Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches and a BWB Birthday!

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October 24, 2010 by buttermilkbaker

First, I must apologize for the abysmal quality of the photos in this post. I swear to you that these babies taste a whole lot better than they look…in fact, they elicited several muffled “ohhmyygodd”s whilst still choking them down. And so here I am, subjecting you to poorly lit, fuzzy photographs in the hopes that you’ll somehow forgive me and follow my advice: make.these.now.

But why, Buttermilk Baker, must you make brownie cookies so soon after making your delicious chewy brownies, you ask?

Well, that brings me to my second point. Tomorrow just so happens to be a very special day here at BwB, it is the Boy’s big day. And I wanted to celebrate the momentous occasion accordingly: with a baked good. Now, the Boy and I do not exactly see eye-to-eye when it comes to sweets, no no. That would be too easy. He adores the airiness of mousse, whereas I prefer a dense bread pudding. He enjoys the delicacy of pavlova, while I die for decadent layers of chocolate cake and buttercream frosting. He is, to be frank, one of those skinny kids–you know, the ones who always go for the sorbets on the dessert menu instead of the cheesecake, the ones who never had that awkwardly pudgy stage in life, the ones who “forget to eat”.

Annoying, no?

Luckily we do agree on one dessert: the ice cream sandwich. I believe that the combination of a wonderfully chewy cookie with a hefty scoop (or two) of creamy, dreamy ice cream is a treat that is beloved by all who try it–the universally pleasing, unequivocally delicious, end-all-be-all perfect birthday treat.

So here we are. Let’s get to the food, shall we?

I got this recipe again from Brown Eyed Baker. She is a goddess, I swear to you. However, I did something that she did not. I brought in my cronies. My posse. Mah boyz. Ladies and gentleman, meet Ben and Jerry:

These are bad, bad boys. But ohh sooo goood. They cut the richness of the cookies very nicely, creating an altogether balanced ice cream sandwich. An ice cream sandwich that, in the end, the Boy deemed “awesome”. Success indeed.

Better-than-Brownies Chocolate Cookies (adapted from Brown Eyed Baker, from Culinography)

Prep time: 15 minutes, Bake time: 10 minutes

Yield: 24 cookies (I cut this in half, then half again…making 6 large-ish cookies)

2 2/3 cups (about 16 ounces) bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I used dark chocolate chips)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 eggs
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips (again, I used dark chocolate chips)

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

2. Put the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set it over a saucepan of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally, until completely melted and smooth. (I nuked mine, 30 seconds at a time.)

3. In the meantime, stir together the eggs, vanilla and sugar in a medium bowl. Set aside.

4. In a small bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder.

5. Add the melted chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and stir to combine well. Slowly add the dry ingredients, folding them into the batter. Once all of the flour is incorporated, stir in the chocolate chips.

6. Scoop 1½ tablespoons of dough (a medium cookie scoop’s worth) onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until they are firm on the outside. Like brownies, do not overbake! Leave to cool completely on the baking sheets.

7. After cookies have cooled completely (or before, nobody’s judging), take two at a time, flipping them over on a plate. With the ice cream of your choice, take one (or two, or three) scoops and gently press against the bottom of one of the cookies using the back of a spoon. Press the other cookie on top, making a sandwich. Devour.

Mmmmmmmmm. I’m off to Boston tomorrow and will be taking pictures of the wonderful food I enjoy there–clam chowda and haht dahgs and apple cider, oh my! Enjoy your Sundays everyone!