Basil Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwiches

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This Week’s Recipe

I’m really not happy unless I’m making the meltiest dessert ever on the hottest day of the year with no AC. (Okay, my kitchen has AC, I just can’t run it when I’m filming because it’s too damn loud!) But like everyone else in NYC, lately my mind has just been on freeze-y stuff like granitas, popsicles, and ice cream sandwiches. Sadly, that doesn’t mean this recipe is no-bake.

With these basil chocolate ice cream sandwiches, fresh basil is steeped in custard, which is churned and swirled with a sugary fresh basil ripple and then sandwiched between two rich chocolate cookies. The soft cookies give way under minimal pressure from teeth (because, honestly, they bake up more like cake) saving your teeth from cracking and your pants from ice cream that always squeezes out of the sandwich. I love how the basil retains its flavor here, managing to hold onto those herbaceous and anise-y notes.

I know mere written instructions can sometimes be confusing when it comes to measuring and cutting and what’s lengthwise and what’s hot dog or hamburger-style. So I’ve included a step-by-step guide below to help you assemble the sandwiches.

Thanks to Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen from who I learned the trick of baking the cookies and assembling the sandwiches in a a 9x13 pan.

If you just want a hint of basil flavor, omit the ripple — although it is responsible for the pretty marbled green effect. The custard alone has a very nice, subtle basil flavor that intensifies the longer it steeps.

I really recommend you make this recipe over the course of two days. You could accomplish it in one, but there is lots of chilling and freezing time; much heating things up and then cooling them back down. Resist the urge to rush chilling the custard, or to pull the ice cream before its set up, or to cut the sandwiches before they’re rock solid. As someone who made these in an AC-less kitchen on a 95-degree day…. I can tell you you will be left in a puddle of melted ice cream and tears if you are not patient.

Once the ice cream sandwiches are cut and well-frozen, you can wrap them up in squares of wax or parchment paper and stick them in a little container (a loaf tin is the perfect size) for easy freezer access.

Here’s how that timing could look: You could make the custard the night/day before and allow it to chill overnight. (Longer chills benefit ice cream texture and aid in developing deeper flavor.) You could also make the cookie slab and the ripple the night/day before to take out some cooking and cooling time from Day Two. On Day Two, focus on the ice cream: churning for 40 minutes or so, mixing in the ripple, allowing it to set up in the freezer without becoming rock solid (as you’ll eventually have to scoop it out and spread it onto half of the cookie slab) for about an hour. After assembling, you’re going to need to let the big sandwich freeze again for about 2 1/2-3 hours (but longer is always better!) before cutting it into little sammies and serving. So that’s about 5 hours of (mostly inactive) time on Day Two.

Basil Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwiches

Makes 10-12 ice cream sandwiches

Ingredients