“If you could eat only one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?”
“Sandwiches” he said with gumption, as if he had played the what-if game correctly.
My hand snapped to my hip bone, my head tilted, my eyes rolled, I leaned in, and each syllable I spoke dripped with sarcasm. “Oh, so you would choose to eat food for the rest of your life? Is that what you are telling me?”
I’m a stickler for rules when it comes to games, a weird fluke of my perfectionism that somehow doesn’t always manifest in real-life rule situations. No turning from 3pm-6pm, even if no other car is in sight? …optional…. “Narrow” down your one and only food source to “SANDWICHES?”
ABSOLUTELY NOT!
In this hypothetical game of sacrifices, my roommate Dan had not sacrificed a thing. While the rest of us would be chomping on french fries or cheese until the grease or lactose did us in, he’d be converting his every inkling of a craving into sandwich form- pizza sandwiches, egg roll sandwiches, breakfast sandwiches, taco sandwiches, smoked salmon sandwiches… ice cream sandwiches.
Foul, I cried, FOUL!
Though Dan was a complete and utter cheater, he was onto something- sandwiches are awesome (I didn’t say he was onto anything profound, just something). Whoever decided to stack ingredients between layers of bread- so smart! Whoever decided to swap that bread for cookies, and fill the space with ice cream? Genius! In the spirit of my college roommate not sacrificing a damn thing in a game of sacrifice, I bring you a recipe for wholesome peanut butter cookies. They make delicious bookends for ice cream, so you can eat sandwiches for every meal!
Here’s to you Dan Cohen!
-Quelcy
p.s: If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would you choose?
Sprouted Spelt Peanut Butter Cookies for Ice Cream Sandwiches
About This Recipe: These cookies are soft and chewy- perfect for pairing with ice cream and withstanding a bit of freeze if you prepare the sammie ahead of time. However, the truly exciting element in this recipe is the flour. I just discovered One Degree Organic Foods’ Sprouted Spelt Flour, and so far I’m hooked! I couldn’t agree more with the company’s tagline “Every ingredient has a story.” It’s more than a tagline though. Each package includes a picture of the farmer responsible for that grain. Meet my farmer, (well, not my farmer, but my flour farmer) and maybe he’ll become your farmer too!
Sprouted Spelt Peanut Butter Cookies for Ice Cream Sandwiches
yield: makes 12 ice cream sandwiches
Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) organic, unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup organic smooth peanut butter
2 cups organic coconut palm sugar
2 large eggs (organic/cage-free)
2 1/2 cups organic sprouted spelt flour (One Degree Organic Foods)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
*Organic Vanilla Bean ice cream
Directions
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and peanut butter until smooth.
Add sugar, and continue to mix until smooth.
Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
With the mixer running, add flour mixture in two batches, mixing well after each addition. Continue mixing until a dough forms.
Form dough into a ball and wrap with plastic wrap; refrigerate until firm, at least 4 hours.
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll dough into 1 1/2-inch balls. Place on prepared baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Press down each dough ball using the tines of a fork, once vertically and once horizontally, to make the traditional crosshatch pattern on the cookies. Transfer to oven. Bake 14 to 16 minutes, rotating baking sheet once during baking.
Let cool completely.
To Assemble:
Place 1 scoop of ice cream on the bottom side of a cookie. Top with a cookie, squish gently to even out the ice cream, and enjoy!
Note: If you want to prepare all the ice cream sandwiches at once, wrap each ice cream sandwich with plastic wrap individually, and freeze. Keep frozen up to 1 month.
Enjoy!