Thursday, July 10, 2014

Summer Fun 2014 - Mini Ice Cream Sandwiches


July is National Ice Cream Month (thank you President Reagan), and I have a number of ice cream themed treats I'd like to try out with the children. 

At the same time, I've been following along with angelicscaliwags' Wibbly Wobbly Weight Loss series.  It's had me thinking about larger activities, and smaller snacks.

That's where my mind was when I spotted the mini Nilla wafers on the store shelf, and realized they'd be perfect for down-sizing our ice cream sandwiches.


They were a snap to make, using a round, teaspoon sized, measuring spoon, dipped in hot water, as an ice cream scoop (working with ice cream that was completely frozen - not soft).


Sandwiching the ice cream between two similar sized cookies (without squishing them down too hard), I used a butter knife to smooth the edges...


...gave them a quick roll in sprinkles (the smaller sprinkles worked better than the larger sized ice cream add-ins)...


...and placed each sandwich onto a plate in the freezer, as soon as it was made.  When finished, I covered the plate with plastic wrap, and let them sit in the freezer overnight, before serving them up to a skeptical crowd.

The children thought they looked a little small...


...until they realized they could each have three (not even amounting to a single serving of the cookies, or ice cream, or the calories of one of my "diet" ice cream sandwiches).


I'm not sure if these little combinations of crunchy cookie, and chewy ice cream are just extra satisfying, or if  there is a mental trick to having three servings of anything, but the children not only loved the mini ice cream sandwiches...


...they were even pleased with the portions.

5 comments:

Phyllis said...

They are so cute. Ice cream is my downfall. I love it so much.

Ticia said...

There's a certain irony of reading about being mindful in the AMOUNT of ice cream you eat after just having eaten a ridiculously big bowl of ice cream......

I'm sure I'd like a mini ice cream sandwich like that.

MaryAnne said...

What a fun idea! I love the simplicity - definitely making these with the kids this summer!

Bethany said...

We've made these too but dipped in chocolate. Alas, I find that downsizing the treat only encourages me to eat more!

claireshomeeducation said...

Ooooh, yummy! We try not to bring ice cream into the house due to our lack of control once it is past the front door!