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.
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Fudgy Brownie Cookie Dough Ice Cream Sandwiches
Ingredients
Brownies
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, 1 1/4 sticks, melted
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ 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
- ¾ 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
- ¼ teaspoon salt, optional and to taste
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
Ice Cream
- ½ of one half-gallon Dreyer’s Slow Churned Ice Cream, slightly softened
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
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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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!