Peanut Butter & Banana Ice Cream Sandwiches

Peanut Butter & Banana Ice Cream Sandwiches

The cookies for this recipe can easily be made ahead of time. When it comes to assembling the sandwiches, I recommend doing so right after making the banana ice cream. When it comes out of the food processor it's the perfect consistency for sandwich making.

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups banana coconut ice cream (recipe follows)
• 40 small peanut butter cookies (recipe follows)
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 teaspoon espresso powder
• fleur de sel or other flaky salt, for sprinkling

Method

• Place half the cookies face down on a baking sheet. Top each with a large spoonful of ice cream, and then another cookie. Put the pan into the freezer for about 30 minutes to set the ice cream.
• Meanwhile, melt the chocolate. Put half the chips in a bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring after each, until melted. Stir in the other half of the chocolate until melted, then stir in the espresso powder. Transfer the chocolate to a plastic bag.
• When the sandwiches have set, snip a tiny bit off one corner of the plastic bag. Working a few sandwiches at a time, drizzle them with chocolate and sprinkle with the salt. It's important to alternate these two tasks, otherwise the chocolate will start to freeze onto the cookies and the salt won't stick to it. Put the sandwiches back into the freezer for 30 minutes or so for the ice cream to set fully. To store for longer, wrap each sandwich individually in plastic wrap, then put them in a large plastic bag in the freezer.

Yields: 20 sandwiches

Banana Coconut Ice Cream

Adapted slightly from The Kitchn

Ingredients

• 7 bananas
• 1/3 cup toasted sweetened coconut

Method

• Peel the bananas and cut into chunks. Place on a plate and freeze for 1-2 hours. (If freezing longer, let them sit out for 15 minutes or so before processing.) Blend the bananas in a food processor, scraping down the sides often, until a smooth, creamy mixture forms. Add the coconut and pulse until combined.

Yields: 3 1/2 cups ice cream

Peanut Butter Cookies

Adapted slightly from Betty Crocker's Cookbook

These are the peanut butter cookies my mom always made when I was little. Therefore, they're the best this world has to offer. :)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup shortening (I use butter flavored vegetable shortening)
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 egg
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Method

• Mix sugars, shortening, peanut butter, vanilla and egg. Stir in flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours.
• Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Shape dough into balls a little bigger than 1 inch. Place a couple inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Flatten in crisscross pattern with a fork dipped in flour. Bake 10-12 minutes.

Yields: 40 cookies