Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Sandwiches
These Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Sandwiches are everything you love about the classic, homey Strawberry Shortcake – that perfect combination of buttery baked good, fresh strawberries, and whipped cream all bundled together in three cool, creamy bites.
First you make the most decadent, crispy, buttery shortbread cookies I’ve ever had. They’re adapted specifically for these ice cream sandwiches from a recipe by the master of all things butter, Ina Garten, so no wonder they’re incredible. Then you quite literally whip up a simple, fresh strawberry ice cream and you’re done! Of course you could always buy strawberry ice cream but homemade is so much nicer, isn’t it? The only hard part is waiting for the ice cream to chill before you dig in.
(Photo by Daniel Marks)
Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Sandwiches Recipe:
Yield:
12-16, 2-inch ice cream sandwiches
Difficulty:
Easy
Shortbread Cookies:
Adapted from this recipe by Ina Garden
Ingredients:
248 grams all purpose flour
⅛ tsp table salt
¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup granulated sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions:
Whisk the flour and salt together and set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar together in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment until well combined. 2 or 3 minutes. Add the vanilla and mix to combine.
Add the flour and mix on low (so the flour doesn’t fly everywhere) until a soft dough is formed.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and pat into a disk about 1-inch thick. Wrap tightly with plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 350° F.
Roll out the chilled dough on a very lightly floured surface to ¼ inch thickness and cut to desired sandwich size. I used a 2-inch round cutter. Place rounds on the prepared baking sheet.
Bake for 10-15 min or until the cookies start to turn golden around the edges. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Freeze the cookies you want to use for the sandwiches and store the rest at room temperature in an airtight container.
Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream
Ingredients:
2 cups ripe strawberries, washed, hulled, halved and pureed until smooth
1, 14-oz can (1 cup) sweetened condensed milk
½ cup whole milk
1/4 cup light corn syrup*
2 TBSP granulated sugar
2 tsp lemon juice
¼ tsp fine salt
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup chopped chocolate or chocolate chips (optional), I used a combination of bittersweet and white chocolate, but use your favorite.
*Corn syrup helps keep the ice cream from getting too hard, so I caution against swapping this for another sweetener.
Instructions:
Place pureed strawberries and sugar in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Simmer, stirring often until mixture reduces to approximately 3/4 cup. (It doesn’t need to be exact, you just want to remove a lot of the water content.) Set aside to cool completely, then cover and refrigerate.
Add condensed milk, whole milk, corn syrup, sugar, lemon juice and salt to a small bowl or glass measuring cup with a spout. Stir gently to combine.
Add heavy cream to a blender or food processor and puree/process until stiff peaks form. About 30 seconds. Pour in condensed milk mixture and puree the mixture for 10 seconds. Scrape down the sides and puree again for another 10 seconds. Place in a lidded ice cream container or loaf pan. Cover and freeze for at least 2 hours.
Drop spoonfuls of the strawberry puree evenly across the top of the ice cream then top with the chocolate chips and a few crumbled shortbread cookies. Using a knife, swirl the toppings completely into the mixture. Freeze for another 4 hours.
Scoop ice cream, press between 2 cookies and enjoy, or freeze well-wrapped for up to a week.
(Photo by Daniel Marks)
