July is National Ice Cream Month, a month dedicated to enjoying and indulging in America’s favorite cool, creamy treat. In celebration of California’s continuing role as the number one producer of ice cream in the U.S., the California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB) has partnered with California-based Coolhaus, an architecturally-inspired gourmet ice cream company specializing in innovative flavored ice cream sandwiches, to create three signature California ice cream sandwich treats.
“While our passion for ice cream knows no season, National Ice Cream Month serves up a good excuse to stop and enjoy a scoop a day while acknowledging the dairy farm families who make it possible for California to churn out over 127 million gallons of ice cream a year,” said Jennifer Giambroni, Director of Communications for the CMAB. “And what better way to enjoy a scoop of California ice cream than between two cookies – another one of our favorite treats. We’re excited to tap into Coolhaus’ playful approach to ice cream/cookie combinations and to share those results with ice cream lovers everywhere.”
Coolhaus-founders Natasha Case and Freya Estreller, authors of the recently released Coolhaus Ice Cream Book: Custom-Built Sandwiches with Crazy-Good Combos of Cookies, Ice Creams, Gelatos, & Sorbets have created a few sensational ice cream sandwiches featuring California Ice Cream. The three signature “sammies” include Red Velvet Cookies with Coffee Oreo ice cream, Snickerdoodles with Strawberries & Cream Gelato and Double Chocolate Cookies (see recipe below) with Salted Caramel ice cream.
“When it comes to an ice cream sandwich, what you place between the two cookies is just as important as the cookies themselves,” said Case. “Ice cream sandwiches present endless opportunities for enjoying California ice cream featuring local, farm-fresh ingredients and with every bite a culinary adventure awaits.”
Double Chocolate Cookies
(Recipe created by Coolhaus)
Makes: 20 to 24 cookies | Active time: 20 to 25 minutes
Rich, gooey, chewy, and sublime—these dark chocolate cookies combine the highest-quality dark chocolate chunks with cocoa powder. As in all of Coolhaus cookies, there’s a generous amount of butter.
- 2 sticks (16 tablespoons) California unsalted butter
- 2 cups packed light brown sugar
- 1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon natural vanilla extract
- 2 cups sifted pastry flour, or 1-3⁄4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
- 1⁄4 cup sifted cake flour (sift before measuring)
- 3⁄4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1⁄2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (we like Guittard or Ghirardelli)
- Mix wets: Place butter in a saucepan and set over low heat until just half is melted. Cool for 5 minutes.
- Pour cooled butter into a large bowl. Add sugar and whisk to combine. Whisk in egg and yolk, one at a time, then whisk in vanilla. Set aside.
- Mix dries: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda.
- Add dries, one third at a time, to wets, mixing with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon to combine. Fold in chocolate chips until evenly distributed.
- Wrap bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 325°F, with racks in lower and upper thirds of oven. Line two half-sheet baking pans with parchment paper.
- Form dough into balls about the size of whole walnuts and place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until edges are light brown and centers are still wet—don’t overbake.
- Immediately transfer cookies to a cooling rack. Let cool for 1 hour.
- Pair with your favorite California ice cream flavor found in your grocer’s freezer. We suggest flavors such as vanilla, chocolate, salted caramel, strawberry or coffee.