Red Velvet Ice Cream Sandwiches | www.floatingkitchen.net

Red Velvet Ice Cream Sandwiches

This post was originally published here February 6, 2015. I’ve since updated the text and photographs. These are a fun treat for Valentine’s Day. I hope you try them out!

Some people go absolutely crazy over red velvet desserts. I’m not one of those people. But once or twice a year either around Christmas or Valentine’s Day, I do like to indulge in the festiveness of a little red food dye.

These Red Velvet Ice Cream Sandwiches are so fun for Valentine’s Day. They do take a bit of time to prepare (I recommend starting at least a full 2 days in advance of when you plan to serve them), but they are worth it for a special treat!

For the homemade red velvet ice cream, I adapted one of my favorite cream cheese-based ice cream bases. This ice cream base doesn’t require eggs and it is generally pretty foolproof. And since red velvet cakes and cupcakes are typically topped with a cream cheese frosting, I thought it was fitting to include a little cream cheese in this recipe. You will need an ice cream maker to churn this red velvet ice cream. So remember to make sure your ice cream canister is completely chilled before starting by placing it in your freezer for the time recommended by the manufacturer.

Red Velvet Ice Cream Sandwiches | www.floatingkitchen.net

The cookies for these Red Velvet Ice Cream Sandwiches are based off one of my favorite soft chocolate sugar cookie recipes. I’ve used these cookies for ice cream sandwiches in the past and they are a total dream. They bake up nice and uniform and BIG (= bigger ice cream sandwiches is always win in my book!). And they don’t turn rock hard in the freezer.

The recipe below makes about 18 cookies and you’ll need approximately 12-16 cookies for the ice cream sandwiches, depending on how thick you make them.

I thought about rolling these Red Velvet Ice Cream Sandwiches in sprinkles, chocolate chips or flaked coconut. But then I just left them alone because the color of the ice cream was so fun and vibrant. But definitely go ahead of customize them if you want!

Cheers,

Liz

Red Velvet Ice Cream Sandwiches

Red Velvet Ice Cream Sandwiches

At a Glance:
Yield: Makes 6-8 ice cream sandwiches
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Additional Time: 1 days 12 hours
Total Time: 1 days 13 hours 30 minutes

Ingredients

For the Red Velvet Ice Cream:

  • 6 ounces full-fat cream cheese, softened at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups whole milk
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 3/4 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon red food coloring (or less if using a gel-based food coloring)

For the Cookies:

  • 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup plus 2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • About 1/3 cup large-grain or decorating sugar (I used turbinado)

Instructions

  1. Start by preparing the ice cream. In your food processor with the blade attachment, process the cream cheese until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
  2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the milk, heavy cream, sugar and cocoa powder. Cook until the sugar and cocoa powder are dissolved and the mixture is warm. Remove the saucepan from the heat. 
  3. Carefully add about 1/2 cup of the warm milk mixture to your food processor and process to combine it with the cream cheese. Then add another 1/2 cup of the warm milk mixture and process to combine. Now scrape all of the contents of your food processor back into the saucepan with the remaining warm milk mixture. Whisk until everything is fully combined and smooth. Add the vanilla extract and red food coloring and whisk to combine.
  4. Pour the ice cream base into a clean bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and place it in your refrigerator until it’s completely chilled, at least 6 hours or up to 24 hours. 
  5. Pour the chilled ice cream base into your ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Once the ice cream base is nearly frozen and the consistency of soft serve, about 15-20 minutes, scoop it into a freezer safe container. Cover the ice cream with plastic wrap and freeze until it’s completely firm, about 4 hours.
  6. While the ice cream freezes, prepare the cookies. In your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and granulated sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat to combine.
  7. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients to your mixer, beating on low speed until everything is well incorporated. Cover and refrigerate the cookie dough for at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours.
  8. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Line your baking sheets with parchment paper. Place the large-grain/decorating sugar in a shallow bowl.
  9. Roll the dough into balls, using about 1 1/2 tablespoon of cookie dough per ball. Then roll each ball in the large-grain/decorating sugar, coating all sides. Place the dough balls at least 2-inches apart on your parchment paper-lined baking sheets. They will spread a lot during baking, so don’t overcrowd your baking sheets.
  10. Transfer the baking sheets to your pre-heated oven and bake the cookies for 6 minutes. Then rotate the baking sheets and bake for an additional 5-6 minutes. The cookies should look set around the edges but still slightly underdone in the centers. Remove the baking sheets from your oven and allow the cookies to cool completely on their baking sheets. Then transfer them to a wire rack.
  11. Once the ice cream is frozen and all the cookies have been baked, assemble the ice cream sandwiches. Take the ice cream out of your freezer and let it sit at room temperature for about 5-10 minutes, or until it’s easy to scoop. Flip half the cookies over and lay them out on a baking sheet or a large plate (you just want something that will fit in your freezer). Place about 1/2 cup of ice cream in the center of each cookie. Then top with a second cookie, pressing down slightly. Immediately transfer the entire sheet/plate with the ice cream sandwiches to your freezer. Once the ice cream re-hardens and the ice cream sandwiches are firm, wrap them individually in aluminum foil for storage.

42 comments on “Red Velvet Ice Cream Sandwiches”

  1. I’m totally with you on Valentine’s Day, I can take it or leave it. It really does nothing for me….well, other than give me a good excuse to eat more chocolate. Even in the dead of winter, I will always say yes to an ice cream sandwich like this!!

    • Any excuse to eat more chocolate is OK in my book. Also, the day after Valentine’s Day chocolate sales are pretty much the best day of the year!

  2. Love these, Liz! Such a fun Valentine’s Day treat! I’m addicted to anything red velvet flavored, so this is right up my alley!

  3. These look so good! So perfect for Valentine’s Day!

  4. I’m not sure what wizardry you had to pull to make those sandwiches absolutely perfectly circular, but I approve it. Damn, girl! I’ve never done ice cream with cream cheese but I can only imagine how good it tastes.
    And yeah, V-Day? It’s just… awkward.

  5. Perfect for Valentine’s! Love the colour of that ice cream 🙂

  6. oh my gawd, Liz!! you always crack me up!!! “it’s the one time of year that it’s acceptable to ingest large amounts of red food dye.” LOL!!! Cheers to that . . and chocolate!!! love these ice cream sandwiches!! TGIF!

    • Glad I can make you laugh, Alice. I think red food dye is probably one of those things that can kill us. So I try to limit my consumption to only one month out of the year! 🙂

  7. Red velvet is the only reason I pull out the food coloring pretty much, and this ice cream is totally worth it! Love these cute ice cream sandwiches! 🙂

  8. Delicious ice cream sandwiches. Perfect for upcoming Valentine’s Day!

  9. I have to admit, I’m on team V-Day (<-sorry) Haterade…not a huge fan of the holiday, but UBER huge fan of chocolate and any excuse to binge eat sexy foods. Love these ice cream sandwiches! I'm drooling at the thought of eating 'em all. P.S. I'll never call it V-Day again, solemnly swear 😉

  10. I’m pretty neutral about the holiday too. But I have to admit that I love any excuse to eat chocolate and red velvet. I’ll take a dozen of these ice cream sandwiches, please!

  11. Right? Why do people say ‘V day’ – blick! Honestly, my husband and I have never been much for celebrating Valentine’s day. It kind of feels like a commercially prescribed holiday.

    I would however, be happy to gobble down about 3 of these ice cream sandwiches!! They look so delicious!

  12. I totally love the pictures on this post, pinning! 🙂

  13. Your V-day comment made my giggle and these sandwiches look totally awesome!

  14. Swooning over these right now! This needs to happen asap!

  15. Yeah I definitely do not like the “v’day” term – like you I’m pretty neutral. But I do love valentine’s day cooking – chocolate, red velvet, red food coloring anything, strawberries, pomegranates, braised meats — indulgent foods essentially, haha.

    This is such a clever idea! I saw red velvet ice cream on another food blog recently and now I am dying to try it.

  16. Oh my goodness, these look perfect!
    Also, I haven’t ingested NEARLY enough red food coloring this month. Hopefully this will change soon ;P

  17. These sound so yummy! And they are just ADORABLE for Valentine’s Day! Love!

  18. I would like to second your V-day suggestion…it’s just too much. Icky is correct! haha! But these look scrum-diddily-umptious! 🙂

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  21. These look absolutely DREAMY Liz! What a fantastic treat for my Valentine!! Thanks so much for sharing. You’ll make me look good when I serve these up!

  22. Oh my Liz! I don’t remember these beauties, but goodnes, that cream cheese in there…. totally flips my switch. This whole COVID year + thing makes me feel like I have a license to indulge a little more than usual. And I’m good with that! lol

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