Do you ever find a dessert that you simply can not get enough of? Like get me more of that right now or I might hurt someone? These are that dessert for me right now. I saw them last week on Shutterbean, and thought about them and went back to the post for days before I finally made them. And then did this whole “holy crap why didn’t I make these sooner” thing in my head. These are AMAZING. So good. I’m a huge ice cream fan, and throw in lemons, blueberries and cookies… well that’s just dangerously good. The cookie gets even better made soggy and soft by the freezer and the ice cream. I let my babe have a lick of one of these and her eyes lit up and a loud “mmmmmm” escaped her lips. Kid knows her foods. I’m pretty sure I ate 4 minis in the span of 30 minutes. Thank god I’m still breastfeeding so what I eat doesn’t really count.

I adapted this recipe just slightly. I’ve found lately that I like all cookie recipes better when I skip the brown sugar, and use white sugar and molasses instead. Brown sugar is basically just white sugar with molasses still in it, but something about adding it myself makes the cookies sooooo good. Maybe I’m heavy handed and I add too much. Whatever it is, it lends this deep flavor to everything.The ice cream here is easy. You just dress up some store bought vanilla. Buy the good stuff. I bought this ice cream. A favorite of mine for a while now, although I do wish they would offer an organic option(one thats sans xanthan or guar gum, and all those other fun stabliziers). Next time I will make my own ice cream, but I was too impatient this round. The blueberry compote took all of 5 minutes. The cookies were done in 20. Super quick and easy. And oh so good, did I mention that? I can’t handle the goodness good. Get in my belly right now good. Make these tonight. See if you can stop eating them. I’m betting you can’t.

Lemon Blueberry Ice Cream Sandwiches

makes 4 large(with lots of extra in between pieces) or 20 mini sandwiches

recipe via Shutterbean adapted from Gourmet Magazine

Ingredients

For lemon ice cream:

2 pints(or 1 quart) premium vanilla ice cream
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

For blueberry compote:

1 cup blueberries
1/8 cup sugar
5 strips lemon zest
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

For sandwich layers:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon molasses
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Make lemon ice cream: Let ice cream sit out for 10-15 minutes at room temperature, until it reaches the consistency of soft serve. Transfer ice cream to a large bowl and stir in lemon zest and juice. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and freeze while making compote and sandwich layers.

2. Make blueberry compote: Cook blueberries, sugar, and zest in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-high heat, thoroughly crushing blueberries with a potato masher, until juices are released and sugar has dissolved, about 2 minutes. Add lemon juice. Transfer blueberry compote to a bowl and chill until cold, about 1 hour. Discard lemon zest. Dollop compote in ice cream by the tablespoon, swirl into ice cream. Transfer ice cream to a 8×8 baking dish and freeze until firm, about 4 hours or over night.

3. Make sandwich layers while compote chills: Preheat oven to 375°F with rack in middle. Butter 9×13 baking pan and line with parchment, leaving a 1-inch overhang on each side, then butter parchment. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. Beat together butter and sugar in another bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in egg, molasses and vanilla. At low speed, add flour mixture in 2 batches, mixing until just combined. Spread into thin, even layer in baking pan with offset spatula. Bake until golden-brown but still tender, 15-20 minutes. Cool completely in pan, about 30 minutes.

4. Assemble sandwiches: Using a circular cutter or a glass cut rounds out of the ice cream and cookie layers. Sandwich together, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze until firm.