Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches

If you ask me, brown butter belongs in everything. Especially cookies. If you don’t know, brown butter is when you cook butter until its milk solids are caramelized and the water evaporates out, giving the butter a sweet, nutty, caramel flavor. It makes whatever you add it to gourmet AF and 100000x more delicious. SO, I added it to my cookies and then scooped some ice cream between two of them because I’m extra.

These cookies come out thick and chewy, so they’re the perfect type of cookie to hold together an ice cream sandwich without falling all over the place. Since we are using melted butter here, the cookie dough does need to be chilled for at least an hour to prevent them from spreading! But your patience will be rewarded, I promise. The caramel flavor of the brown butter pairs so well with all the brown sugar in the cookie and the sweetness of the vanilla ice cream. Another reason this recipe is awesome is because eating cookies with ice cream is totally like an upgraded version of eating cookies and milk!!! I think we can all agree that ice cream>>>milk.

For my ice cream sandwiches, I used store bought vanilla ice cream, but you can totally make your own or swap out for different flavors! Or, leave out the ice cream altogether and just make the cookies. I’m not here to tell you how to live your life!!!

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks, browned)
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg + 1 egg yolk (room temperature)
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Brown the Butter

1. add 1 1/2 sticks of butter to a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Melt the butter until it starts to foam, and the color turns from milky white to brown and small brown flecks appear at the bottom. Stir often. Once the butter is done, transfer to a bowl and set in the fridge to cool.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk the granulated sugar, brown sugar, and brown butter together until no lumps remain. Whisk in the egg + egg yolk and vanilla extract.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together with a rubber spatula or large spoon. Once combined, fold in the chocolate chips.

5. Cover the dough and chill in the fridge for 2 hours, or overnight. Don’t skip this step- if you do, your cookies will spread and won’t be able to support your ice cream!

6. Take the dough out of the fridge and let it soften until you’re able to scoop it.
7. Preheat the oven to 350° F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

8. Roll the dough into balls, about 3 tablespoons of dough each. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until cookies look golden brown and cooked in the middle, but are still a bit soft. Let them cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling. Make sure cookies are cooled completely before assembling the ice cream sandwiches!

Assemble

1. Using an ice cream scoop, place a heaped scoop of ice cream, about 1/2 cup on the bottom side of one cookie. Grab another cookie and use it to gently smash down the ice cream, creating a sandwich! Bonus: roll the ice cream in chocolate chips.

2. Enjoy immediately or transfer to a Ziplock freezer bag and store in the freezer.

Dessert