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Peppermint Mocha Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches are a delicious make-ahead frozen dessert that boast all the wonderful flavors of winter! Buttery, chocolatey shortbread cookies sandwiching creamy peppermint ice cream - what could be better?!
I told you I had one more Peppermint Mocha treat up my sleeve!
If I’m being honest, these Peppermint Mocha Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches were not the original plan. There was going to be a pavlova situation happening, but it didn’t…uh…y’know…happen.
That’s ok! We adjust and change and frankly, make the thing that feels right and lights us up instead of what we feel we should do or what the original plan was.
I’m really softening with age.
These shortbread cookies though? They’re not soft. They’re crisp and buttery and crumbly and perfect for sandwiching layers of creamy peppermint ice cream. After they’re dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with crushed peppermint candies, of course!
Finally getting the hang of shortbread was an amazing way to start 2020. It felt really wonderful to make something well and right and delicious. After having attempted variations of shortbread and failing miserably in the past, this was a welcomed change of pace to start the New Year.
Then! I got the bright idea to dip them in melted chocolate and used up the rest of the season’s candy canes to add some crunch and flavor.
Next! I read on the Traeger site about this amazing method of spreading ice cream into a cake pan and cutting it out into circles for the sammies instead of the usual scooping and squishing method. I love it! (Plus, you get to eat the leftover ice cream edges – it’s a win, win!)
Lastly, I took some of the best pictures I’ve ever taken of one of the best treats I’ve ever made. They really are worth a thousand words.
All in all, these Peppermint Mocha Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches are a real source of pride for me. As a baker, as a photographer, and as a blogger. I loved creating them, capturing them, and now I’m beyond thrilled to share them with you!
Who will you share them with?
Peppermint Mocha Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches
Ingredients
- 1 ½ quarts peppermint ice cream slightly softened
- 3 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
- 2 ½ cups flour
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 tablespoon instant coffee
- ½ cup mini chocolate chips
- 2 oz. bittersweet chocolate chopped
- 1 tsp. coconut oil
- 2 candy canes crushed
Instructions
- Spread softened ice cream into a 9x13 pan lined with parchment paper and place in freezer to harden.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until smooth. Add the flour, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and instant coffee and mix until a sticky dough forms. Scrape down bowl before stirring in mini chocolate chips.
- Turn dough out onto a large piece of parchment paper and form into a log shape that is 2 ½ inches in diameter and about 14 inches long. Roll each end of the paper in opposite directions to ensure the dough is secure. Place in fridge to chill for at least two hours, or overnight.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- Cut chilled cookie dough into 32 equal rounds, a little more than ¼ inch thick. Place on prepared baking sheets 2 inches apart and bake in preheated oven for 10 – 12 minutes, or until edges are just set. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
- While cookies are cooling, remove ice cream from freezer and use a round cookie cutter roughly the same diameter as the cookies to cut out 16 ice cream discs. Return to freezer to chill.
- When cookies are cool, microwave the chopped chocolate and coconut oil in 30 second bursts, stirring after each, until melted and smooth. Dip 16 cookies halfway into melted chocolate and place on parchment paper. Sprinkle with crushed candy canes and let set for at least 20 minutes.
- When ready to make sandwich cookies place un-dipped cookie, right side down, top with an ice cream disc, and finish with a chocolate dipped cookie. Return to freezer until ready to serve.
· by Amanda Gajdosik