The joy of making ice cream sandwiches is that the options are endless. For the simplest version, you could purchase some chocolate cookies and use them to sandwich purchased vanilla ice cream. But you can also go all out, making your own exotic ice creams and homemade cookies. You can even dress your sandwiches up by pressing a garnish into the sides of the sandwiches, whether it's something sweet, like mini chocolate chips or crushed nut brittle, or something savory, like chopped salted peanuts or crushed-up pretzels.

Let your taste buds be your guide when choosing your cookies and ice cream. If you think rum raisin ice cream would taste great with gingersnaps, give it a try! But here are a few tips that will help you assemble the best ice cream sandwiches ever.

The cookies can be purchased or homemade. Whichever you choose, however, the cookies should be at least 3 inches (7.5 cm) in diameter and of uniform size. When you’re ready to assemble the sandwiches, remove the ice cream from the freezer and let it soften slightly, which will probably take 5 to 15 minutes, depending on how cold your freezer is and the type of ice cream. Keep an eye on it because you don’t want the ice cream to melt. It should be just barely spreadable. When the ice cream is ready, place a scoop of ice cream onto the flat side of a cookie. If your cookies are 3 inches (7.5 cm) across, you will need about 1/3 cup ice cream. Top with another cookie and press gently to spread the ice cream to the edges. Wrap each sandwich tightly in plastic wrap and freeze until firm, about 2 hours. When serving the sandwiches, it’s best to remove them from the freezer about 5 minutes before eating them—if you can wait that long!


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