When I think of summertime, ice cream sandwiches always come to mind. They are the perfect sweet treat and a total party crowd pleaser. Today I’m teaming up with Hudsonville Ice Cream to share three easy ice cream cookie sandwich recipes that you can make with your family and friends this summer.

If you haven’t heard of Hudsonville Ice Cream before, then you’re really missing out. They’re a midwest crafted creamery with a strong work ethic and a passion for creating the best ice cream around. They were founded in West Michigan and have been perfecting the art of ice cream since 1926. Not sure where to find it? Use their Scoop Locator to find a store near you!

What I especially love about these recipes is that they’re totally customizable. It’s all about mixing and matching different ice cream flavors and cookie combinations. When it comes to ice cream flavors, I chose a few of my favorites, including Hudsonville’s Creamery Blend Vanilla and Cookies ‘N Cream. I also tried one of their summer favorites: Mackinac Island Fudge. It’s a buttery fudge swirled into vanilla ice cream with chocolate fudge pieces. So delish and it’s also gluten free.

Homemade ice cream sandwiches are really one of the simplest desserts to make, but there are a few tips that will help make them even more successful.

TIPS FOR MAKING HOMEMADE ICE CREAM SANDWICHES:

1. Make sure to soften the ice cream a bit beforehand by leaving it out for at least 15-20 minutes. It makes it easier to scoop and mold between the cookies.

2. Try to make your cookies all a uniform size. This will make it easier to match them up when creating the ice cream sandwiches.

3. Accept imperfection. We aren’t creating perfect store bought ice cream cookie sandwiches here. Imperfections are totally acceptable and even give your ice cream sandwiches a little character.

4. Freeze your cookies before assembling. This is a tip I actually read online while doing a bit of research. It helps make the cookie firmer and easier to work with so you will have less breakage.

5. Since we are dealing with ice cream here, leave the ice cream cookie sandwiches in the freezer until you are ready to serve because otherwise they will obviously begin to melt. I also like to wrap each one up individually with plastic wrap to help them keep their shape.

NOW ONTO THE COOKIE RECIPES:

For these ice cream sandwiches I created two different types of cookies. Chocolate chip cookies, which I paired with Hudsonville’s Creamery Blend Vanilla as well as chocolate brownie cookies, which I paired with Hudsonville’s Cookies ‘N Cream and Mackinac Island Fudge. I choose to use thinner cookies to make it easier when creating the homemade ice cream sandwiches.

Also, If you’re in a pinch for time or don’t want to turn on your oven, you can always go for store bought cookies.

Thin & Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 ½ sticks salted butter, at room temp
1 cup brown sugar
¾ cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 tablespoons water
1 cup of milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.
Mix together flour, baking soda and salt using a whisk then set aside.
In a large electric mixing bowl, mix together the butter and sugars until creamy. Add the egg, water, and vanilla. Beat until combined. Slowly add flour mixture to creamed ingredients. Mix until combined.
Stir in chocolate chips with a large spoon.
Using a regular sized ice cream scoop (approximately 2-2 ¼ oz), fill a level scoop onto lightly greased cookie sheet, putting 9 cookies per sheet. Spray a piece of wax or parchment paper with a non-stick cooking spray and lightly press down each cookie. This is the secret to making a thinner cookie.
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes and let cool.

Chocolate Brownie Cookies

1 pound semisweet chocolate, chopped
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
12-ounce bag semisweet chocolate chips

In a large bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the chopped chocolate with the butter, stirring a few times, until smooth, about 7 minutes.
In another large bowl, using a handheld electric mixer, beat the eggs with the sugar at medium speed for about 5 minutes. Then beat in the vanilla and salt.
Using a rubber spatula, fold in the melted chocolate, then fold in the flour and baking powder. Lastly, Stir in the chocolate chips.
Scrape the batter into a shallow baking dish, cover and freeze until well chilled and firm (for about 1 hour).
Preheat the oven to 350° and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Scoop 2-tablespoon-size mounds of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Use a piece of greased parchment paper to press down on the cookies (this will help with making them thin and crispy).
Bake for about 10 minutes, until the cookies are dry around the edges and cracked on top.
Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Once you have your cookies made, you want to have them cooled. Also as I said above, putting them in the freezer or fridge to get hard is even better. Lastly, if you don’t feel like making your cookies from scratch, you can always use store bought ones. There are so many options.

Now it’s time to create your ice cream sandwiches. I’m going to share three recipes with you so let’s get started:

SPRINKLE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE ICE CREAM SANDWICHES

Sprinkle Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches

12 Thin & Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies (see above for recipe)
1 48 oz carton of Hudsonville Creamery Blend Vanilla Ice Cream, softened
Rainbow Sprinkles
Plastic Wrap

Take ice cream out and let stand for 15 minutes.
Place 1 large scoop of ice cream between 2 chocolate chip cookies.
Cover with rainbow sprinkles by pouring them around the vanilla ice cream section as you rotated the cookie around. I did this over a plate, to catch all the extra sprinkles that fell.
Wrap cookie in plastic wrap.
Store in the freezer for at least 1 hour and preferably overnight.
Leave in the freezer until right before serving and enjoy!

BROWNIE COOKIES ‘N CREAM ICE CREAM SANDWICHES

Brownie Cookies 'N Cream Ice Cream Sandwiches

12 Chocolate Brownie Cookies (see above for recipe)
1 48 oz carton of Hudsonville's Cookies 'N Cream Ice Cream, softened
Plastic Wrap

Take ice cream out and let stand for 15 minutes.
Place 1 large scoop of ice cream between 2 chocolate brownie cookies.
Place in plastic wrap neatly.
Store in the freezer for at least 1 hour and preferably overnight.
Leave in the freezer until right before serving and enjoy!

MACKINAC ISLAND FUDGE ICE CREAM SANDWICHES

Mackinac Island Fudge Ice Cream Sandwiches

12 Chocolate Brownie Cookies (see above for recipe)
1 48 oz carton of Hudsonville's Mackinac Island Fudge Ice Cream, softened
Plastic Wrap
**optional: store bought cookies. I picked up some butter cookies with fudge. Anything goes!

Take ice cream out and let stand for 15 minutes.
Place 1 large scoop of ice cream between 2 chocolate brownie cookies.
Place in plastic wrap neatly.
Store in the freezer for at least 1 hour and preferably overnight.
Leave in the freezer until right before serving and enjoy!

So there you have it! Three homemade ice cream cookie sandwich recipes. They are really simple to make and super delicious. These ice cream sandwiches are totally customizable so you can pick and choose the ice cream flavors, cookie combinations, and toppings. Just make sure to use quality ice cream (like Hudsonville Ice Cream) because that is truly the shining star.