Did you ever use to eat those Nestle Toll House cookie ice cream sandwiches as a kid? I know I did! They were my favorite road trip treat. These homemade cookie ice cream sandwiches are just like the classic Nestle Toll House ice cream sandwiches, but better! Each ice cream sandwich contains two soft, buttery chocolate chip cookies and a generous portion of ice cream in between. These cookies don’t get hard in the freezer and maintain their chewy, cookie-dough-like texture. What more could you want in a summer treat?!
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We did a lot of road trips during the summer when I was a kid, and usually to hot places like Kansas and Oklahoma! Can anyone relate? I always had a special treat that I’d pick out at the gas station when we’d stop – a Nestle Toll House cookie ice cream sandwich. SO GOOD! I looked forward to it every trip. Forget the candy, give me ice cream and cookies on the road!
These homemade cookie ice cream sandwiches come pretty close to the OG Toll House version. Dare I say, these might even be better! I gave them a fun twist by filling with chocolate ice cream and vanilla bean ice cream. So irresistible and perfect for summer!
Read on for how to make your own at home!
Making Homemade Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches
Making these homemade cookie ice cream sandwiches takes just a bit of planning, but they are really quite simple! Here are the steps:
Make the cookies. Simple. These chocolate chip cookies are just a basic recipe, but I slightly underbaked them to be sure they didn’t get all hardened up in the freezer. We want to be able to bite into our ice cream sandwich cookies! This recipe makes 12, large chocolate chip cookies (about 3-4 inches in diameter). You can certainly go smaller, but I kind of like the oversized treat! After all, calories don’t count in the summer… Right?
Freeze the cookies. Once you’ve baked the cookies and they are cooled off, pop them in the freezer for 1 hour or overnight before adding the scoops of ice cream. The ice cream won’t melt and the cookies won’t break when you smoosh everything together!
Top with your favorite ice cream. I like to use a good vanilla bean and chocolate ice cream, but you could use anything! Coffee ice cream, mint chip, strawberry, caramel. The list goes on and on! I’d stick to store-bought here rather than homemade. I love homemade ice cream, but I feel that it just melts too quickly and doesn’t hold the shape as well as the store-boughtkind!
Helpful Tools for Making Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches
You’re going to want to make sure everything looks nice and uniform for these tasty treats, so here are a few helpful tools to save you some time! You’ll get nearly perfect, round ice cream sandwich cookies with little to no fuss.
A large cookie/ice cream scoop. I used the same cookie scoop to make the cookie dough balls and to scoop the ice cream for these ice cream sandwiches, and it worked great! I’d recommend one like this.
A small bowl or large cup. When the cookies come out of the oven, I like to use the top of a small bowl or large cup to “swirl” around the cookies to make them symmetrical and round. Just place the opening over the top of your cookies, and swirl them around once or twice. You will have perfectly shaped cookies!
A large cookie sheet. I found this really helpful so that I didn’t have to bake multiple batches of cookies. One pan and done! I cooled them right on the pan and then placed them in the freezer on the pan as well! A large pan also made for a nice, clean workspace when assembling the cookie ice cream sandwiches. I like this one here!
I hope that you enjoy making these homemade cookie ice cream sandwiches this summer! This is the perfect treat for anyone because you can really customize it to whatever you want it to be! Make them large or small, fill with any ice cream or add any toppings/extras you like!
If you’re interested in other ice cream sandwich recipes, check out my Easy Mint Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches!
As always, be sure to tag me in your photos on Instagram if you make my recipe or use #bucketsofyum in your photos! I love to see what you are baking.
Homemade Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened (2 sticks)
- ¾ cups brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1¼ tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ¾ tsp salt
- 2 cups + 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips
- 1.5 quarts vanilla bean or chocolate ice cream (or your faveorite ice cream!)
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a handheld mixer, cream the butter and both sugars together on medium speed until smooth and creamy.
- Add the egg and vanilla in and mix until combined. Turn the mixer on low and slowly incorporate the flour mixture, beating until just combined (do not overmix).
- Stir the chocolate chips in until just combined.
- Using a large cookie scoop (or small if you prefer smaller ice cream sandwiches) and scoop dough balls onto a baking sheet. Freeze for 1 hour or up to overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an extra large baking sheet with parchment paper and place the frozen dough balls onto the baking sheet.
- Bake cookies for 10-14 minutes, or until slightly golden brown on the edges and slightly underbaked in the middle. Rotate the sheet halfway through baking.
- Remove cookies from the oven and cool on the pan on a wire rack. Once cooled, transfer baking sheet with cookies to the freezer. Freeze cookies for 1 hour or up to overnight.
Assembly
- Once cookies have been frozen for at least an hour, use a large ice cream or cookie scoop to place a large scoop of ice cream on top of one cookie half. Top with another cookie an smoosh them together.
- Freeze tightly wrapped in the freezer to set the ice cream. I'd recommend setting ice cream sandwiches out at room temperature for 5 – 10 minutes prior to eating, just to soften them up a bit!
Notes
- If you prefer smaller cookies, use a smaller cookie scoop for the dough balls and ice cream. I would recommend cutting the baking time in half and then adjusting from there until the cookies are golden brown on the edges and slightly underdone in the centers.
