Almond Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich

Sometimes you just need an ice cream sandwich. You know what I mean?

When we were kids, my sister and I used to swim all day during the summer, and sometimes my Mom would let us get an It’s-It from the snack bar. They were so amazingly good and messy.

These don’t taste the same as It’s-Its, but they’re pretty delish.

They just take me back to the summer days of being a kid, you know, when summer was that coveted break from school and work? I love it when food can do that. The almond cookies are gluten-free, so that’s a nice bonus if you are trying to avoid grains but still want a little treat for the Fourth.

Almond Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches

Ingredients

For the fudge (adapted from Smitten Kitchen):

Makes 1 1/2- 2 cups

• 2/3 cup heavy or whipping cream
• 1/2 cup honey (you can use light corn syrup in place of honey)
• 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt or level 1/4 teaspoon table salt
• 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped and divided into two equal portions
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the almond cookies (adapted from BakerGal):

Makes between 7 and 20 depending on the size of your cookies.

• 1 1/4 cups blanched almond flour (I use the almond flour from Trader Joe’s, don’t use the Bob’s Red Mill for this one, it’s not ground finely enough)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup maple syrup plus 1-2 tsp water
• 1/8 cup walnut oil
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp almond extract

Method

For the fudge: In a heavy saucepan, bring cream, syrup, sugar, cocoa, salt and half the chocolate to a boil. Then reduce the heat and let the chocolate mixture simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. When the time is up, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the remaining chocolate, butter, and vanilla extract. Stir until the chocolate mixture is smooth. To ensure the sauce is thick, let it cool to warm before serving over ice cream.

For the almond cookies: Heat the oven to 350. In a medium sized mixing bowl, add the almond flour, salt, baking soda, maple syrup, walnut oil, and vanilla and almond extracts, and mix together well. The batter should be thick enough that you can roll a small ball between your palms and set it on the cookie sheet without it drooping or losing shape. Make as many small-ish balls of cookie dough as you can and space them evenly on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Then, press the cookies down with the palm of your hand. Because of the weight of the almond flour, the cookies will not spread out on their own. Start checking the cookies after 8 minutes. Mine always take closer to the 15 minute mark, but keep an eye on them,  and remove the cookies from the oven when the edges start to brown.

When you’re ready, pull out your favorite ice cream or gelato, and spread your fudge on the inside of one or both cookies. Plop a couple of scoops of ice cream on top of one cookie and use the other cookie as your “lid.” Enjoy with plenty of napkins.