Ice Cream Sandwiches for Dad

Since I just wrote about ice cream the other day, I think it inspired me to do something with it for Father's Day, as it was fresh in my mind.  Given my love for chocolate, I was inspired to make homemade ice cream sandwiches, using rich brownies as the sandwich part and good ol' fashioned vanilla (with chocolate and peanut) ice cream as its interior.  

The whole process was pretty easy and painless, the brownies taking only about 15 minutes to assemble and then about 12 minutes to bake.  A tricky aspect of this dessert, as you can tell by my messy pictures is cutting the brownies properly, after the ice cream froze inside (or so I thought).  Because I picked a softer type of ice cream (Turkey Hill Tin Roof Sunday), it had a hard time staying in the sandwich, and I think I got a little too excited, and took it out too early.  It's currently resting and solidifying in the freezer, and I hope the end result will be fabulous.

You can make your own by using your favorite brownie recipe and then stuffing the inside with your favorite ice cream, or you can follow this simple recipe from Everyday Food.  

Brownie-Ice Cream Sandwich:

Ingredients:
1 stick unsalted butter, melted plus more for pan
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp fine salt
1/2 cup of all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
2 pints ice cream, softened

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a 10 x 15 inch jelly-roll pan.  Line with parchment, leaving a 2-inch overhang on short sides, then butter paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together butter and sugar, then whisk in eggs and salt.  Add flour and cocoa and mix until just smooth.  Spread in pan.  Bake until brownie is dry to the touch and edges have begun to pull away from the pan, 10-12 minutes.  Let cool 5 minutes.  Using paper overhang, transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Transfer brownie to a work surface and cut in half crosswide.  Cover pan with a large sheet of plastic wrap and place one cake half on it.  Spread with ice cream, invert remaining brownie half on top, and wrap tightly in plastic.  Freeze until firm, about 2 hours.

Unwrap, cut into 12 pieces, and serve.