Snickerdoodle Ice Cream Sandwiches

Snickerdoodles are my favorite cookie. When my grandmother, Audrey, was still alive, she would always have a batch waiting for me whenever I visited her. I like pretty much all snickerdoodles, homemade and store-bought alike, but hers were the best. I still have the handwritten recipe she gave me several years before she passed, and I always think of her when I make them, which is pretty regularly. They are fantastic on their own, but even better sandwiched around some vanilla ice cream, which believe me Audrey would have approved of wholeheartedly!

Audrey's Snickerdoodles
(makes about 36 cookies)

Ingredients:
Cookies:
1 cup of shortening
1 1/2 cup of sugar
2 eggs
2 3/4 ups of flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 tablespoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt

Cinnamon Sugar:
3 tablespoons of sugar
3 teaspoons of cinnamon

1 quart vanilla ice cream for sandwiches (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Thoroughly cream together butter, sugar and eggs until well combined (2-3 minutes). Stir together dry ingredients with a whisk. With the mixer on the lowest speed, gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture, mixing until just combined.

Chill dough. Roll into balls the size of walnuts (or scoop with a 1 1/2 inch cookie scoop).

Roll in cinnamon sugar mixture. Place about 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake until lightly browned, but still soft (8-10 minutes). Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

Once your cookies are completely cooled, you are ready to make sandwiches. If you used a cookie scoop, your cookies should be more or less uniform in size, but its still a good idea to try to pair cookies of similar diameter.

You'll want your ice cream firm, but easily scoopable. I recommend letting it sit out on the counter for a few minutes to soften. I prefer ice cream sandwiches that are not too tall to bite into easily, so I used my cookie scoop rather than a regular ice cream scoop. After scooping, lightly press on the top cookie until the height of the sandwich is to your liking. Freeze until the ice cream firms up, about 3 hours.

One of my oldest and best friends, Nick, was visiting me over the past weekend, so I put him to work helping me assemble the sandwiches. An extra hand in the kitchen is always great, especially when you are working with melting ice cream. Nick didn't seem to mind helping out, especially when he got to sample the finished product. I hope you all enjoy making this recipe as much as we did!