Peanut Butter and Jelly Ice Cream Sandwiches

By vealam

Everyone loves ice cream sandwiches on a hot summer day. Step up your game by giving your ice cream sandwich a kick. Try these Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches.

Ingredients

• For Peanut Butter Cream:
• 1 recipe Peanut Butter Ice cream, recipe follows
• 1 recipe Peanut Butter Cookies, recipe follows
• 3/4 cup jelly or jam, at room temperature
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• Pinch of kosher or fine sea salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups half-and-half
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• For Peanut Butter Cookies:
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar plus more for rolling the cookies in
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten with a fork
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

Step 1

For Peanut Butter Ice Cream:
Using a handheld mixer, cream the peanut butter, sugar, salt, and vanilla in a large bowl until smooth. Add 1 cup of half-and-half and beat on low speed until well mixed. Add the rest of the half-and-half and the cream and whisk by hand—if you try to use your mixer you will end up with it splattering all over the kitchen.

Pour the mixture into ice cream maker and process for 25 to 30 minutes, or according to the manufacturer's directions. The ice cream will be on the soft side but can be eaten right away or put into the freezer to "cure" or harden up for a couple hours. Stored in an airtight container, the ice cream will keep at least a week in the freezer.

For Peanut Butter Cookies:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with either parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

In a large bowl mix the peanut butter with the 1 cup of sugar, using a wooden spoon. Stir until well blended. Add the egg, baking powder, and vanilla and stir well. Pour some additional sugar in a small bowl. Scoop out 1 tablespoon of the dough and roll it into a ball. Roll the dough ball in some of the remaining sugar and place on the prepared baking sheets. Repeat with the remaining dough, spacing the cookies 2 inches apart.

Using a dinner fork, first stick the tines of the fork in sugar and then gently press the tines down on each dough ball to flatten. Turn the fork 90 degrees and gently press again to make the traditional crosshatch markings of a peanut butter cookie.

Bake the cookies for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes. Then, with a spatula, gently transfer the cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling.

To Assemble Ice Cream Sandwiches:
Prepare the peanut butter ice cream and let harden in the freezer for about 6 hours.

Prepare the dough for peanut butter cookies and divide the dough into 16 walnut-size balls. Proceed with the recipe from there, baking the cookies 10 to 12 minutes at 350 degrees. Let cool completely.

To assemble the ice cream sandwiches remove the ice cream from the freezer and let it stand at room temperature for about 5 minutes to soften slightly.

Spread a layer of jam on the flat side of each peanut butter cookie. Place a scoop of peanut butter ice cream in the center of half the cookies, on top of the jam. Top with the remaining cookies, jam side down. Gently squeeze the cookies together until the ice cream and jam come to the edges of the cookies. Put the ice cream sandwiches back in the freezer for at least 15 minutes to harden the jam. These can be made 2 days ahead. Place them in a large plastic storage bag or airtight container and store in freezer.

Reprinted with permission from Simply…Gluten-free Desserts by Carol Kicinski, © 2011 Thomas Dunne Books