Chocolate chocolate ice cream sandwiches

The weather here has been very typical for winter in the Front Range: Warm then cold, warm then cold :-) Sunny almost every day with blue skies, and often windy. The girls and I like to take walks, and the only thing that sometimes stops us is when it's really really windy. But regardless of the weather, we like to eat ice cream, don't you?

I made these chocolate chocolate ice cream sandwiches using my chocolate biscotti recipe. I didn't change it at all, although I left out the mint extract, and baked them differently. You could keep the mint extract, and that would be yummy too.

For the cookies:

Add to a small bowl:
1/2 cup applesauce with no added sugar
1/4 - 1/2 tsp vanilla liquid stevia (depending on how sweet you want them)

2 tbsp white Chia Seed meal (I grind my seeds in a coffee grinder or Magic Bullet)
-you may be able to substitute an egg for the applesauce and chia, but I haven't tested it myself
Optional: 1/2 tsp mint extract
Mix with electric mixer.

In a separate bowl combine:
3 cups almond meal (I use Bob's)
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup tapioca flour
1/4 cup coconut sugar, which is low glycemic index
1 tsp baking soda

Combine the dry and wet ingredients with an electric mixer until the batter gets all sticky.

Scoop your dough onto unbleached parchment paper.

Flour the top if necessary and roll out the dough.

Cut 12 squares to make 6 cookies. Cookie cutters would work too (and the kids can pick their own shape).

Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes.

Cool the cookies then freeze them before adding the ice cream (this just makes them easier to assemble).

I used my own homemade chocolate ice cream from my book, but you could use store-bought too (like Tempt or Coconut Bliss).

Let the ice cream soften on the counter before assembling the sandwiches.

Eat right away or freeze for later.

A few notes on homemade frozen custard and ice cream:

If you've ever left your homemade ice cream in the freezer for more than a few hours, you know that it freezes really hard. It comes out looking like a block of ice. Don't worry :-) Leave it on the counter for 30 minutes or so, depending on the kind of ice cream and how deep the dish is. Custard takes less time to soften.

Store bought ice cream is softer straight from the freezer because commercial machines are capable of adding much more air to store bought ice cream. Also, many companies add lots of ingredients to prevent the ice cream from freezing.

♥, Kelly

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