Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Like red velvet cake and sugar cookies had a baby … plus ice cream! Feel free to get creative with the ice cream flavor.
Texture: The cookies are solid yet not too hard, the perfect complement to the rich and creamy ice cream.
Ease: A little messy to assemble but so much fun.
Pros: Festive sweet treat that’s perfect for the 4th of July, Memorial Day, or anytime throughout the summer!
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These Red Velvet Ice Cream Sandwiches are going to be the talk of your 4th of July celebrations!
Nothing screams summer more than ice cream sandwiches, and these festive treats are not just cute – they’re delicious, too!
And I know a thing or two about ice cream sandwiches. I published an entire cookbook on the subject! Check out my Ice Cream Sandwich cookbook here.
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The red velvet cookies set up perfectly firm, so they’re sturdy enough to not fall apart as you take a bite with the ice cream, but not so hard that you can’t take a big bite.
No one will even want to watch the fireworks while they’re enjoying these cute, festive treats!
Sprinkle of Science
How to Make Red Velvet Ice Cream Sandwiches
The Ice Cream
For the ice cream, feel free to use store-bought ice cream to make this recipe easier.
If you want to make EASY homemade ice cream, check out my post on How to Make Ice Cream without an Ice Cream Machine! I actually have a flavor variation for Cheesecake Ice Cream that would be perfect for these ice cream sandwiches.
If you have an ice cream machine, you can also make my Homemade Ice Cream in any flavor, too.
The Red Velvet Cookies
These sandwiches use my from-scratch Red Velvet Cookie recipe as the base. The cookies can be made and frozen weeks in advance.
I find this recipe works perfectly because the cookies are sturdy enough to hold their shape but not so crunchy that they nearly chip your teeth when you bite into them frozen.
Making Perfect Ice Cream Sandwiches
If you’ve just shaped your cookies into rounds, you can simply scoop out your ice cream and sandwich with abandon.
However, if you’re using a cookie cutter to get perfectly shaped sandwiches (as pictured), then check out my tips below.
Cutting Ice Cream into Shapes
- Allow the ice cream to soften, then spread it into a large rimmed baking dish.
- Use any dish large enough for you to stamp out 12 pieces of ice cream – but the larger the dish, the thinner your ice cream layer will be.
- Place in the freezer until firm.
- Stamp out shapes of ice cream using the same cookie cutter you used for the cookie dough.
Tips for Assembling Shaped Ice Cream Sandwiches
- Take the same cookie cutter you used to shape the cookie dough and use it again on the baked cookies to trim off any spread that occurred while baking. This ensures the edge of the ice cream and the edge of the cookies are perfectly aligned.
- As you assemble, pop the ice cream sandwiches to prevent them from melting.
- Start with everything cold to prevent melting.
- If your ice cream starts to melt, return it to the freezer to firm up.
- To add sprinkles to the edges: Place the sprinkles in a bowl, and press them onto all sides of the sandwiches evenly with your hand.
How to Decorate Ice Cream Sandwiches
- Fourth of July or Memorial Day: Use red, white, and blue sprinkles, as shown here.
- Valentine’s Day: Cut the cookies into hearts and use pink sprinkles.
- St. Patrick’s Day: Use green food coloring instead of red when making the cookies. You could use Mint Chocolate Chip or Irish Cream ice cream for the filling!
- Anytime: You can also drizzle these cookies with melted white chocolate for a pretty, flavorful decoration, or add rainbow sprinkles for added fun.
How to Store Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches
To freeze the sandwiches for longer than a day, wrap them individually in plastic and place inside an airtight container for a week. They may keep even longer than that, depending on your freezer.
How to Serve Ice Cream Sandwiches
If your sandwiches have been in the freezer for an extended period of time, you may want to allow them to sit at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes before serving, to soften slightly, before serving.
More Summer Recipes You’ll Love:
Red Velvet Ice Cream Sandwiches
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Ingredients
- 24 red velvet cookies, shaped into stars
- 2 pints vanilla or cheesecake flavored ice cream
- Sprinkles, if desired
Instructions
- Allow the ice cream to sit at room temperature until softened. Line a large rimmed baking pan (or another similar large, flat container with parchment paper or plastic wrap. Spread softened ice cream evenly over lined baking sheet. Press additional plastic wrap against the surface of the ice cream. Freeze until totally firm, at least 2 hours or up to 3 days. The longer you freeze, the easier it will be to form the ice cream sandwiches.
- When ready to assemble, remove ice cream sheet from freezer. Using the same cookie cutter you used for shaping the cookies, cut out shapes of ice cream and sandwich each between two cookies. Place on a rimmed tray and pop into the freezer as you assemble all the sandwiches, to keep them cold.
- Repeat for remaining cookies, working quickly. If ice cream begins to melt, return to freezer until firm again.
- Freeze sandwiches until firm, at least 1 hour, before serving.
- Sandwiches can be individually wrapped in plastic and stored in freezer for up to 1 week. Let sit at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
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These star ice cream sandwiches were the best 4th of July dessert ever!!!!! The presentation was beautiful and everyone loved them. Can’t wait to make them again!!!!!
Thank you for a great holiday treat!!!!
So awesome to hear this! I’m happy your ice cream sandwiches were such a hit, hooray!!
hi i was wondering how you got the little circles in the cookies! lmk thanks!!