How to Make the Perfect Ice Cream Sandwiches

Although summer has come to a close as fall has arrived, I believe that every season is ice cream season--especially when seasonal flavors are involved! I recently went to a gourmet ice cream sandwich shop that is known for its array of fantastic ice cream. When I got my banana chocolate ice cream sandwich, I immediately discovered that the thin sugar cookie couldn't hold up to the thick layer of ice cream; it was a delicious mess. I then realized that there is a science to the perfect ice cream sandwich in which the thickness and texture of the cookie should balance the amount of ice cream. I became inspired, and so in honor of fall I decided to make maple pecan white chocolate chip cookies for the base of my sandwiches and they were the definition of Autumn goodness.

This cookie recipe is not only easy to make, but it is everything you want in a cookie. The cookies are soft in the middle with a note of white chocolate, yet nutty and crunchy on the outside. To start, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Melt 1/4 cup of salted butter in a large bowl, add 1/2 cup of brown sugar, and a 1/2 cup of pure maple syrup. With a whisk or large spoon beat the three ingredients together until the mixture has the texture of wet sand. Then add 1 large egg and 1 teaspoon of vanilla and whisk until smooth. Once combined place 1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour and 1 teaspoon of baking soda into your cookie batter. Mix the batter well so you do not have excess flour on the sides or the bottom of your bowl. Lastly, add 1/2 cup white chocolate chips and 1/2 cup whole unsalted pecans into your mixture and gently stir into the mixture until the nuts and white chocolate are coated with batter. Drop large spoonfuls of cookie batter on a sprayed non-stick cookie sheet or on top of parchment paper, leaving a little room between your cookies. Do not be afraid to make your cookies a little large, as the the bigger your cookies, the more ice cream you can put inside of them! Right before you put your cookies in the oven flatten each cookie slightly with your hand and place a pecan right in the middle. Now bake for 13-15 minutes until the cookies turn a beautiful golden brown. Once out of the oven let the cookie cool for about 10 minutes, and then it is time to assemble the ice cream sandwiches.

In my view there is nothing better than a warm freshly baked cookie with cold creamy ice cream inside of it. As the cookies are maple forward, I picked vanilla ice cream because of its neutral flavor that goes great with every flavor combination. And the fabulous part about making your own ice cream sandwiches is that you can customize every aspect to your taste! With these cookies the marriage of the sweet creamy white chocolate with the almost buttery and sweet nutty taste of the pecans is a match made in cookie heaven. These cookies give you an excellent excuse to still eat ice cream even when it starts to get cold outside. If you love the taste of fall, but don't want the summer fun to end, then this is the recipe for you!