Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches

I made homemade ice cream sandwiches for the first time and they turned out really, really good. The sky is the limit on what flavor combinations you can come up with for the filling and the outside, but specifically, I wanted to document how to make the brownie cake for the outside and what tips and tricks I would use for making these in the future. Enjoy!

Note: You can try to make these in a single day, but there is a lot of freezing and cooling time involved, so I would recommend making and prepping the layers one day, letting it all freeze over night, and then assembling them early the next day. You then need to give them more time that same day to freeze again before serving.

Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 qt. ice cream (for filling, any flavor you like)
• 1 cup salted butter
• 6-7 oz bittersweet chocolate (chips or chopped bars)
• 2 Tbl Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 3 eggs, at room temperature
• 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar (265g)
• 1 cup flour (125g)

Directions:

1. For the filling, line a 9x13 baking dish with parchment paper, allowing the ends of the parchment to hang over the sides of the pan to make it easier to lift the ice cream out for cutting. Spread the slightly softened ice cream evenly into the pan and put in the freezer to re-firm. 
• Freeze for several hours or overnight. Even better if you can put things in the deep freeze.
2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
3. Line TWO 9x13 pans with parchment paper and spray with nonstick spray. Allow ends of parchment to hang over the sides of the pan to make it easier to lift the brownies out for cutting.
4. Heat butter in a microwave-safe mixing bowl in the microwave until melted. Immediately stir in chocolate pieces, cocoa powder and vanilla until smooth and shiny. Set aside and let cool for ten minutes.
5. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat together the eggs and sugar on medium speed for 3 minutes (scraping the bowl if needed) until mixture is light and creamy.
6. Poor the cooled chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and continue to beat with the mixer for a few more seconds until combined. 
• You must make sure the chocolate is thoroughly cooled before adding it to the eggs so you don't prematurely cook the eggs.
7. Remove the mixing bowl from the stand mixer and stir in (by hand) the flour until just combined with even just a few tiny streaks of white flour remaining (do not over mix). 
• The tiny streaks of flour should get mixed into the batter as you pour it into the baking dish and spread it out, otherwise you left too much flour unincorporated.
8. Divide and pour the batter evenly into the two prepared baking pans.
9. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are set and the middle no longer looks wet or underdone. 
• The middle does not need to be (or appear) completely cooked because that can cause the brownies to be overdone, dry, and they won't be as soft or chewy as they should be. They will continue to cook and set up for a bit as they cool in the pan.
10. Allow to cool completely in the pan before attempting to remove them from the baking dish.
• For easier cutting and assembling, place your cooled brownies into the freezer to firm up.
11. Cut your brownies and ice cream into the same sized pieces and assemble as sandwiches. Individually wrap each sandwich in some kind of paper or plastic wrap for storing in the freezer. Refreeze for at least two hours before serving.

Marsha's Notes:

• You can use binder clips to help hold the parchment paper in place in the baking dish. Once you pour the batter/ice cream onto the paper, it should hold itself and you can remove the clips, but it's okay to freeze or bake with them in place as well.
• I would recommend using a cookie cutter in the same shape your want your sandwiches. Then, when you cut the brownies and ice cream, everything will be the same size and fit together nicely.  I saw these cutters and thought they would be ideal: https://amzn.to/4jvXrCI