The coolest sandwiches

Homemade cookies layered with ice cream bring chills of delight

One of the happiest sounds of my childhood summers was the jingling strain of the ice cream truck, faint and far off at first, then getting louder and nearer. By the time the little white vehicle reached the bottom of our hill, a swarm of neighborhood kids had converged--barefoot, climes clutched in hands--to buy their favorite treats: Nutty Buddies, Push-Ups, and those wonderfully squishy vanilla ice cream sandwiches made with slightly cardboardy chocolate cookies.

My taste for ice cream sandwiches has grown up, as I have. It turns out that making them at home is as fun as buying them from the ice cream vendor. And homemade versions are several notches higher on the gourmet ladder. They can be customized with favorite flavors to boot--slabs of crunchy oatmeal cookies packed with peach or strawberry ice cream, chewy brownies layered with coffee or mint--chocolate chip ice cream (I dunk the works in melted chocolate).

Full-fat ice cream freezes the hardest, producing the neatest, easiest-to-handle bundles; lower-fat ice cream makes sandwiches that are softer and a little less tidy, but still perfectly delicious.

Crunchy Ice Cream--Cookie Sandwiches

PREP AND COOK TIME: About 1 1/2 hours, plus at least 3 hours to freeze

NOTES: Buy ice cream in cardboard cartons, not plastic tubs (you need to be able to snip the cartons and peel them off, then quickly slice the ice cream). It's easiest to use ice cream in rectangular cartons, but round ones will work.

MAKES: 9 sandwiches

About 1/3 cup butter or margarine

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup dark corn syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups quick-cooking rolled oats

1/2 cup sweetened shredded dried coconut or sliced almonds

1 quart strawberry or peach ice cream

1. Lightly butter a 10- by 15-inch rimmed baking pan. Line pan with a 15- by 20-inch piece of cooking parchment, spreading it smooth (edges will stick up above pan rim). Butter and flour parchment.

2. In a 2- to 3-quart pan over medium-high heat, melt 1/3 cup butter, stirring often, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, and salt; stir until smooth. Add oats and coconut; mix until evenly blended. Scatter oat mixture in lined pan; with a long metal spatula, spread mixture level.

3. Bake in a 375[degrees] regular or convection oven until cookie is browned at edges and bubbling all over, about 10 minutes. Let cool just until cookie begins to firm but is still warm, about 2 minutes (if too cool, cookies will crack when cut). Invert a 12- by 15-inch baking sheet over pan; holding pan and sheet together, carefully invert cookie onto sheet. Cut into 18 rectangles 2 1/2 by 3 1/3 inches. Let cool.

4. Return 9 of the cookies, smooth side up, to lined pan, setting them side by side in a single layer to make a snug rectangle in half the pan.

5. With scissors, snip through opposite sides of ice cream carton from top to bottom; peel carton from ice cream and discard. Working quickly, place ice cream on a board (if round, trim off 1 side and lay on flat side). With a long, heavy knife, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Set slices side by side over cookies in pan; fill in any bare spots with ice cream scraps to cover completely, and trim off any excess. Freeze remaining ice cream for other uses. Cover ice cream with remaining 9 cookies, matching the orientation of bottom cookies. Wrap pan airtight and freeze until ice cream is firm, at least 3 hours.

6. Lift ice cream sandwiches on parchment from pan and transfer to a board. Cut between cookies; trim sandwich edges with a knife, if desired. Serve, or wrap sandwiches individually airtight and freeze up to 2 weeks.

Per sandwich: 338 cal., 40% (135 cal.) from fat; 5 g protein; 15 g fat (5.8 g sat.); 49 g carbo (2.1 g fiber); 202 mg sodium; 36 mg chol.

Mocha Brownie Ice Cream Stacks

PREP AND COOK TIME: About 1 3/4 hours, plus at least 3 1/2 hours to freeze

MAKES: 12 stacks

About 1/4 cup (1/8 lb.) butter or margarine

About 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 ounce unsweetened chocolate

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons finely ground coffee

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 large egg

1 quart coffee ice cream

2 packages (12 oz. each) semisweet chocolate chips

6 tablespoons solid vegetable shortening

1. Butter and flour 12 muffin cups, each about 21/2 inches wide.

2. In a 1- to 2-quart pan over medium-low heat, stir l/4 cup butter and the unsweetened chocolate often until melted and smooth, 5 to 6 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in sugar, ground coffee, vanilla, and egg. Add 1/2 cup flour and mix until smooth. Spoon batter equally into muffin cups (about 31/2 teaspoons per cup).

3. Bake in a 350[degrees] regular or convection oven just until brownie edges spring back when lightly pressed, 6 to 8 minutes. Loosen brownies from pans with a knife and tip out onto a rack. Let cool completely about 20 minutes.

4. Line unwashed muffin cups with 6-inch squares of plastic wrap, letting edges extend above cup rims. Return brownies to cups.