Pumpkin-Gingerbread Ice Cream Sandwiches

How long has it been since you last had an ice cream sandwich? What about one that isn’t vanilla ice cream atop a chocolate cookie? If you’re looking for something a little more creative, or for a way to wow your friends and family during the holidays, give this recipe a try.

Gingerbread Sugar Cookies

• 250 grams butter
• 125 grams powdered sugar
• 1 egg
• 370 grams flour
• 3 grams salt
• 2 grams baking powder
• 3 grams ground ginger
• 2 grams ground cloves
• 1 gram ground cinnamon
• Egg wash
• Sanding sugar

Cream the butter and the powdered sugar with the paddle attachment. Scrape the bowl and add the egg. Mix until combined. Combine the flour, salt, baking powder and spices and add to the mixing bowl. Mix until combined. 

Turn the dough on to your work surface and shape it into a disk. Wrap it in plastic wrap and flatten it some more. Refrigerate overnight. 

Remove dough from refrigerator and roll to 1/8″ thickness. Cut with a square cookie cutter that is about 3″ and place them on a sheetpan lined with a silicon mat or a piece of parchment paper. Brush the tops of the cookies with egg wash and sprinkle sanding sugar on top. Bake at 350F for about 8 minutes. Let the cookies cool before assembling the ice cream sandwiches.

Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream

• 450 grams whole milk
• 100 grams heavy cream
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp cloves
• 170 grams sugar
• 70 grams egg yolks
• 200 grams fresh pumpkin puree

Cut a medium size pumpkin in half. Place on a sheet pan cut side down and bake at 375F for about 30 minutes or until flesh soft and scoopable. Measure 200 grams of the pumpkin flesh, puree and set aside. 

In a medium saucepan, heat the milk, heavy cream, half of the sugar and the spices. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and the rest of the sugar. When the milk mixture comes to a boil, temper into the egg yolks and whisk. Return this base to the pan and cook to 82C or until it coats the back of a wooden spoon. 

Strain this custard through a fine sieve into a clean bowl. Mix the pumpkin puree into it and place the bowl over an ice bath to cool it quickly. Let the ice cream base rest in the refrigerator overnight. 

Churn in ice cream machine and when done, pour into a frozen quarter sheet pan. Freeze until solid. 

Cut ice cream with the same size square cookie cutter used to cut the gingerbread sugar cookies. Place the ice cream squares between cookies and serve.

View the full recipe here.