Name: Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 155 min
Ingredients: ¾ cup unsalted butter ((170 g) softened, room temp); ¼ cup + 2 Tbsp grape seed oil ((75 g), or other neutral flavored oil); 1 cup + 2 Tbsp granulated sugar ((225 g)); 1 cup + 2 Tbsp light brown sugar ((225 g)); 3 large eggs (, room temp); 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract; 3 cup all-purpose flour ((390 g)); ¾ teaspoon baking powder; ¾ teaspoon baking soda; ¾ teaspoon kosher salt*; ¾ cup sprinkles of choice*; 1.5 quart ice cream of choice*

Chewy cookie ice cream sandwiches made with confetti sugar cookies and mint chocolate chip ice cream.

stack of three sprinkle cookie mint chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches.

Table of Contents

What’s not to love about ice cream sandwiches? It’s everything you could want in a summer sweet treat!

Make these cookie ice cream sandwiches ahead of time and keep your freezer stocked all season long. Choose to make everything from scratch, or simply fill the sandwiches with your favorite store-bought ice cream.

mint chocolate chip ice cream sugar cookie sandwiches arranged on serving platter.

These ice cream sandwiches are easy to customize to your preferences. Swap out the confetti sugar cookies for chocolate chip cookies or peanut butter chip cookies.

Use any flavor of ice cream, gelato, or sorbet! The ice cream can be homemade, no-churn, or store-bought. The choice is all yours! The recipe notes will have all the tips and notes to make it easy to make these frozen treats just way you like ’em!

Kitchen Tools and Equipment

Two 9×13-inch baking pans: These are also called quarter sheet pans. You need two pans to bake the two cookie sandwich layers at the same time.
Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment or Electric Hand Mixer: If you don’t have either machine, you can certainly mix the dough together by hand using a sturdy spatula.
Kitchen Scale: For best results, I highly recommend using a kitchen scale to measure out ingredients. Measuring by weight ensures consistent results. Alternatively, use the “stir and spoon method” for volume measurements (cups and tablespoons).
Food Plastic Wrap: Also known as cling film or food wrap, you will need this to hold together assembled cookie ice cream sandwich as it firms up in the freezer.
Knife: Use a long sharp knife, ideally a chef’s knife (8-inches in length) to slice and portion off the frozen ice cream cookie sandwiches.
Ruler: Of course you can estimate and eye-ball the measurements. However, if you want equal sized portions, use a ruler! I recommend one of these clear acrylic rulers.

Ingredients

The recipe uses your standard cookie dough ingredients: flour, butter, sugar, and eggs. The key difference in the dough is the use of both butter and oil.

Grape Seed Oil: I recommend using a neutral flavored oil like grape seed oil or avocado oil. Refined coconut oil, rice bran oil, or vegetable oil are also good options.
- The small amount of oil in the cookie dough prevents the cookie from completely freezing solid. It allows the cookie to soften faster when taken out of the freezer.
All-Purpose Flour: For best results, measure your flour using a kitchen scale. Otherwise, you the stir and spoon method linked above in the equipment section. For consistency, I test and create all my recipes using King Arthur Baking Company all-purpose flour.
Pure Vanilla Extract: Use highly quality PURE vanilla extract. Alternatively, you may use vanilla bean paste or scrape out fresh vanilla bean pods. Or, you can use almond extract for a different flavor.
Sprinkles: I highly recommend these naturally colored sprinkles- India Tree Nature’s in Carnival Mix and Watkin’s No Artificial Dyes Rainbow Sprinkles.
- Alternatively, you may use mini chocolate chips, jimmies, or flavored chip/morsels of your choice. Keep in mind- standard sized chocolate chips or chopped chocolate chunks will be more difficult to cut through when portioning the sandwiches.
- Or, simply omit mix-ins all together, like the image below.

side by side quarter sheet pans of baked cookie dough.

The cookie dough recipe used here is very versatile! Follow the instructions as is to make confetti sugar cookies. Or, switch up the mix-ins to customize the cookie layer to your liking.

Here are some key notes regarding variations and changes:

Chocolate Chip Cookies: For best results, use mini chocolate chips or small chopped chocolate bar bits. It will be easier to slice the cookies with the mini chips. Standard sized chocolate chip morsels or chopped chocolate chunks are more difficult to slice through when portioning the sandwiches. Use 1 cup mini chocolate chips, about 200 grams in weight.
Brown Butter Chocolate Chip: Brown the butter for rich, nutty flavor! In a small sauce pot, melt butter over medium heat. Continue to cook until butter smells fragrant. The mixture will bubble and foam as it cooks. The milk solids will turn rich brown. Remove from heat and pour into a heat safe bowl. Cool for at least 30 minutes before adding to remaining ingredient.
Plain: Skip the sprinkles and bake the cookie dough as is. It will look like the photo above.
Peanut Butter Chip: Swap in Reese’s Baking peanut butter chips in place of the sprinkles.
Snickerdoodle (Cinnamon Sugar): Omit the sprinkles. Spread the cookie dough into baking sheet. In a small bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon. Sprinkle as little or as much of the cinnamon sugar mixture over cookie dough.
Cookies and Cream (Oreo): Omit the sprinkles. Fold in 1 cup chopped Oreo cookies into the batter.

rainbow confetti over sugar cookie dough. — **Step 1**: Cream butter, oil, and sugars. Add in eggs and vanilla. Add in dry ingredients. Fold in sprinkles (or of mix-ins) by hand.

spread sugar cookie dough on prepared sheet tray. — **Step 2**: Divide batter between two 9×13-inch baking pans. Use an offset spatula or the back of a spoon to spread batter into an even layer.

spread confetti sugar cookie dough on two sheet trays. — **Step 3:** Distribute additional sprinkles over cookie dough. Bake in the center rack just until the edges of the cookies are barely set. The cookies will look underdone. That’s okay!

rainbow confetti sugar cookie baked in sheet tray for ice cream sandwiches. — **Step 4:** Run an offset spatula along the edges of the cookie to loosen from the pan. The cookie sheets will be hot and fragile. Let them cool completely in the pan. Don’t worry about cracks. Don’t worry if the edges are raised a little.

How to Assemble Ice Cream Sandwiches

spread quart of ice cream over sugar cookie sheet. — **Photo 2**: Place one cookie upside down on work surface. Scoop softened ice cream on top of cookie. Spread into an even layer using an offset spatula or the back of a spoon.

mint chocolate chip ice cream sandwiched with confetti sugar cookie. — **Photo 3**: Sandwich ice cream layer with second cookie sheet. Wrap assembled ice cream sandwich tightly in plastic wrap. It’s a good idea to wrap it twice! Place on a flat surface (like baking sheet) and transfer to freezer to set up.

Pro Tips for Slicing and Serving

Use a long sharp knife (preferably an 8-inch chef’s knife or 10-inch knife). I don’t recommend using a serrated knife.
Make sure the ice cream sandwich has been resting in the freezer for at least 2 hours before slicing. I recommend leaving the assembled sandwich rest in the freezer overnight (or about 6-8 hours for best slicing results).
Store-bought ice cream and homemade churned ice cream works best. These ice cream are generally more stable. Homemade no-churn ice cream is often softer and melts a lot faster.
Use a ruler to portion out even-sized ice cream sandwiches.
Slice off the edges for snacking. The edges are usually rough and uneven. Cut them off for better presentation and appearance.

stack of mint chocolate chip ice cream sugar cookie sandwiches on platter.

Storage Instructions

You can individually wrap the portioned out cookie sandwiches in plastic wrap. Then, place in a freezer-safe bag. It will last in the freezer for up to a month.

Or, place the portioned out sandwiches in a single layer inside an airtight container (like a tuppeware). Then, place container in a giant freezer safe bag. Store in the freezer.

Keep these ice cream sandwiches in the coldest part of your freezer. When ready to eat, remove from the freezer and allow sandwich to sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes.

The cookie layer needs that time to soften. The cookies will not freeze rock hard thanks to the oil in the cookie dough.