Spicy Mexican Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwiches

Are you looking for a fun project to do with your kids over the long weekend? Or maybe you want to stretch your baking skills and give yourself a delicious challenge over the weekend?

We know it's going to be sunny this weekend (please weather gods, us poor Victorians surely deserve some nice weather by now!!), and these ice cream sandwiches would be the perfect end to a weekend BBQ, or a delicious addtion to a Monday night potluck.

We're not going to make just your every day ice cream sandwiches though, we're going to kick things up a notch and add cayenne pepper and cinnamon to our chocolate cookies. Don't worry! Instead of bringing spiciness, the cayenne brings a lovely warmth to the cookies that goes absolutely phenomenally with the cool richness of the cinnamon ice cream that we'll be nestling in between.

We're going to make our own ice cream too! OMG. Your friends and family will be so impressed, but we'll both know that it's no more difficult than whipping up a bowl of whipped cream. Plus, it only has three ingredients. We'll keep that between us though ;)

If you're concerned about adding spices to your cookies, or maybe you don't think your kids will be a fan, these ice cream sandwiches would still be super yummy without the cayenne and cinnamon. You could also substitute plain vanilla ice cream, or chocolate ice cream, or any other sort of ice cream that may tickle your fancy instead of using cinnamon ice cream.

When it comes to making the ice cream sandwiches, there are two ways that you can approach them. The first, is the way that most people tend to think of making them, and that's to take a cookie, place a big ole scoop of ice cream on it, and then squish the other cookie on top. This works to some degree, and believe us, they will still taste amazing, but our cookies are going to be soft and chewy and we don't want to break them by pushing them down too hard.

So, method number two! Scoop the ice cream onto wax paper and then place another piece of wax paper over top. Squish the ice cream scoops down with your hand until they've reached the size and depth that you'd like, then transfer to the bottom of the first cookie, and top the second cookie. It's one more step, but you're guaranteed to make some Pinterest worthy ice cream sandwiches this way!

Go bake!

 Spicy Mexican Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwiches

For the Chili Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa, plus 2 Tbsp.

1 Tbsp. instant coffee (This adds depth to the chocolate and not a coffee flavour, but feel free to omit.)

1/2 cup salted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet  with parchment paper and set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder,cayenne, cinnamon, and instant coffee granules. Set aside.

3. With a mixer, cream butter and sugars together until smooth. Add in the egg and vanilla and mix until combined.

4. Gradually, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. Scoop the dough into rounded tablespoons and place on your prepared baking sheet, about 2 inches apart.

5. Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes, or until the cookies are set, but still soft in the center. Remove from the oven and let sit on the baking sheet for 3-5 minutes to cool down slighlty. Move to a cooling rack and cool completely before assembling your ice cream sandwiches.

For the Cinnamon Ice Cream

Ingredients:

1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk (your standard can)

5 Tbsp. ground cinnamon

2 cups heavy whipping cream

Directions:

1. Combine the sweetened condensed milk and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Set aside

2. Whip the heavy cream in a medium bowl until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the whipped cream into the condensed milk mixture. Transfer to a 8 x 8-inch or 9 x 9-inch baking dish and cover with plastic wrap. Freeze without stirring until firm, at least 6 hours or overnight.

To Make the Ice Cream Sandwiches

1. Line a large baking sheet with waxed paper. Scoop out large scoops of ice cream and place onto the baking sheet. Place a piece of waxed paper over top of the scoops and gently press the ice cream down using your hand.

2. Transfer each ice cream scoop to the bottom half of one cookie and then top with an additional cookie. Repeat this process until you have no more cookies left!

3. To store, wrap each ice cream sandwich individually in plastic wrap and then place back into the freezer to firm up.

4. The ice cream sandwiches will last in the freezer for 1-2 weeks, if they haven't disappeared by then.

Inspired by this cookie recipe and the May 2017 issue of Food Network magazine