Black Cherry Ice Cream Sandwiches

This was the perfect topper for our Memorial Day celebration with Kathy and Dan Fahey. I made the sandwich cookies the day before and then filled and froze them morning of our cook-out. I know my blog slogan says, “the good, the delicious, and the not-so-perfect!”, but I generally write about the “delicious”. Because, really, who wants to hear about the “not-so-perfect!”

Kathy looks happy! And these Black Cherry Ice Cream Sandwiches were perfect with a glass of chilled Prosecco.

These luscious frozen ice cream sandwiches fall into the delicious category. Perfect on a hot summers day, easy to make, and light enough even if you’ve had a big feast. It’s a recipe I found on the Food Network website. They call for Black Raspberry Ice Cream, but I could only find Black Cherry in my local grocery and thought that would be a perfect pairing with the lemon cookies.

Next time, I will add just a smidge of lavender blossom to the cookie dough. Definition of a smidge: a very small amount; possibly 1/2 tsp.; maybe 1/4,  into the lemon cookies. We’ll have to experiment, which means more cookies! Lavender, lemon, cherry sound very good together. I have made Blackberry Ice Cream, but it is a fair amount of work and takes time, and I knew I would run out. I think that would also work well.

Blackberries are a bit more tart, while black raspberries are sweeter. I think any fruit like this would be delicious in these frozen sandwich cookies. This Tillamook brand was very good.

If you want to make the Blackberry Ice Cream, here is the link.

https://cookwithcindy.com/2022/02/20/blackberry-ice-cream-and-more/

I made it for our son, Michael a couple years ago, learning for the first time that it was his favorite!

I think Dan also enjoyed this frozen dessert treat! The lemon cookies are slightly crisp on the outside and very moist and soft inside, despite being frozen. Butter helps, as does sour cream!

There is nothing very unique about this recipe. It’s a basic lemon cookie dough using the usual ingredients: flour, baking soda, salt, butter, sugars, egg, lemon zest and juice, vanilla extract and possibly the ingredient that gives it the most beautiful texture is sour cream. You sprinkle sanding sugar on top before baking and that gives the cookies a nice crispy outer texture.

Start by preheating the oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Whisk the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, and salt. Beat the softened butter (1 stick) until fluffy. Add sugars (brown and white) and beat on medium-high until very light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla. Reduce the speed to low; beat in the flour mixture in thirds, alternating with the sour cream.

Roll the dough into 16 balls using your hands. Try to keep each ball the same size so as your cookies bake they will all be the same size. My balls were about 1 1/2 inches around.

The dough is quite sticky so just gently roll the dough between your palms until you have an even 1 1/2 inch ball.

Arrange the balls on the baking sheets; sprinkle with the sanding sugar. I used demerara sugar, which is less processed than granulated white sugar. Turbinado is also a good substitute for sanding or demerara sugar. It has slightly larger crystals and a deep, rich brown color. Any of these 3 will work well.

Bake until the edges are just set and slightly browned; about 12-15 minutes Let them cool on the pan for 5 minutes and then transfer to racks to cool completely. As they cool the crust gets a little crispier and they get a bit browner.

Because I made these a day ahead, I stored in a zip-lock bag and filled them the next morning. Bring the ice cream out about 10 minute to slightly soften before filling. Gently spoon the ice cream into one half of the cookie. Spread it evening with a knife and use your finger to even out the edge. Sometimes your hands are your best tools! Freeze until firm; about 3 hours.

This will become my new go-to summer dessert. Can’t wait to try variations.

I hope you enjoy as much as we all did!

HAPPY COOKING! HAPPY EATING! ENJOY THE GUSTO OF LIFE!

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5 from 1 vote

Black Cherry Ice Cream Sandwiches

This lemony cookie is crispy outside, soft inside and the perfect "bread" for black cherry ice cream.

Ingredients

• 2 cups Flour, white, all-purpose
• 1/2 tsp. Baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. Salt
• 1 Stick Butter, unsalted, softened at room temperature
• 1/2 cup Brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup White sugar
• 1 lge. Egg, at room temperature
• 1 Tbsp. Lemon grated lemon zest, plus 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup Sour Cream, full fat
• Sanding sugar, or demerara or turbinado
• 1 Qt. Black cherry ice cream My cookies did not take the full quart, but were about 1 1/2 thick with ice cream filling.

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
• In a large bowl beat the butter until fluffy. Add the sugars and beat on medium-high speed until fully incorporated and fluffy; about 3 minutes. Beat in the egg, lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla.
• Reduce the speed to low; beat in the flour mixture in three batches, alternating with the sour cream.
• Using your hands, roll the dough into 16, 1 1/2 inch balls. Arrange on baking sheets; sprinkle with sanding sugar. Bake until the edges are set and slightly browned. 12-15 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before removing from the pans to a rack. Cool completely.
• Sandwich the ice cream between the cookies. Freeze until firm; about 3 hours. Take the frozen cookies out of the freezer for 10 minutes before serving.