Have you ever heard of the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon? It is referred to as a “frequency bias,” when you notice something that seems new to you, even though it is not necessarily the case; Like when you buy a new car, and then notice all of the other cars around you that are the same make, model or color.
This is how I feel about ice cream sandwiches this year. They seem to be everywhere, even though I’m aware this is not a new concept by any means.
Ice cream sandwiches have been getting a homemade, adult makeover in recent years, making them a chic choice for dessert – and for a good reason. With so many choices, you can find one to please everyone. Namely, this variation made with cornbread cookies, strawberry ice cream, and tangy lemon curd to pull it all together. It is the perfect summer treat, without being overly sweet like some options you find in the freezer aisle of your grocery store.
I celebrated a milestone birthday in June, and when isolation requirements started a few months in advance, I began to plan exactly what to bake for my birthday. I kept a running list of more than a dozen desserts, but kept returning to the idea of recreating a delicious ice cream sandwich we enjoyed at Poole’s Diner in Raleigh last year.
After checking around to ensure this exact recipe was not in the restaurant’s signature cookbook, I began searching online for guidance on how to recreate the cornmeal cookies. Before this recipe, I am not sure I had ever used cornmeal (should I be admitting that?), so I wanted a recipe I could loosely follow.
I was elated when I found that Michelle over at Hummingbird High had a very similar recipe from all the way back in 2013. While her recipe can make 12 regular-sized ice cream sandwiches, I made my version somewhat bigger, so it became a shareable sandwich to enjoy with my husband. By making the cookies bigger, there were less sandwiches in the long run, but when cut in half, they became the perfect serving size for each of us.
I was initially concerned that the cookies looked more textured than I had hoped for, but in the end, it played nicely with the creamy ice cream and lemon curd. My impatience in making the lemon curd mean it was a bit runnier than I would have liked, but that is an easy issue to avoid. If you have never made lemon curd before, don’t be nervous – you can do it to easily elevate your desserts! Sally’s Baking Addiction is one of many great food bloggers who has an easy to follow recipe for lemon curd.
When I first posted this dessert on my Instagram, I had a few people message me to ask what recipe I used to make the strawberry ice cream. I almost felt guilty announcing I used a pint of Häagen-Dazs strawberry to help expedite the process! It is easy to slice down directly, creating clean lines for the sandwich. Did you know, despite it’s Danish-sounding name, this company was created in Bronx, NY, in the 1960s… and that they made the name up entirely? It means absolutely nothing! This Reader’s Digest article highlights how marketing can really change the consumer’s perception of a brand.
Not long after we got married, I told my husband if I ever got to have a dessert food truck, it would be a variety of homemade ice creams and cookies, that customers could pick and choose to create their own ice cream sandwich. Living in a beach community, this ideal still appeals to me. Maybe that will be my retirement plan.
If you’re now in the mood for ice cream sandwiches (please tell me I’m not the only one), then you might want to consider these other delicious recipes:
-Broma Bakery’s easy Blackberry Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches
-Sally’s Baking Addiction Rainbow Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches
-Half Baked Harvest’s Malted Milk Cookies N’ Cream Ice Cream Sandwiches
What flavor combination would you like to see?
Your snickerdoodles are amazing!!! So delicious and pillowy 🙂
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Anna!!! So happy to come across this blog! Looking forward to trying out one of your amazing treats. I hope…
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