Cocoa Brownie Hazelnut Ice Cream Sandwiches

Two layers of rich thick cocoa brownies surround a smooth, no churn homemade hazelnut ice cream. 

This post is sponsored by The Saco Pantry. All opinions are my own. 

Frozen Brownies

Guys, I don’t know what it is about brownies but it turns out that in addition to being the most decadent treat, they taste amazing frozen!!  I’m not a huge cookie ice cream sandwich fan but if those cookies were say, brownie cookies I’m on board. So, I was willing to try freezing my thick cocoa brownies to see if we’d like the texture. Uh, we did. A lot.

Frozen, my cocoa brownies become dense and even more fudge like (see the photos!) and make the perfect surrounding for ice cream. The brownies are one of the most popular recipes on the blog so I know that you guys are going to love this recipe because it’s basically a halved brownie with ice cream inside, uh yeah!

To make the brownies I used The Saco Pantry’s blend of dutch and natural cocoas. This is a lovely cocoa because it combines the chocolatey flavor of natural with the baking qualities of dutch. The cocoa brand is important in these brownies because that’s where all the chocolate flavor comes from so be sure to use a high quality brand.

Ice cream sandwiches with homemade ice cream

Most ice cream sandwich recipes have you buy a pint, let it soften, then spread it between brownies. I prefer to do this fully homemade because it allows me to be creative and selective with my flavor choices. And, given that we now have a super easy, 1 pint ice cream recipe on the blog, we might as well sandwich it between two yummy brownies! These go together like pb&j… or well, brownies and ice cream, lol.

Chocolate Hazelnut Ice Cream

I have two filling choices: hazelnut or chocolate hazelnut. I think there’s something truly special about the addition of hazelnut between these two brownie layers here but if you want, or have allergies, you can follow the 1 pint method and make an non-nut ice cream flavor of your choosing.

Hazelnut ice cream: made with hazelnut butter, store-bought or make your own by roasting 1 cup of hazelnuts and blend them in a food processor until you have a paste.

Chocolate Hazelnut aka Nutella: you could use nutella or a more flavorful chocolate hazelnut spread. In either case, definitely add 1-2 tablespoons of cocoa to it because the chocolate flavor won’t come through as much without it.

Also, you could do a mix of hazlenut butter (see above) and some cocoa and melted chocolate. The goal is to get the consistency of a smooth whipped cream so if you find it too thick, stir in just a bit of heavy cream.

Filling add-ins

You can see I added oreos to my hazelnut batch; any cookie, nut, sprinkles or even bits of chocolate would be great too – add no more than 1/4 cup so as not to overwhelm the layer. If you like a more singular texture, feel free to skip the add-in.

How to make brownie ice cream sandwiches

1. Make brownie batter and bake
2. Once cool, slice in half
3. Make the ice cream filling
4. Spread filling on top of one half of the brownie layers and top with the other half
5. Freeze, then slice!

Storing ice cream sandwiches

Once these are frozen and sliced store them in an airtight container. If you want to wrap them individually, cut pieces of parchment paper to wrap around them and keep them in an airtight container.

Brownie Nutella Ice Cream Sandwiches

Nutella ice cream sandwiches between two fudgy brownies

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Ingredients

Brownies:

• 1 cup butter unsalted
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup Saco Pantry Cocoa Blend
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs not extra large
• ⅔ cup all purpose flour

Chocolate Hazelnut No Churn Ice Cream:

• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• ¼ cup hazelnut spread
• 2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
• 1-2 tablespoons Saco Pantry Cocoa Blend
• Pinch salt
• ¾ cup heavy whipping cream

Method

Make brownie layers:

• Preheat oven to 335. Line a 13×9 cake pan with parchment paper.
• Over a double boiler, melt the butter.
• Once melted, add the cocoa and sugar and whisk to combine. Continue cooking until the heat registers 140 F.
• Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl.
• Once cool, add salt and vanilla and whisk.
• Add eggs all at once and whisk until you have a smooth, shiny batter, about 40 seconds.
• Add flour and whisk until just combined.
• Pour batter into cake pan and bake for about 25 minutes, until the center is slightly puffed.
• Let cool completely in pan. Slice in half into two equal squares.

Make the hazelnut ice cream:

• In a bowl beat together the sugar, hazelnut butter or nutella, sweetened condensed milk, and salt (and cocoa if using).
• Add the heavy whipping cream and beat to medium peaks.
• Spread the filling on top of one half of the brownie layers.
• Add the other layer on top, cover with plastic wrap and set in the freezer overnight.
• Slice into squares or thin rectangles. Store in the freezer in an airtight container.

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