Chris makes a fantastic hand model doesn’t he?

I spent last week wracking my brain trying to think of the perfect dessert to bring to our friends’ Trivia party last weekend.

I wanted something delicious and over-the-top, yet portable.  Totally indulgent but not too much so.

I wanted something more interesting than cookies but not fussy or pretentious.  Something fun.

Then it hit me: chipwiches!

Who doesn’t love a serving of ice cream served between two chocolate chip cookies?  That perfect combination of cold creamy goodness, chocolate chips, and salty-sweet cookie.

The corporate version of this dessert is the sole reason the ice cream truck stayed in business on my childhood street.

This is a dessert that smacks of summer and nostalgia and sweet, sweet goodness.

And somewhat surprisingly, the homemade version is even better than the packaged ice-cream truck variety.  Made with homemade cookies and full-fat vanilla-bean flecked creamy custard, these things are practically sinful.

Sinful and rich.  To keep these from being too gluttonous and to up the cute/sophistication factor, I strove to create something about 1/3 the size of the dessert I remember from my childhood.  I wanted these treats to fit in one hand and disappear in just 2-3 bites.

Which seemed to work out well.  At the party people moaned and swooned.  After the party, I was told I was never allowed to leave my leftover desserts in our friends’ freezer.

Apparently it doesn’t matter how miniature these guys are if you eat 4 or 5 at a time.

Anyways, you really have to try these. They are worth the effort I swear.  If this version strikes you as a bit too sweet for your tastes, try this recipe for Chocolate cookies and strawberry gelato sandwiches. I made them last summer and they were to. die. for.  Grown up and luscious. I liked them even better than the chocolate chip version here, but you have to work with what you can get in China.

The trick is to make uniform cookies, I found that using cold cookie dough and portioning it with a tablespoon-sized scoop worked really well.

The other trick is to let your ice cream soften for about 10 minutes before trying to scoop it between the cookies.

Another trick is to make sure you have enough freezer space to allow the sandwiches to freeze up on a tray before you pile them up in a tupperware container.

And of course the real trick is making sure you don’t eat them all before the party.

Now, while homemade ice cream and homemade cookies makes this dessert kind of out of this world (not to mention sort of retro-dessert-fun) I’m fairly sure that you could do something similar with some Chips Ahoy and store-bought vanilla ice cream in a pinch.  Just saying.

Here are the assembly instructions, whether you use store-bought supplies or homemade:

1. Take your ice cream out of the freezer to soften for 10-15 minutes.  Put your cookies on several medium-sized plates or trays and put in the freezer to chill.  For more miniature sandwiches, use cookies about 1.5-2 inches in diameter (this is about 1 tablespoon of cookie dough for homemade cookies).

2. Wash your hands really well or grab a pair of food service gloves.(extra important for the assembly process)

3. Remove 1 plate/tray of chilled cookies from the freezer. With an ice cream scoop or large spoon, portion out about 1-2 tablespoons onto the bottom of one chilled cookie. Using a spatula or clean fingers, level the ice cream and spread to within a 1/4 of an inch of the edges.  If things are getting melty and sloppy, work quickly and don’t worry about perfection.

4.  Top ice cream with 2nd chilled cookie, bottom-side down.  Press the sandwich together gently with the palms of your hands (to prevent cookie breakage) and return to tray.  Repeat process with 5-6 more cookies and return plate/try to the freezer for sandwiches to harden.

5. Repeat with additional trays/plates.  Allow sandwiches to harden in the freezer for at least 1 hour before stacking and transferring to freezer-safe tupperware.

6.  Before serving, allow to thaw at room temperature for 5-10 minutes.

The cookie recipe I used is so good that it deserves its own post.  You’ll find it here soon.

The vanilla ice cream recipe is also so good that it deserves its own post but I’ll give it to you now.

It’s also good to note that this recipe is fairly fool-proof.  Case in point: I totally forgot to add the sugar at the beginning of the recipe and instead added it at the end before chilling the custard.  End result? Creamy, delicious goodness.

Vanilla Bean Custard (via Gourmet (RIP))

2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
3 vanilla beans, split lengthwise (you can also use 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract per bean to substitute)
2 large eggs
Combine cream, milk, sugar, and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a heavy saucepan. Scrape seeds from vanilla beans with tip of a knife into cream mixture, then drop in pods. Heat mixture just to a boil.

Whisk eggs in a large bowl, then add hot cream mixture in a slow stream, whisking. Pour mixture into saucepan and cook over moderately low heat, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened and an instant-read thermometer registers 170°F (do not let boil).

Pour custard through a fine sieve into a clean metal bowl, then cool, stirring occasionally. Chill, covered, until cold, at least 3 hours.

Freeze custard in an ice-cream maker. Transfer to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden.

Cooks’ notes: ·To cool custard quickly after straining, set bowl in a larger bowl of ice and cold water and stir until chilled. ·Custard can be chilled up to 24 hours.