Shortbread Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches

I made strawberry ice cream with some of the berries that we picked at the farm. I thought it might be fun to use some of it for ice cream sandwiches. I looked online for sandwich recipes, but most of what I found was not quite what I wanted.

I came across a recipe that uses frozen pound cake as the cookie part of the sandwich and considered making that. It would be quick, easy, and would give the sandwich a strawberry shortcake feeling. When I couldn’t find the pound cake at the store, I decided to go another direction and use shortbread cookies instead. I found a cookie recipe on the Baked By An Introvert blog.

Shortbread Cookies

1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup (60 grams) powdered sugar
3 cups (390 grams) all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt

I lined a baking sheet with parchment paper and set it aside. I beat the softened butter and sugar with a stand mixer for about 90 seconds until they were well combined. Softened butter is key to getting the right texture, so make sure the butter has been out for at least an hour before making the cookies. The paddle attachment works best, but I did not have that option. The beater attachment worked fine for me.

I added the flour and salt, continuing to mix until the dough was crumbly. While the dough is crumbly, it should hold together when you squeeze it.

I turned the dough out onto parchment paper and kneaded it lightly until it held together. I shaped the dough into a ball and then flattened it into a disc. I put the dough disc in the refrigerator to chill.

After an hour, I pulled the dough out and let it warm up until I could roll it. I put the oven on 275-degrees and allowed it to heat while I rolled and cut the cookies. I rolled the dough out to 3/8-inch thick and then, not having a cookie-cutter available, used a glass to cut the cookies out. The recipe suggested two-inch cookies, but I went with a little over three inches to be more of an ice cream sandwich size.

I baked the cookies on the parchment-covered baking sheet for about 55 minutes, rotating the sheet halfway through. The cookies are ready to come out of the oven when they just start to get color. I cooled the cookies on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes and then moved them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

While I rolled the cookies, I let the ice cream soften on the counter. While the cookies were baking, I spread the ice cream on a small baking sheet about an inch thick. I put the ice cream sheet back in the freezer to harden again.

When it was time to assemble the ice cream sandwiches, I cut ice cream rounds with the same glass I used to cut the cookies. I put the ice cream round on a cookie and topped it with another cookie. The cookie flavor was nice, but they were crumblier than what I needed to use for ice cream sandwiches.

The cookies fell apart quickly as if the dough was layered instead of solid. I think it would have worked better if I had cut the cookies out before refrigerating them (as the recipe instructed!). I will give this recipe another shot and update you with how it turns out. I also have my eye on another recipe that I plan to make to see which I like better.

Based on an 18 cookie yield, each cookie has 178 calories, 10 grams of fat, 19 grams of carbs, 1 gram of fiber, and 2 grams of protein.