I Scream Sandwiches!

Even though we have over 200 channels, our TV seemingly only knows a handful. Cooking Channel, Food TV, Travel Channel, The Weather Channel, USA (we’re Burn Notice junkies and characters to boot) and NBC for the news.

As you know by now, we do a lot of cooking at our house. And even when we’re not cooking, we’re watching someone else cook. And thinking about what to cook next. It’s become an obsession. Though to tell you the truth, when we do “flip” to see what else is on, the choices are so mindless. I am not going to watch Storage Wars, Teen Mom, Big Brother, Swamp Loggers (though, shockingly, I have caught David watching an episode or two of this show) or any of the many Housewives and their cat-fighting episodes. So, we go back to what we know and love. Food.

We were watching Unique Eats the other night and it was all about ice cream. One of my very favorite foods.  The show featured ice cream food trucks, nitrogen-made ice cream and ice cream sandwiches. Ka-boom! That got my attention.

And what unique eats they are! There is a food truck that traverses the streets of Los Angeles and makes amazing ice cream sandwiches. Natsha and Freya own and operate Coolhaus Los Angeles where they sell ginormous scoops of handmade, gourmet ice cream (how about Madagascar Vanilla Bean, Mexican Chocolate, Coffee Toffee, Blood Orange Sorbet, Mascarpone and Balsamic Fig) that are “sandwiched” between two gorgeous homemade cookies (Chocolate Chip, Snickerdoodle, Oatmeal, Ginger and even a Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip) and when I saw these, I knew I had to have one. The image below is from New York Timeout…and I just know you, too, want one!

Photo courtesy of New York Time Out

But the reality is that I was not going to LA anytime soon*, so I took the matter in my own hands. As if I needed an excuse…it’s my non-birthday week and rather than make myself a cake, pie or have someone else make me a special dessert I’m not head over heels with, I made ice cream sammies.

Paleo and gluten-free, protein-packed chocolate chip cookies lovingly encasing a fabulous scoop of homemade vanilla frozen yogurt. What else can I say except, Happy Birthday to me.

Buen provecho!

*In doing a little research on Coolhaus, I came to learn that there is a Coolhaus ice cream truck in Austin, as well as in New York and the Hamptons. If you want to find them, and one day very soon I will, here’s how you can track down the Austin truck.

Note: After this post had been written and sammies made and enjoyed, I woke up Wednesday morning, July 20, to find the New York Times Dining section feature story was about the “new” frozen treats New Yorkers are eating this summer…popsicles, frozen bananas, frozen (chocolate-dipped) Key lime pie on a stick, shaved ice and, yes, Coolhaus ice cream sammies.

Print

Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookie Sandwiches with Vanilla Frozen Yogurt

Please don't turn your nose up at these grain- and gluten-free cookies. I promise they are fabulous. I love trying recipes that use alternative ingredients and this one is a winner. I'd be surprised if anyone even knows (or cares) that they are missing flour. In fact, when David tasted them he asked, "these are gluten-free?" To say this frozen yogurt is good is to say roses are nice. Once you make this easy recipe, you'll never pay $6 for a serving of Orange Cup, Pinkberry or any other over-priced frozen yogurt again. In fact, you'll just want to have a quart of this stuff in the freezer at all times--or at least I will. It's tangy, not-too-sweet and simply amazing.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword chocolate chip cookies, frozen yogurt, paleo

Servings 8

Author The Cowgirl Gourmet mildly adapted the frozen yogurt recipe from Heidi Swanson's 101 Cookbooks and the chocolate chip cookie recipe came from some Paleo website

Ingredients

For the frozen yogurt:

• 1-24 oz. container of Greek yogurt plain and made with whole milk (do not buy a non-fat version)
• 1/3 cup plus 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the cookies:

• 3 cups almond flour coarsely ground almond also known as almond meal
• 1/2 cup coconut oil melted
• 1/2 cup maple syrup honey or agave nectar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

To make the frozen yogurt:

1. Mix all three ingredients together in a bowl and stir until sugar is completely dissolved. Refrigerate at least one hour.

   

2. Freeze in your ice cream maker according the manufacturer's instructions.

   

3. For best results, allow to soften slightly before eating.

   

To make the cookies:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat so cookies do not stick.

2. Place dry ingredients in a small bowl and stir to combine.

3. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, beat the eggs, sweetener of choice and vanilla with a mixer.

4. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and mix until combined. Add the melted coconut oil and continue to blend until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

5. Form into small balls and place on the baking sheet. Using the palm of your hand, flatten each cookie. Bake for 12-15 minutes, turning the cookie sheet after 6 minutes.

   

6. When cookies are golden, remove baking sheet from the oven and let rest 2-3 minutes.

   

7. Remove the cookies and place on a cooling rack.

8. When cookies are completely cooled, place a scoop of vanilla frozen yogurt on a cookie and top with another cookie of the same size. Repeat until you have lots of ice cream sandwiches.

   

9. Invite a friend to enjoy an ice cream sandwich with you, sing Happy Birthday and eat. Even if it's not your birthday.