Choco-Hazelnut Ice Cream Sandwiches.

You know what- forget everything I said in the original version of this post. I just ate another one of these and they're delicious.

Maybe i'm too much of a perfectionist, but I think ice cream sandwiches are problematic. If the ice cream is too soft, you'll bite into the sandwich and half the ice cream will squash out the other end. If the ice cream is too frozen, it could hurt your teeth. For the most part it's a textural problem.

Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwich Cookies
from David Lebovitz's "The Perfect Scoop."

1/2 cup (115g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup (200g) sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
6 tablespoons (50g) unsweetened dutch process cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups (210g) flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350F (175C.) Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
Beat together the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric stand mixer, or by hand, until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla.
In a seperate bowl, whisk together the cocoa, flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir the dry ingredients gradually into the creamed butter mixture until completely incorporated and there are no streaks of butter.
Form the dough into sixteen 1 1/2 inch (4cm) rounds. On the baking sheets, flatten the rounds so they're 3 inches (8cm) across, spacing them evenly. You can get 8 on a normal 11x17 baking sheet, with 3 going lengthwise down the sides and 2 in the center in between.
Bake for 20 minutes, rotating the baking sheets midway during baking, then remove from the oven.
Once cool, sandwich ice cream between the two cookies, then wrap each ice cream sandwich in plastic wrap and store in the freezer.

Hazelnut Ice Cream
from Emily Luchetti's "A Passion for Ice Cream."

4 large egg yolks
6 Tbsp sugar
1/8 tsp kosher salt
1/3 cup milk
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/3 cup hazelnuts, toasted, skinned, and coarsley chopped

In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, 3 tbsp of sugar, and the salt*. Combine the milk, cream, hazelnuts, and remaining 3 tbsp sugar in a heavy saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until almost simmering. Turn off the heat, cover the pan, and let the nuts infuse in the milk for 10 minutes. Slowly pour the milk mixture into the egg mixture, whisking as you pour. Return the egg mixture to the saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a heat resistant plastic or wooden spatula, until the custard reaches 175F and lightly coats the spatula.

Pour the custard into a clean bowl and cool over an ice bath until room temperature. **Refrigerate the custard for at least 4 hours or overnight. Strain the custard, discarding the hazelnuts. Churn in an ice cream maker according to manufacturers instructions.

*I usually wait to combine the yolks and sugar until the milk is infused and ready to go. Yolks and sugar tend to curdle when they sit.

**I usually just chill it in an ice bath until it's pretty cold to the touch.