putting in your ice cream maker. If you don't have time, or you're just dying to eat it, take the plunge and just make it right now. It's okay. I do it all the time. Process according to the manufacturers instructions. When finished, transfer to an airtight container and place in freezer to firm up.

Making the Sandwiches

Okay, making ice cream sandwiches is a fine art. I know you're thinking I'm nuts because how hard is it to put some ice cream between 2 cookies?? Hard enough that people mess it up all the time. Ya, I'm talking to you- the one who had crunchy cookies that when frozen almost broke my front tooth. Or maybe I'm talking to you- the one who had super soft ice cream so when I bit down on the cookies it all smooshed out. Or perhaps you- the one with a too high cookie-to-ice cream-ratio, which made the ice cream liquid before the cookies were thawed enough to bite through.

The perfect ice cream sandwich needs to have the perfect balance of the perfect consistency of both the cookie and the ice cream.

Making these ahead takes a little more effort, but the extra steps help with a great finished product.

1. Make your cookies. The most important step is to under cook the cookies. More undercooked than you think you want them. Even if they're "doughy" they'll be a great consistency when frozen. Cook them so they're just done around the edges.

2. Let them cool completely and then pop them in the freezer for a bit to help them firm up. This way, they won't fall apart when you're smashing your sandwiches together.

3. Make your ice cream and place it in the freezer to harden. Don't let it freeze all the way, just a couple of hours or until it's a good scooping consistency, but still soft enough to smash. And if you do end up freezing your ice cream all the way, that's really okay too. Just let it sit at room temp until it's soft enough to scoop.

4. Take your cookies and place a spoonful of jarred caramel sauce on each cookie. Don't spread it around. It will spread on its own when you smash the cookie together.

5. Use a cookie scooper to get nice, even sized ice cream scoops. Place another cookie on top (you can caramel both sides, or just one- up to you.)

6. Place on a plate/cookie sheet/whatever in a single layer and place in the freezer immediately. If you're making a bunch of sandwiches, put them in the freezer as you go so they don't melt on your counter! Wait until they harden completely (overnight) before putting them in an air tight container or ziplock bag.

When you want to eat them, just let them sit at room temp for about 5 minutes to let them soften a bit and they'll be perfect!

*** Freebie Alert! ***
Locals only, sorry everyone else, but I can't ship ice cream!
(editing to add that *local* is the Boise, ID area, I forget that some people probably don't know that!)

I have a pint of this ice cream in my freezer. Okay that's a total lie, it's in my fridge chilling because I can't find my ice cream bowl. But I will, and I'll freeze it, and I'll give a pint of it to you. It's okay if I don't know you! (as long as you can prove you're not a crazy person) Don't be scared. All you have to do is be the first one to claim it by leaving a comment doing so. And you have to come pick it up from my house :) Then you can make the cookies yourself and have sandwiches, or just eat the ice cream on something else!

And to everyone else (lest you be left out of the commenting fun) VERY important question regarding pumpkin. Do you like pumpkin pie? I actually don't but I'm totally obsessed with anything else pumpkin flavored. Am I weird?