Desserts: Brownie Icecream Sandwich

I. love. chocolate.

I don't know how many times I can say this. And brownies are one of my favorite chocolate desserts. I love it when they are gooey and warm and melt in your mouth. But alas, it's summer, and while we haven't had such a warm summer, it's still not the season for a warm dessert. Enter the icecream sandwich.

Now, I also love icecream, almost as much as a love chocolate. And chocolate icecream, well, don't even get me started. So we happened to have some vanilla icecream in the freezer, but, let's be honest, vanilla icecream is boring by itself. So, I decided to whip up a half-batch of brownie mix, and make an almost cookie-type brownie to use as the "bread" for my icecream sandwich.

The result was this delicious combination of chocolate and vanilla, a fun twist on the classic icecream sandwich. I made my brownie mix from scratch, but of course you can use a box of mix if that's your preference (no judgment here). And I used just plain store-bought vanilla icecream, but you can use whatever you prefer (double chocolate anyone?).

Brownie Icecream Sandwiches

Makes 4 sandwiches

1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4-1 cup sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil (or butter)
2 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
vanilla (or any flavor) icecream, slightly thawed

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 175 C). Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan.

2. In a large mixing bowl, oil, sugar, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla and stir. Beat in 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, salt, and baking powder.

3. Spread batter into prepared pan, making sure the mix isn't more than 1/2 inch thick. You want to make sure the brownies will be slightly thinner and firmer than normal, so they can stand up to being sandwich ends. Any excess mix can be tossed, baked, or eaten!

4. Bake in preheated oven for about 15 minutes (check after 10 to make sure they do not overcook). Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack.

5. Once cool, cut the brownies into equal size rectangles, then use a knife to cut the icecream into simiarl sized rectangles. Place icecream in between two brownie pieces, and enjoy!