Ice Cream Sandwiches

My daughter, who is nearly 4 years old, is crazy for ice cream sandwiches.  So in honor of the last day of school I thought we'd make some.  I played around with the cookie bit until I found something that worked.  And the ice cream bit is easy.  They turned out great, way better than store-bought! So here's the tutorial.  Make a bunch, and enjoy them all summer long!

Ice Cream Sandwiches

Ingredients:
1 Devil's Food Cake mix
3/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Vanilla ice cream (or whatever flavor you prefer)
Sprinkles (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F.  Mix the cake mix, shortening, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl until well mixed.

Take a leveled tablespoon of the dough and put it on the cookie sheet.  Then mold it into a square that is slightly bigger than an inch all around, and about 1/4-1/2-inch thick.

Keep the squares at least an inch and a half apart, because they spread quite a bit.  I had twelve raw cookies on my baking sheet.

Place cookies in oven and bake at 350F for 9 minutes.  When cookies are baked, remove from oven and immediately use a knife or spatula to make them square again.  Unless you don't care, in which case, don't. :)

Let the cookies sit on the baking sheet for a minute or two, then remove to a cooling rack that is lined with paper towels.

Let cookies cool completely, about an hour.  When you're ready to put the cookies together, place an empty baking sheet in your freezer and get out the ice cream!

Using a butter knife, spread ice cream in a thick layer on a cookie.  Mine was about 3/4-inch thick. 

Put another cookie on top and press down slightly, then use the knife to smooth out the edges, filling in any missing bits and getting rid of extra ice cream.

At this point my daughter suggested we put sprinkles on the edges, her logic being that, "It will give them more goodness."  Hard to argue with that.

After you're done with one, either put it on the baking sheet in your freezer, or if you're like my daughter, eat it immediately.

After they've been in the freezer for a good while and are nice and firm, you can remove them to a plastic zippered bag and store them there.

Makes about 15 ice cream sandwiches.  Recipe is easily doubled or tripled to make enough for all the neighborhood kids as well as your own.