According to the New York Times, the ice cream sandwich has been around since 1899, when it was a pushcart delicacy for Lower Manhattan kids. Whatever the time or place, the moment of tearing the paper open and biting into the mushy cake and airy ice cream remains transcendental—an experience shared by everyone from street urchins straight out of Newsies to bored suburban tweens at the swimming pool. Let’s all unwrap one now and raise a sandwich in thanks to those pre–Good Humor geniuses—without you, we’d never know the pleasure of using our teeth to scrape stubbornly sticky chocolate bits from our fingers.
YIELD: 10 sandwiches
TOTAL TIME: 1 hour 15 minutes, plus chilling time
DIFFICULTY: 3
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT: stand mixer, ice cream maker, pastry or pizza cutter, offset spatula
ICE CREAM
3 cups light cream or whipping cream
1/2 cup (3-1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
SANDWICH COOKIES
1-1/2 cups (6-3/8 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (1-1/2 ounces) unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 pinch kosher salt
8 tablespoons (4 ounces) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 cup (7 ounces) granulated sugar
1 large egg
MAKE THE ICE CREAM BASE:
Bring the cream to a bare simmer in a 1-quart saucepan over medium-low heat, just until it is steaming and small bubbles form around the edges. Remove from the heat and whisk in the sugar and vanilla until the sugar is fully dissolved.
Transfer to a bowl, cover, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, until fully chilled (or use the quick-cool method, page 188).
MAKE THE SANDWICH COOKIES:
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Cut a sheet of parchment paper and a sheet of waxed paper large enough to fit your baking sheet.
Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt together in a small bowl until well blended and uniform in color.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed for 3 to 4 minutes, until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the egg, and stir on low speed for 30 seconds, until thoroughly combined. Add the dry ingredients until just incorporated into a sticky dough, scraping down the bowl halfway through to make sure everything is homogenous.
Turn the dough out onto the parchment paper, press it into a rough square, and place the waxed paper on top. Roll into a 13 by 11-inch rectangle 1/8 inch thick. Make the edges as even as possible so you won’t have to trim and waste any baked dough.
Remove the waxed paper and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the dough seems puffy and slightly underbaked but a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then carefully slide the entire cookie and parchment paper onto a large metal rack and let cool to room temperature.
PUT IT ALL TOGETHER:
Using an ice cream maker, freeze the vanilla ice cream base according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Using a pastry or pizza cutter, trim the cookie as needed to make a 12 by 10-inch rectangle, then slice it into 4 (10 by 3-inch) strips. Flip the strips over onto a large sheet of waxed paper so that the flat underside is now facing up. Using an offset spatula and your fingers, spread 2 of the strips with a 1/2-inch-thick layer of vanilla ice cream.
Top with the remaining cookie strips, pressing very gently to adhere, and freeze for 2 hours to make sure the ice cream firms up completely.
Cut each strip into 5 ice cream sandwiches, each 2 inches wide. For an extra touch of authenticity, wrap each one in parchment or butcher paper.
Store the sandwiches in the freezer in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.