Ah yes, the winds have changed. Spring is here and Summer is on the horizon! My friends, it is time to rise up and usher our food into the appropriate season! Ice Box Oatmeal Sandwiches anyone? They are the red headed (or should I say the strawberry blonde) step child of an ice cream sandwich. Strawberries have finally made an appearance and I am taking notice! Strawberry babies come on in, make your self comfortable. I won’t bite…. Ok I probably will….
Ingredients:
Cookies:
1/3 c. Brown Sugar
1/2 c. White Sugar
1 Stick Butter
1 Egg
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 c. All Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
1/4 tsp. Salt
1 c. Rolled Oats
Cream:
1 c. Chopped Strawberries
1 tbl. White Sugar
1/4 c. Water
1 c. Heavy Whipping Cream
Preheat the oven to 375. Begin by creaming together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar. Add the egg, vanilla and mix with a hand mixer.
In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Once the flour mixture is thoroughly mixed, stir in the butter mixture. Next step is to add the rolled oats. When cookie batter is ready, make evenly sized balls and place them on a parchment lined cookie sheet (make sure to space the cookies about 2 inches apart). Using the bottom of a cup, flatten the balls (wet the bottom of the glass with water or oil so it doesn’t stick to the batter). Bake the cookies for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
Once the cookies are finished baking, remove them from the sheet and place on a wire rack to cool. This recipe should make about 14 medium sized cookies.
As the cookies cool it’s time to make the cream. Place the chopped strawberries in a small saucepan. Add water and sugar to the pan and let the mixture simmer. After about 5 minutes the strawberries will begin to break down. Once the strawberries have softened and the mixture is smooth, it’s ready to remove the saucepan from the heat and cool. Allow the strawberry sauce to cool completely before making the cream.
Now that the strawberries are cooled, it’s time to make strawberry cream! In a large bowl place the heavy whipping cream and strawberries. Using a hand mixer, whip the cream until it resembles whipped cream.
Fill a piping bag (a plastic bag with the tip cut off will work just as well) with the strawberry whipped cream. Pipe the cream on to the bottom of one cookie. Find a cookie that matches in size and top the cream with another cookie, making a sandwich. Once all the sandwiches are made, place them in the freezer for about an hour or until the cream has hardened.
Once the cream has hardened, melt some chocolate. I used semi sweet, but any chocolate will be delicious. Dip one side of the cookie into melted chocolate and place each one back in the freezer for another hour.
After the cream and chocolate have set, the sandwiches are ready to eat! Make sure to hide one or two of these yummies for yourself because everyone will want seconds.