My husband is on this big get-fit kick and I’m over here 5 months pregnant devouring ice cream sandwiches. What happened to sympathy bellies and dad bods? Are those old news?
I’m not mad about it one bit, though. Perhaps a little jealous, but not mad because that means more ice cream sandwiches for me and these are so divine, I may not even share. Also, one of us will need to intimidate future suitors for our daughter one day and, with recipes like this one, I’m afraid I’ll have the reverse effect. Fit husband it is.
For the ice cream, I took a little twist on buttered pecan because a) who doesn’t love buttered pecan? and b) pistachio is my personal favorite ice cream flavor. Thus, I imagined a combination of the two would be a match made in ice cream heaven. Guess what? It is! And sandwiching this ice cream between two chewy chocolate cookies (store-bought or homemade…recipe follows) elevates the situation even further. Like to the upper echelons of ice cream heaven. 
(FYI, photographing ice cream in the heat of Texas summer is not for the faint of heart…)
For the cookies, I wanted something simple but delicious and these chewy chocolate ones are surely both. They take all of 15 minutes from start to finish.
With that said, there are 2 separate recipes in this post, one for the buttered pistachio ice cream and another for super simple, chewy chocolate chip cookies. Make sure cookies are cooled and ice cream is frozen but soft before assembling the sandwiches. Roll them in chopped (raw) pistachios and wrap in parchment to freeze (or serve immediately.)
¡Buen provecho!
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 1 cup raw shelled pistachios (unsalted) + ½ cup to top ice cream
- 1 Tablespoon sea salt flakes
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- Bring a large skillet to medium heat. Add butter and stir until golden brown. Sprinkle in 1 cup of the pistachios and toast about a minute or so, until most butter is absorbed. Sprinkle with sea salt and set aside to cool.
- In a medium saucepan, heat 1 cup of the milk and 1 cup of the cream over medium heat.
- In a glass measuring cup or bowl, whisk egg yolks with vanilla, sugar and cinnamon until thoroughly combined. Roughly chop the pistachios and fold them into the egg mixture.
- Slowly drizzle in egg mixture to the warm milk/cream mixture, whisking as you go to temper the egg. Remove from heat. Whisk in remaining 1 cup milk and 1 cup heavy cream. Set aside to cool.
- Use your ice cream maker's instructions for the remainder of the process. I have a freezer bowl ice cream maker, so if you're using one of these, just make sure your ice cream mixture is totally cooled and put the freezer bowl in the freezer a day before you make this. If you're using an old-fashioned ice cream maker, make sure you have ice, rock salt and plenty of time!
- Once ice cream is made, chop remainder of (raw) pistachios and sprinkle on top (or save for ice cream sandwiches) for a pop of that bright green color!
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (such as Valrhona)
- 1 Tablespoon corn starch
- ½ teaspoon sea salt flakes
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Heat oven to 375 degrees.
- In a mixing bowl combine powdered sugar, cocoa powder, corn starch and sea salt.
- Whisk in 2 large eggs and chocolate chips until batter is combined and gooey.
- On a parchment-lined baking sheet (or 2) scoop small spoonfuls of batter about 2 inches apart to make approx. 8-10 cookies. Make sure to use your finger or a spoon to spread into perfect, small circles.
- Bake cookies for about 10-12 minutes, depending on cookie size.
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