PB&J Ice Cream Sandwiches

So we've been having amazing weather recently- it's been sunny-and-blue-skies and like 40-50 degree weather. It's been fantastic, but all our snow melted and it's making me feel like winter's over :(. So maybe it was this bout of spring weather (and my Mom's clever thinking) that made me think of strawberry ice cream (something I think of as a sort of spring-y-summer-y flavor.)

But also, PB&J is a delicious combination, so you could probably convince me to eat strawberry ice cream in between two peanut butter cookies any time of year. I wouldn't complain.

My brother requested ice cream sandwiches, (and I decided they would be a great idea) and my mom helped me come up with the PB&J idea. The recipe is actually pretty simple: I used a strawberry ice cream from the book that came with our ice cream maker, and a Joy the Baker peanut butter cookies recipe (Duh. If you need any recipe, you turn to Joy the Baker.)

The ice cream was pretty simple, I pureed strawberries, then added heavy cream and sugar and put it in the ice cream maker. That's it. But it was amazing!

The cookies were of course awesome, because they are cookies. And Joy the Baker's. And peanut butter. Anything with peanut butter is bound to be good. Unless it's like peanut butter and asparagus. But, you know, don't rule it out. It could be good.

To put them together, freeze the cookies in a Tupperware lined with parchment paper. Then, put a dollop of ice cream one and sandwich them together and squeeze.

And let me tell you, these things actually taste like PB&J, and, if you had a good childhood, they should remind you of the good old days when PB&J was your lunch everyday. (At least that was the case for me. And it still sometimes is.)

The only case in which I would not tell you to have these things immediately would be if you had a peanut allergy. Or a strawberry allergy. In either case I would tell you to substitute a different sort of butter or a different fruit.

-Audrey

PB&J Ice Cream Sandwiches

Peanut Butter Cookies
courtesy of Joy the Baker

makes 15 cookies about the size of your palm
Ingredients:
1 cup all-natural chunky or smooth peanut butter
1 cup sugar (1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup granulated sugar)
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking soda

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Grease a baking sheet with butter and set aside. 

3. In a mixer combine peanut butter and sugars until well combined, about 2 minutes. Add egg and baking soda and mix for another 2 minutes.

4. Roll into large walnut sized balls and create a cris-cross pattern with a fork. If you’d like, roll the dough balls in granulated sugar before making the cris-cross pattern. 

5. Bake for 10 minutes, until lightly browned. 

6. Cool on a baking sheet for five minutes, then transfer to… your mouth.

Strawberry Ice Cream: