Sweet lemon-vanilla ice cream sandwiched between sugar cookies is delicious enough, but ice cream sandwiches decked out in red, white and blue are delicious AND patriotic!!
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!
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.