I love fudgy brownies that are so rich that you just want to wash them down with a glass of milk.
No milk needed here. There’s cookie dough ice cream instead.
I used one of my favorite brownie recipes because I knew it would make the perfect ‘bread’ for this sandwich.
The brownies are soft, ultra fudgy, supremely moist, and they stayed pliable and didn’t freeze rock solid.
They’re like biting into a classic ice cream sandwich, but instead of the traditional thin and skimpy chocolate cookies in most ice cream sandwiches, here you’ve got a rich chocolaty brownie with tooth-sinking thickness and density.
The brownies are fast and easy, come together in one bowl with a whisk, and you don’t even need to melt chocolate. Just stir in some cocoa powder. They’re as fast as using a boxed mix, but taste far superior because they’re so fudgy.
I used Dreyer’s Slow Churned Ice Cream with Half the Fat in Cookie Dough flavor. When you start with wholesome ingredients and churn them together slowly, you get ridiculously rich and creamy ice cream, but with half the fat and 1/3 fewer calories than regular ice cream.
I like this better-for-you option without having to compromise on the taste.
I was going to use their Limited Edition Pumpkin Ice Cream that’ll be in stores by September 15th, but it wasn’t in stores in San Diego yet.
I guess I’ll just have to remake the sandwiches when that flavor comes out. Darn, I hate it when that happens.
Not the the cookie dough flavor was too shabby. It’s so nice and creamy, and the little cookie dough nuggets are my favorite part.
Rather than pilfer out all the cookie dough pieces from the carton which I’ve been known to do, I decided to add extra.
I made a batch of my Raw Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls (gluten-free) and tossed them in.
The more cookie dough, the merrier.
My husband is a major ice cream lover and took a look at the ice cream sandwiches and said, “They’re huge! There’s no way I can finish one of those things.”
And within 5 minutes, he ate the whole thing. My 6-year old did some pretty good damage, too.
It was, of course, the hottest day of the year that I made and photographed these.
95F at the coast in San Diego, and we only get a few days a year like this.
Embrace the melty. The hot weather made these disappear in no time and taste just that much better.
Holiday weekends are made for ice cream sandwiches.
Pin This Recipe
Fudgy Brownie Cookie Dough Ice Cream Sandwiches
Cookie dough ice cream is flanked between two rich and fudgy brownies, creating an enhanced and more decadent version of a classic ice cream sandwich. The brownies come together with one bowl and a whisk in minutes, and are as easy as using a boxed mix, yet taste far superior. The ice cream is smooth and creamy, and full of cookie dough nuggets. If you’re a total cookie dough fanatic, optionally make a batch of Raw Vegan Cookie Dough Balls and sprinkle them in. The more cookie dough, the merrier. These sandwiches are sure to please any ice cream, brownie, or cookie dough lover.
Ingredients
Brownies
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/4 sticks), melted
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 2 tablespoons brewed coffee (leftover from the morning brew is fine), optional but recommend to enhance chocolate flavor and does not make brownies taste like coffee
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-process, I used Hershey’s natural
- 1 teaspoon instant espresso granules, optional but recommend to enhance chocolate flavor and does not make brownies taste like coffee
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, optional and to taste
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Ice Cream
- 1/2 of one half-gallon Dreyer’s Slow Churned Ice Cream, slightly softened
Cookie Dough
- 1 batch Raw Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls – I used mini-chocolate chips rather than regular-sized
Instructions
- Brownies – Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9-by-9-inch baking pan with aluminum foil leaving overhang on the sides, spray with cooking spray; set aside.
- In a large, microwave-safe bowl, add the butter and heat on high power to melt, about 1 minute. Allow butter to cool momentarily so you don’t scramble the eggs.
- Add the eggs, sugars, optional coffee, vanilla, and whisk to combine.
- Add the cocoa powder, optional espresso granules, optional salt, and whisk to combine. If your cocoa powder is lumpy, it could take a couple minutes of vigorous whisking.
- Add the flour and stir until just combined, don’t overmix.
- Turn batter out into prepared pan.
- Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes, or until done; don’t overbake. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out mostly clean, or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter. Allow brownies to cool in pan for at least 1 hour before slicing.
- Slice the brownie in half horizontally, right down the middle. Leave one side in the pan and carefully remove the other side (a large spatula is helpful); set aside.
- Ice Cream – Evenly and lightly spread ice cream over the brownie half in the pan. If ice cream isn’t soft enough, it will tear the brownies when you try to spread it. Microwave for about 15 seconds, or as necessary.
- Cookie Dough – Optionally, make a batch and crumble small pieces over the ice cream.
- Top ice cream and optional cookie dough layer with the reserved brownie half. Cover with the unused portion of foil, creating a semi-tight ‘bundle’.
- Place pan in freezer and allow it to firm up, at least 3 hours.
- Remove from freezer, lift the slab out with foil overhang, place it on a cutting board, and with a very sharp knife, slice into desired sizes. I made 6 extra-large sandwiches. It will take some pressure to slice through it, but it’s do-able. If necessary, wait a few minutes for it to soften before slicing.
- Serve immediately. Sandwiches will keep airtight in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Adapted from The Ultimate Fudgy Caramel Brownies and Peanut Butter-Swirled Fudgy Brownies
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 652Total Fat: 36gSaturated Fat: 20gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 126mgSodium: 205mgCarbohydrates: 81gFiber: 2gSugar: 60gProtein: 6g
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Hello! doesn’t the brownie get hard by being in the freezer? like frozen?
Thanks!
They do Harden, but they don’t turn into a rock. I’m sure of the butter and the fat prevent them from turning into total rocks. And providing that you’re not going to freeze these for months on end, I don’t think you’ll have too many problems. And if there a little bit to firm when you take them out, 15 minutes on the counter will solve that problem.
Everytime I try to pin something an ad pops up. It’s getting to be a bit much. All the ads on these food blogger sites is extremely annoying.
I’m sorry. It’s not my intention to have popups and I’ll have my ad manager look into what’s going on.
Oh my, these look so delicious, thanks for posting up this recipe.
Simon
I love cookies and brownie sundae’s and cookie dough, so this creation you’ve made is a dream come true! :D i bake my own chocolate chip cookies and was wondering if i could just use a plain vanilla of the same brand and my own cookie dough? But the true question is, is there anything further i should do to the cookie dough before adding it to the ice cream? :) your help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.
Just use your fave ice cream and sandwich it between the brownie halves and you should be all set. Enjoy!
These are just dreamy :) yum!! I am dying to bite into this
Oh my, Averie! I really need to have one of these!! Can you load one (or two) up into a box of dry ice and mail it my way? ;)
Holy moly, these ice cream sandwiches look amazing! Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream is my ultimate favorite!
Youd love these then – with the EXTRA homemade cookie dough added!
Those ice cream bars look so nice and cool, refreshing and good!
Averie, you are a genius! I love that you use brownies to sandwich all that delicious ice cream. Ice cream sandwiches make me totally nostalgic for childhood (in a way that only a Klondike bar rivals :). I am excited to try these!
thanks and so much better than those skimpy, wimpy chocolate wafers in a Klondike bar or similar. You’re gonna love the full-on chocolatly density of these!
Ice cream sandwiches are meant to look and taste like THIS. This is absolutely heavenly, Averie! This totally blows the cheap chocolate crackerboard-type sammies we had as a kid out of the freakin’ water!
cheap chocolate crackerboard-type sammies <--- YES that is exactly what I did NOT want to create. Paper thin, weird tacky texture that sticks to paper and sort of rubs off and disintegrates. No thanks. Problem solved!
These sandwiches are just so gorgeous and look so professional!
Thanks, Mercedes. It was HARD to time the photos on such a hot day and I had to shoot fast and was super prepared going into the shoot. So thanks for saying they look professional. I really appreciate that!
YUM! I cannot think of any else to say…just YUM
I actually prefer my ice cream semi-melted – it makes the flavour more assertive. How on earth did you muster up the courage to take photos of ice cream on a hot day! More importantly, how did you pull off such gorge shots!! :D
Love, love, love!! (Cannot wait for that pumpkin ice cream to grace store freezers everywhere!)
It was HARD to time the photos on such a hot day and I had to shoot fast, but was super prepared going into the shoot. After a really melty nightmare shoot the last time I shot ice cream, which was the skinny fudge pops linked in the related recipes. I will never forget that nightmare. Errr, photo shoot :)
Oh the things you can do with that brownie recipe amazes me Averie! I am so glad I didn’t miss this recipe. They look amazing. You know how I feel about cookie dough! Your no-bake cashew cookie dough balls are so popular and I see them on Pinterest all the time. Such a great idea to add them to cookie dough ice cream AND brownies. Love everything about these frozen gems. PS: it was SO hot here today and I totally could have used one of these in between my photoshoots!
That Cookie Dough you see on Pinterest is my most popular post, ever. Every year since 2009 it steals the show. No matter what else I post (okay in 2012 an orange smoothie gave it a run for it’s money) but yeah, people love those balls or that pic – that I took with my iphone!!!
And it was scorching here the past week. Just in time for an ice cream post AND packing. Timing. I’ve got none :)
Love that you are still posting ice cream recipes! It’s still hot here so I’m all about this.
It’s like 90-95F in San Diego right now. SO NOT ‘fall’. It’s hot as heck out here, too!
I cannot even believe these right now. As if I didn’t love brownies and cookie dough ice cream already, you made them into a sandwich and added MORE cookie dough. They look insanely good! :)
Thank you Beth!
I have made those raw vegan cookie dough balls of yours and they are fantastic! I also make this killer ice cream in my ice cream maker that the boys love so I think I might do that tomorrow and try it out with your awesome brownies. Seriously, these yummy treats look fantastic!!
Glad you like the raw vegan cookie dough balls and I bet your ice cream is wonderful. These brownies are super fudgy and dont get rock hard and are the perfect sandwich bread :)
Been thinking about you all day with your fast! I do not know HOW you make brownies and ice cream while fasting! When I have done my juice cleanses, I time it so I am not standing around working with super tempting food. Those are editing and desk work days!
I will admit that cooking for my family is the most challenging part of fasting. It can be really rough. Especially the first few days. After about a week though, the hunger starts to disappear and it gets easier. Sorta! :-P
Those brownies look sooo fudgy and gooey and then to pair it with chewy cookie dough ice cream, a mouthful of ooey gooey melty goodness. YUM!
What terrific ice cream sandwiches, Averie! I’m definitely going to make these brownies :)
They are SO fudgy and easy. It’s essentially the Alice Medrich recipe that I’ve tweaked slightly. No mixer. And they’re cheap$$ No chocolate to melt. Just cocoa. You’ve got to try them. You’ll love em!
These are perfection, Love the recipe.
1-that ice cream sounds incredible
2-adding extra cookie dough? EPIC move. I like the way your mind works.
3-these brownies absolutely look like the PERFECT choice for this “sandwich”!
YUMMMMMMMYYYYYY
Thanks, Kayle! They definitely hit the spot! :)
We don’t have dreyers but we do have edys and now I need to go to the store for ice cream because you’ve got me craving some!! ;)
East/west of the Mississippi and they call it either Edy’s/Dreyer’s. Interesting, huh!
Anything with cookie dough automatically wins my heart. I would consider breaking my sugar hiatus for this!
I didn’t know you were on one! But feel free to break it:)
Your sandwiches look so fudgy and chewy! Totally craving them in this Mississippi heat. Edy’s Slow Churned is my favorite! Thanks for the heads up about the pumpkin- I’ll be scouring the shelves.
Glad to hear you’re a pumpkin fan, too! Try to stay cool in the heat!
OMG! Your ice cream sandwiches look incredible! I am eating boring ice cream right now and boy would I love one of your ice cream sandwiches! Love the addition of the cookie dough bites! yum!
Umm this is unreal! My favorite ice cream flavor was always Half Baked but in the end I would scoop out all the pieces of cookie dough and brownie and leave the extra ice cream. This on the other hand has the perfect balance of cookie:brownie:ice cream. If only I could muster the courage to turn on my oven with how hot its been in SD!
These look unbelievably amazing!! I love brownies, love ice cream and love cookie dough – what a delicious creation Averie!
Thanks Jaclyn! Your Nutella donuts have me captivated actually!
Oh man, these look amazinggggg!
Sign me up for THIS!! Yum!
YAY comment is in! And wish I could have shared. Can you believe how HOT it’s been here lately?!
Bless your husband, Averie for being an ice cream fan. Why? Because I trust he will motivate you to create more ice cream based recipes. (Never mind summer is coming to a close.)
I love this brownie ice cream sandwich and appreciate a brownie that won’t be too hard on the teeth =)
Good to hear, too, that Dreyer’s is coming out with a pumpkin ice cream. Yay!
And I used these brownies in particular b/c I thought of the tooth-chipping principle LOL and these are uber fudgy and don’t really freeze rock solid, at all. They just stay really dense and chewy!
Mmmm, those brownies look fantastic! I love Dreyer’s so much. With brownies? Even more!
Trying to pair up a few of my fave things in one :)
One of my holiday weekend plans is to go out and get ice cream.
A local joint that has, I think I bragged to you about it, they have this cake batter ice cream with fudge chunks.
Girl, it is so worth breaking the diet for.
That first photo in this post is KILLER!!!!
cake batter ice cream with fudge chunks
have you seen this? https://www.averiecooks.com/2013/06/no-ice-cream-maker-funfetti-cake-batter-golden-oreo-ice-cream.html NO ICE CREAM MAKER needed. Ridic good. Super easy. I would love to see how it compares to your ice cream joint!
And thanks for the photo compliments! :)
xo
I’ve been thinking of these all day ever since I saw your IG teaser. These are perfection – the brownies, the cookie dough – yes please! Pinned!
Glad I got you going with the IG teaser :) and thanks for the pin!
I’ve been trying to think of something to bake and I didn’t want to go with the standard cookie. I want to branch out and I’ve become such a COOKIE IS THE ONLY WAY thinker….but hello brownies! Of course, I have everything I need to adapt these, Katie-style. :D
I think you’re the only one I know who would put cookie dough ice cream between two layers of brownies and still think it needs more cookie dough. :D You are awesome for that!
I go thru phases where it’s all bars. Or all cookies. Recently I’ve been making more brownies. Just b/c with traveling, packing, moving – the easier I can keep things, the better. All my various brownie recipes are very, very fast and easy to make. And this one is cheap, too. No melted chocolate. Just cocoa powder :)
Be still my heart. :)
oh goodness yum! with a few extra cookie dough balls on the side please.
Extra cookie dough always!
I made these brownies recently at like 8 pm and they didn’t even make it until morning’s light. They are that good. I am totally bringing these little sandwiches to the Labor Day pool party we are attending. Great idea!!!
That’s awesome you made these brownies at 8pm and they didn’t even make it til morning. I love this recipe for brownies, too :)
And you’ll be the hit of the pool party. These things will go FAST! Lmk what folks think!
I totally would have thrown in extra cookie dough too. That is how an ice cream sandwich should be!
Holy cow. These look incredibly delicious. Dreyer’s slow churned is my favorite! I am all about pumpkin when it comes out but my favorites are mud pie, french silk, and chocolate peanut butter sundae… I’m thinking any of these flavors would also be amazing in your sandwiches too. I’m still staring at my computer just wishing one would materialize right in front of me now. :) Love your decadent ideas!
Almost any flavor of ice cream is going to be good sandwiched between brownies – I agree :)
These look fantastic, Averie! I love ice cream sandwiches- never would have thought to make them with brownies. You’re such a genius in the kitchen!
Thanks, Christy!
Yum! I love the idea of brownies as the sandwich part of ice cream sandwiches! Taking ice cream photos is so hard- especially in the summer. Which is, of course, when you eat more ice cream. But yours look phenomenal!
The last frozen recipe I made was about 3-4 weeks ago, the Skinny Fudge Pops that I linked in this post – and that was in Aruba. Omg they were literally melting ON CONTACT with the air. Nightmare. Most crazy photo shoot ever.
These were a little more relaxed b/c it was only 80F inside my house rather than 90F. lol But still, you have to work SO quickly and I hate shoots like that but got lucky with a few of these. Thanks for noticing!
These look amazing!!! I just want to reach into the screen now…..
thank you!
These look scrumptious!
Wow, what could be better than the combination of cookie dough, brownies and ice cream.
Love Dyerer’s slow churned and I love your fudge brownies!! Oh my gosh, these guys look insane and I bet they tasted so good in the heat you are having! It is getting cold here in CO, but I can eat ice cream anytime!
It’s so hot here. We always get these hot, hot, hot days in late Aug and Sept here. San Diego has freezing cold springs, May and June are colder than March usually and gray and icky. So this is our full-on summer right now. As it’s 95F in the shade!
And thanks for linking my tater tot dip in your post! I did miss it! So thanks for telling me :)
These are the perfect Labor Day treat! Love that you added more cookie dough to the ice cream.
Brownies, ice cream and cookie dough all in one fabulous dessert! I don’t really buy ice cream very often—so easy to make my own in the vita. We have an Edy’s plant here in Ft. Wayne (pretty good stuff at a reasonable price–and pumpkin does sound yummy for fall). I made PB ice cream last night–your recipe for the fudge pops minus the cocoa powder and with graham cracker crumbs on top. I think that would be pretty good with cookie dough sandwiched between brownies too!
Mmm, great idea to tweak the fudge pops recipe and just keep it with PB and then sprinkle on GCCs. Sounds excellent! I wish I would have made PB ice cream this summer and posted a recipe but didnt. However the Nutter Butter one is very peanut buttery and so good. But the version you just made would be super good with cookie dough/sandwiches!
Those look like the best ice cream sandwiches EVER! :)
Oh my!! These sound like the perfect treat for the weekend. Love it!
Ohh my gosh I need this in my life.
Any ice cream with chocolate is the one for me.
Hellloooooo nurse! Cookie dough ice cream and ice cream sandwiches are two of my favorite treats. I had never imagined putting them together. Amazing.
Hello Nurse. I love that :) thanks for making me smile!
These sandwiches look like the best thing ever, I can’t decide what I like better: the fudgy brownie bread, that creamy ice-cream or all those cookie dough bites… it’s like ice-cream sandwich heaven! *-* And that ice-cream sounds fantastic, both the pumpkin and cookie dough version. I wish we could get it in Spain, but here all storebought ice-cream is terrible :(( Slow churned sounds amazing!
I’m glad you like all the components! We did too :) And I wish you could get good ice cream there too!
Dreyers is the best! I have a full carton in the freezer just waiting to be eaten before we move in a week! And ice cream sandwiches for the holiday weekend?! I think I need one of these every. single. day!
Whoa. We’re moving in a week too! But just down the street for me. Nothing like packing like a maniac in this heat wave we’re having, right??!