Serves a Crowd

Raspberry Ice Cream Sandwiches

July  6, 2011
5
1 Ratings
Photo by James Ransom
  • Makes almost 2 dozen sandwiches
Author Notes

So, my favorite way to eat raspberries is standing in a raspberry bush and popping them straight into my mouth. But, I started thinking about other ways I would like to eat raspberries, ways I haven't even tried yet, and what popped into my mind was raspberry ice cream sandwiches, made with lemon coconut shortbread. I decided to set about making them. They turned out to be everything I hoped they would be! The shortbread is light and soft-crisp and gives way with a nice crunch to the creamy tangy ice cream within. And they're wonderfully messy to eat if you let them get to that nice point where they're squishy and melty and you can squeeze the ice cream out the sides and lick it off before taking another bite.
The ice cream is creamy and berry-ful. It's based generally off of a basic vanilla ice cream with a whole lot of raspberry puree added, plus a splash of chambord to help keep the ice cream from freezing too hard. The shortbread is based off of a recipe from Bon Appetit with a number of adjustments and some flavor modifications. —fiveandspice

Test Kitchen Notes

WHO: fiveandspice is a Boston-based FOOD52-er whose creative, inspired recipes we can always count on.
WHAT: A gorgeous, elegant ice cream sandwich that hits a perfect flavor combination.
HOW: You make an intense raspberry ice cream (whose color comes simply from pureeing and straining the berries), then sandwich it in between toasted coconut-lemon shortbread.
WHY WE LOVE IT: The cookies are amazing on their own -- fine-crumbed and a little shaggy with coconut and lemon zest -- but they hold together like champs when matched with the ice cream. —The Editors

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • Raspberry ice cream
  • 3 cups strained raspberry puree (made from blending and straining about 30 oz. raspberries. Strain well! Frozen and defrosted raspberries work fine.)
  • 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
  • 1 1/2 cups half and half
  • 1/2 vanilla bean
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 5 egg yolks
  • 1 tablespoon Chambord (creme de cassis works in a pinch, but you can also skip this)
  • Coconut lemon shortbread and sandwich assembly
  • 1 cup unsweetened finely shredded coconut
  • 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter (use good quality), soft but still slightly cooler than room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • the zest of 2 lemons
  • 2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
Directions
  1. Raspberry ice cream
  2. In a small bowl, lightly whisk the egg yolks and set aside.
  3. Add the cream and half and half and sugar to a saucepan. Split the vanilla bean and scrape the insides in. Then toss in the pod, for good measure. Heat just to a simmer.
  4. Add about 1/4 cup of the hot liquid to the egg yolks, whisking furiously to temper the yolks. Add another 1/2 cup, continuing to whisk. Then, scrape the egg mixture into the pot with the rest of the liquid is. Cook, stirring constantly at a low simmer until the mixture thickens to a custard consistency, thick enough to thickly coat the back of a spoon.
  5. Strain the custard into a bowl. Stir in the raspberry puree and Chambord until completely mixed. Refrigerate at least 4 hours (I like to leave mine overnight). Then, churn in an ice cream machine according to your machine's directions, transfer to a container and freeze.
  6. Use to assemble ice cream sandwiches with the cookies, as directed below.
  1. Coconut lemon shortbread and sandwich assembly
  2. Spread the coconut on a baking sheet. Bake in a 325F oven until just lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely.
  3. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Then beat in the salt and lemon juice.
  4. Beat in the flour in two additions, adding the coconut and lemon zest with the second addition. Then beat just until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and forms almost a single mass.
  5. Gather the dough together, flatten it into a disc, wrap it in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour.
  6. Preheat your oven to 325F. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to about a quarter inch thickness. Use a 2 inch round cookie cutter to cut circles. Transfer the cookies to parchment lined baking sheets.
  7. Gather the remaining dough together, roll it out again and cut more circles. Repeat as needed to cut all the dough (you may have some odd scraps at the end - bake them and snack on them), using as little flour as possible all the while.
  8. Bake the cookies for about 16-20 minutes (rotating each baking sheet halfway through the baking time), or until they are golden brown. Keeo the sheets with uncooked cookies on them in the refrigerator while they wait to bake.
  9. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 3 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack and allow them to cool completely.
  10. To assemble the ice cream sandwiches, let the raspberry ice cream soften slightly. Place a scoop of ice cream on top of a cookie. Top with another cookie and press down gently to make a sandwich. Wrap with plastic wrap and place in the freezer.
  11. Repeat until you have used up all of the cookie pairs (or all of the ice cream, whichever comes first, but they were fairly well matched). Let the sandwiches freeze until they are hardened. Then serve. They will also keep wrapped and stored in the freezer (put them in a box of some sort to protect them) for a while, just waiting for when you need them.
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51 Reviews

Arthur July 1, 2017
Has anyone tried the ice cream portion of this recipe without using an ice cream machine? Would simply freezing overnight be OK? Thank you, in advance, for your comments!
 
Hillary B. June 23, 2017
Made today with strawberries. The purée was too thick to get through a fine mesh strainer. I also think I cooked the custard bit too long as little clumps began forming. Not to worry, the end result = delicious and decidedly smooth. One last note: this made a lot of ice cream! Over a half gallon. Such a problem to have to solve...
 
gingerroot July 9, 2014
I made these for the 4th if July and they were perfect!
 
borntobeworn September 19, 2013
The ice cream part was a breeze to make but these cookies are a challenge. With 3 sticks of butter in the dough, they are very soft and hard to get off my floured surface in one piece although I chilled the dough for more than 1 hour. If you don't have experience rolling out dough to a certain thickness, the caution about not using too much flour should be ignored - you need a certain amount or they just stick to everything. So keep dusting until you hit that happy medium :)
 
Muse June 26, 2013
Oh my goodness this is absolutely decadent! Thank you for posting your recipe.
 
fiveandspice June 26, 2013
Thank you!
 
Shalala August 29, 2012
Have discovered just one problem with this recipe: it is almost impossible to stop yourself from eating the shortbread dough before it is cooked. My husband and I just love it. Highly recommend this one!
 
fiveandspice September 3, 2012
Teehee. That is a problem! A reason to make a double batch, I guess! :)
 
Shalala August 28, 2012
Haven't made the sandwich cookies yet as I just finished making the ice cream this morning. Even on its own it is absolutely delicious! I echo the need to leave the ice cream cooling in the refrigerator over night. I have noted a noticeable difference in the batter after that amount of time--it generally seems to give the flavors more of a chance to gel.
 
fiveandspice August 29, 2012
Oh good! I'm glad it's going well so far!
 
leslie3733 August 26, 2012
How much ice cream is yielded from this recipe? Also, at the size you prefer for each cookie, how many cookies does that recipe make? Thx.
 
fiveandspice August 26, 2012
Hi Leslie! The ice cream portion makes around 1 1/2 quarts. And the whole recipe makes somewhere around two dozen sandwiches.
 
Scribbles August 24, 2012
I can not wait to try these - I love raspberries!
 
fiveandspice August 24, 2012
Me too! I hope you enjoy them!
 
Kitchen B. August 23, 2012
Many congratulations - what a wonderful combination! I was on your blog this weekend, loving your 'boller' recipe!
 
fiveandspice August 23, 2012
Thanks KB! And, I'm so glad you are loving the boller! They're one of my all time favorite treats.
 
creamtea August 22, 2012
Oh, yum.
 
fiveandspice August 23, 2012
:)
 
AntoniaJames August 22, 2012
Yes, I'd agree, this certainly is show stopping. And what a drop dead gorgeous photo, too. I love the combination of flavors but even more so, am thrilled to have found a tried-and-true cookie that works well in ice cream sandwiches. Congrats on the Wildcard which I know, even without having tested the recipe, is richly deserved!! ;o)
 
fiveandspice August 23, 2012
Thank you so much AJ! That's so kind of you to say!
 
gingerroot August 22, 2012
Woo-hoo!! Congrats on the well deserved wildcard, fiveandspice. These beauties are the perfect end-of-summer treat, and I hope to make them soon.
 
fiveandspice August 22, 2012
Thanks Jenny! I hope you guys get a chance to try them. (p.s. passion fruit ginger jam = life changing. Amazing.) :)
 
gingerroot August 22, 2012
Yay! So glad to hear you are enjoying it...I will keep you well stocked once you move. : )
 
Madhuja August 22, 2012
These look absolutely fantastic! Congratulations!
 
fiveandspice August 22, 2012
Thank you Madhuja!
 
Nozlee S. August 22, 2012
We couldn't stop eating these in the test kitchen -- congrats on an amazing recipe, fiveandspice!
 
fiveandspice August 22, 2012
Thanks so much Nozlee! I'm thrilled you guys liked them! It's funny because I was actually thinking about these earlier in the week and wishing my kitchen wasn't packed into boxes so I could make them. I'm so glad that you guys did instead!
 
ChefJune August 22, 2012


I'm sure you couldn't! they sound unbearably decadent. If I had that many lemon coconut shortbread cookies and that much raspberry ice cream in the house at the same time, I'd be in SERIOUS trouble!
 
drbabs August 22, 2012
And they're gorgeous! Congratulations, fiveandspice!
 
fiveandspice August 22, 2012
Thank you drbabs! You're so kind.
 
mrslarkin August 22, 2012
Hooray fiveandspice! Congrats on the wildcard. These are beauties!
 
fiveandspice August 22, 2012
Thanks so much MrsL! I'm glad you approve!
 
TheWimpyVegetarian August 22, 2012
Congrats on the Wildcard win!!! This looks just fantastic!!
 
fiveandspice August 22, 2012
Wow! Thank you so much Susan! And belated congratulations on your gorgeous linguine recipe last week! I've been head down embroiled in thesis committee meetings and packing to move and it slipped my mind to congratulate you earlier, but it is high on my must cook list.
 
TheWimpyVegetarian August 22, 2012
No worries. I think an ice cream sandwich beats out any linguini dish and day of the week. Just sayin' :-) Good luck with your thesis and your move!
 
gingerroot July 14, 2011
Holy moly, fiveandspice! I'm only now looking through all of these raspberry entries and these sound ah-mazing. I think you should add these beauties to your bicycle-pulled food stand. You'd have a line a mile long in the summer!
 
fiveandspice July 14, 2011
Aw, thanks gingerroot! If I could find a freezer trailer for my bicycle they would be a good addition, wouldn't they?! :) We just finished eating the last two last night, and I'm so sad they're gone. Midge just told me about a community kitchen in the neighborhood where you can rent space, so who knows, the bicycle food stand may someday be a reality...
 
Sagegreen July 9, 2011
I just noticed these: What a great idea to make your own shortbread with coconut for the chambord raspberry dream filling!
 
fiveandspice July 9, 2011
Thank you Sagegreen! I'm really happy with how the combination of textures and flavors worked out! I just love ice cream sandwiches! I think they're so fun to eat.