A perfect summertime treat! This red, white and blue ice cream sandwich has red and blue sugar cookies with a lemon-vanilla ice cream center.
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Remember those classic frozen treats we loved as kids on hot summer days? Skippy cups, popsicles in red, orange and purple. Long, melty pouches of Fla-Vor-Ice. (Classic… and cheap – which is why we ate so many of them!)
They’ll always hold a sweet spot in my heart, but now it’s time for something more delicious and indulgent – and in colors to celebrate the summer holiday! A rich ice cream sandwich with homemade cookies.
Why you’ll love them
Because homemade cookies always taste better! These are simple sugar cookies rolled in blue and red sanding sugar – this would be such a fun recipe to make with kids!
Lemon and vanilla is one of the dreamiest flavor combinations, don’t you think? The vanilla ice cream for this dessert is mixed with intensely flavored lemonade concentrate.
How to make this recipe
Step 1: Mix the ice cream filling
Mix softened vanilla ice cream and lemonade concentrate together. Freeze the mixture until it is firm.
Step 2: Make the cookies
Make the sugar cookie dough. Form the dough into small balls and roll the balls in red and blue sanding sugars. Bake the cookies and allow them to cool.
Step 3: Sandwich time
Place a scoop of lemon-vanilla ice cream on a red cookie and sandwich it together with a blue cookie. Repeat until you have sandwiched all of the cookies!
Step 4: Wrap and freeze
Wrap the ice cream sandwiches and freeze them until they are firm enough to serve. Enjoy!
Tips
- Mixing the lemonade concentrate with vanilla ice cream is a quickie way to get this flavor and so easy!
- If you have an ice cream maker and want to make homemade lemon vanilla ice cream, try my recipe for Lemon Ice Cream with Crushed Blueberries – and just leave out the blueberries!
- Be sure to allow for time that the ice cream mixture needs to set in the freezer, and also for the assembled sandwiches to set.
FAQs
To keep the treat tasting its best don’t leave any part exposed to air in the freezer. Use a piece of plastic wrap large enough to wrap the whole sandwich and stay sealed. Or you can wrap the treats in wax paper, and use freezer tape or kitchen twine to close them.
Properly wrapped ice cream sandwiches can last as long as three months in the freezer. For the best flavor, I recommend eating them with two weeks.
The recipe is below! Need more red, white and blue dessert ideas? Here you go!
>> How’d these ice cream sandwiches turn out for you? Leave a comment and star rating below!
Red, White and Blue Ice Cream Sandwiches
Ingredients
- ½ gallon vanilla bean ice cream, softened
- ½ cup frozen lemonade concentrate, partially thawed
For the cookies:
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour, unbleached
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- Red decorating sugar
- Blue decorating sugar
Instructions
Prepare the ice cream
- Find a large bowl and make sure there is space in your freezer to hold the bowl.
- Scoop the vanilla ice cream into the bowl and add in the lemonade concentrate as well. Stir to mix the two together: you want the lemonade to be well-combined with the ice cream, but work quickly so that the ice cream does not become liquid.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, pressing it to the surface of the ice cream. Place the bowl in the freezer and keep it there until the ice cream is firm, about two hours.
Make the cookies
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat baking mat.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter and granulated sugar on medium for 4-5 minutes. Add in the egg and vanilla, and mix them in. Add in half of the dry mixture and mix it on low, then add in the rest of the dry mixture and mix until everything is combined, scraping the bowl a few times as needed.
- Divide the dough in half. Pour the red and blue decorating sugars into separate small bowls. Scoop 1½-inch balls of dough from one of the halves and roll them in the red decorating sugar. Make sure the dough balls are well-coated and then place them on the prepared sheet, with about two inches of space between them.
- Bake the cookies for 10-11 minutes until they are set. (Keep the rest of the dough cool in the fridge.) Remove the cookies to cool completely on a cooling rack.
- When the first half of the dough has been scooped and rolled in red sugar, and baked, scoop and roll the second half of the dough in the blue decorating sugar.
- Bake these as above and let them cool completely. You should have about 22 cookies in each of the colors.
Assemble the sandwiches
- Have plastic wrap ready to go for wrapping the sandwiches:
- Take one red and one blue cookie. Place a ¼-cup scoop of the lemon ice cream onto the bottom of one of the cookies, then sandwich it with the other. Wrap the sandwich up with plastic wrap and place it in the freezer.
- Continue with the rest of the cookies and the ice cream until they are all assembled, wrapped and in the freezer.
- Freeze the sandwiches until they are firm, at least two hours before serving or overnight is ideal. Makes about 22 ice cream sandwiches.
Notes
- Mixing the lemonade concentrate with vanilla ice cream is a quickie way to get this flavor and so easy!
- If you have an ice cream maker and want to make homemade lemon vanilla ice cream, try my recipe for Lemon Ice Cream with Crushed Blueberries – and just leave out the blueberries!
- Be sure to allow for time that the ice cream mixture needs to set in the freezer, and also for the assembled sandwiches to set.
- Wrapping the ice cream sandwiches: to keep this treat tasting its best don’t leave any part exposed to air in the freezer. Use a piece of plastic wrap large enough to wrap the whole sandwich and stay sealed. Or you can wrap the treats in wax paper, and use freezer tape or kitchen twine to close them.
- Properly wrapped ice cream sandwiches can last as long as three months in the freezer. For the best flavor, I recommend eating them with two weeks.
Nutrition
Originally published June 2017. Updated August 2020.
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