Peanut Butter Cookie and Salted Caramel Ice Cream Sandwiches

We're stepping away from healthy today.

Way...way...waaaaaaay far away from healthy. Like.... *here* is this recipe today and that little tiny speck you see in the distance... way...way in the distance... that's healthy.

Everyone needs to indulge a little every once in a while, is what I say. Peanut butter cookies and salted caramel ice cream are two of my most favorite treats so I decided to combine them in the most magical way I could think of: ice cream sammies. 

Yes. They are sweet, in case you were wondering and, yes, they are very rich. You can make them any size you like depending on how big your sweet tooth is. Ever seen a fossilized tooth of a Spinosaurus? That's what my sweet tooth looks like. True story. 

Anyway, this recipe is a bit of work as it really requires 3 recipes to complete the whole picture. 1. Peanut Butter Cookies, 2. Salted Caramel Sauce, and 3. No Churn Salted Caramel Ice Cream.  It's okay though - it's worth it in the end, I promise. 

First Up: Peanut Butter Cookies with Salted Caramel Chips.

Peanut Butter Cookies With Salted Caramel Chips

Ingredients

1 cup sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup butter

1 cup peanut butter

4 Tbsp milk

2 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

2 2/3 cup flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 bag Salted Caramel Chips (about 1 1/2 cups)

Directions

In a mixing bowl, beat together sugar, brown sugar, butter, and peanut butter until smooth. Beat in milk, vanilla, and eggs. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and salted caramel chips. 

Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until stiff dough forms. 

Chill dough for at least 2 hours. 

When chilled, preheat oven to 350. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or Silpat mat. Scoop cookies using a large cookie scoop onto prepared cookies sheet, about 2 inches apart to allow for spreading. 

Bake at 350 until bottoms are golden brown and tops are puffed and appear dry, about 8 minutes. 

Remove from oven and let cool on cookie sheet for about 5 minutes. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack to cool completely. Cookies will flatten a little as they cool.

Next up: Salted Caramel Sauce

Salted Caramel Sauce

Ingredients

1/4 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup whipping cream

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 Tbsp vanilla

Directions.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine ingredients.

 Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. When boiling, Lower heat to medium low and simmer, stirring constantly, for 7 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temp. (Store any leftovers in the fridge). 

Lastly: No Churn Salted Caramel Ice Cream

No Churn Salted Caramel Ice Cream

Ingredients

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1/4 cup Salted Caramel Sauce (Recipe Above)

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups whipping cream

2 Tbsp Salted Caramel Sauce (Recipe Above)

Directions

In a medium bowl, stir together the sweetened condensed milk, caramel, and vanilla. Set aside. 

In a large mixing bowl, whip the whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the condensed milk mixture into the whipping cream. 

Pour the ice cream into a 9 X 13 pan lined with tinfoil. Swirl in the 2 Tbsp of caramel using a knife. 

Cover and freeze until firm, about 6 hours. (NOTE - if you are making the ice cream but NOT making ice cream sandwiches with it, you do not have to line the pan with tinfoil.)

And now.... the fun part.... assembling your ice cream sandwiches. 

All you will need is another bag of salted caramel chips (about 1 1/2 cups).

Take the frozen ice cream out of the freezer and, using the tinfoil for assistance, remove the ice cream to a flat work surface. Using a round cookie cutter the same size as your cookies, cut out circles from the ice cream. Work as quick as you can so the ice cream doesn't start to melt. 

Flip one peanut butter cookie upside down so the bottom is facing up. 

Top with a round of ice cream and then another peanut butter cookie.

Repeat until all the ice cream has been used up. 

I got 7 large sandwiches with some ice cream leftover. I could have probably gotten 8 or 9 sandwiches if I squished the ice cream leftovers together. 

Place back in freezer to firm up for about an hour. 

When the ice cream is firm again, melt the bag of salted caramel chips in the microwave in 20 second intervals, stirring in between, until smooth. 

Take one sandwich from the freezer at a time and dip half the sandwich in the melted caramel chips. It helps to use a knife to evenly spread the caramel. 

Return to freezer and then repeat with remaining sandwiches. You may have to reheat the melted caramel chips if they start to harden up. 

Freeze until firm or serve immediately. Wrap individually in plastic wrap for longer storage. 

Looks pretty darned tasty, right?

So. Much. Tastiness. 

As I  mentioned above, these do require a bit of a commitment to put together. You could cheat and get store bought cookies, sauce, and ice cream but it just wouldn't be the same. At all. Like.... not even close. I recommend you take the time and effort - trust me, the reward is worth it! 

 

 

Be sure to pop over to Carole's Chatter for tons of great food links!