Make The Prettiest Ice Cream Sandwiches With This Clever Trick

In terms of craveable desserts, homemade old-school ice cream sandwiches rank high on the list. Soft, delicious cookies with creamy, cold ice cream between offers a contrast of flavors and textures that's way more delicious than it technically should be. Making them at home also lets you mix and match cookie and ice cream selections you can't find in the grocery store's frozen food aisle, such as cherry swirl between peanut butter cookies, or coffee ice cream between snickerdoodles.

However, even if you use the internet's favorite ice cream sandwich assembly hack, DIYing these desserts rarely produces neat and tidy results. Even ice cream that's frozen solid starts to melt a bit as soon as it touches the cookies, which can make things a bit messy. Though popping them back in the freezer for a few minutes can help with this, a tasty way to make them more visually pleasing in the meantime is to simply roll them in sprinkles.

The process is pretty simple. All you have to do is pour a single layer of sprinkles onto a sheet pan, or even a plate, and roll the edge of each sandwich through them so the sprinkles evenly coat and stick to the ice cream. This forms a barrier that pretties up uneven sandwiches, and temporarily forms a barrier to help hold melting ice cream in place. Pop them in the freezer for a few minutes to help everything set, and enjoy your homemade artisanal dessert.

Though pretty, colorful sprinkles make for an eye-catching presentation if serving your ice cream sandwiches at a party or making them with your kids, there are plenty of slightly less colorful, but perhaps more flavorful, alternatives to sprinkles. The first, simplest alternative is mini chocolate chips. Larger ones can work, too, but mini chips cling more easily to the ice cream, and the sandwiches pick up the smaller bits more easily. This is a classic choice if you're making chocolate wafer or chocolate chip cookie sandwiches.

Among the other ingredients you can use to upgrade homemade ice cream sandwiches are mini M&M'S or Reese's Pieces. In both cases, you get the delicious flavor of chocolate, along with a pleasing pop of color. If you have the time and energy, minced candy bars, such as Snickers, also work well, especially if your ice cream or cookie choice has corresponding flavors, such as salted caramel or peanuts.

Additionally, crushed nuts are an excellent stand in for sprinkles. Peanuts are great for fruit- and chocolate-forward ice cream and cookie combos, while toasted pecans are perfect for sandwiches stuffed with butter pecan ice cream. If you really want to take things to the next level, make cookies stuffed with mini marshmallows, use dark chocolate ice cream, and roll the edge in crushed cinnamon graham crackers for a delicious frozen s'more-themed dessert.