Peppermint Patties

These homemade ice cream sandwiches are a fun project for a summer afternoon!

An interesting side benefit of being vegan (on top of the many others I'm sure you know of already!) is that you can halve recipes that call for 1 egg. While a real egg is hard to cut in half, as a vegan, you can simply whisk 3/4 tsp. Ener-G egg replacer into 1 tablespoon warm water. For the cookies in this recipe, make that "half egg" and set aside.

Meanwhile, lightly spoon 3/4 cup all-purpose flour into measuring cups and level with a knife. Combine the flour in a large bowl with 3 tablespoons cocoa powder, 1/4 tsp. baking soda, and just a pinch of salt; set aside.

In a stand mixer, combine 1/4 cup raw sugar, 1/4 cup packed organic brown sugar (such as Wholesome Sweeteners), and 1/4 cup vegan butter (such as Earth Balance); beat until well blended. Add the "egg" and 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract; beat to combine.

Add the flour mixture, and beat until well blended. Lightly coat your hands with cooking spray, and shape the dough into a 6-inch log - try not to overwork it, or it will become very soft!

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and freeze for one hour; once firm, slice into 24 thin slices (about 1/4-inch thick each).

Place the cookie slices on 2 baking sheets coated with cooking spray, and bake at 350 degrees for 11 minutes; cool completely on a wire rack. I found it best to let the cookies sit on the baking sheet for about one minute before transferring them to the rack, as they were quite soft when they first emerged from the oven.

To assemble the patties, crush 1/2 cup of hard peppermint candies. For the best vegan option, try the wild peppermint drops from Yummy Earth - they won't be red-and-white striped like traditional peppermint candies, but they have the benefit of being certified vegan! I found a few light taps of a hammer worked great to crush them into pieces. Place the crushed candies in a shallow bowl.

Let 1 and 1/2 cups vegan vanilla ice cream of your choice soften slightly - any kind should work here, whether rice, almond, coconut or soy-milk based; I used the soy vanilla from Turtle Mountain. As a note of caution, I find that non-dairy ice cream melts faster than real ice cream, so start to work with it while it is still pretty frozen, or you risk making a big mess!

Place 2 tablespoons of the vegan ice cream on the flat sides of 12 cookies. Top with the remaining 12 cookies, pressing gently so the ice cream reaches out to the edges of the cookies. Roll the patties in the crushed peppermint candy, then wrap individually in plastic wrap and freeze for 4 hours before serving.

Note: since my soy ice cream was becoming awfully melted, I rushed to get the patties into the freezer, then went back about 15 minutes later to wrap them in plastic wrap.

Kids will love these yummy summer treats! 2 patties make a serving of 330 calories.

You can, of course, double this recipe, in which case you'll go back to the original recipe which called for a whole "egg" - but isn't it nice to have the option of cutting it an egg in half for baking when you want to?

Cost:
soy vanilla ice cream $4.19