A birthday treat

In lieu of a birthday cake for a recent celebration, we made a special sort of ice cream sandwich.

We start with a batch of Alton Brown's chocolate chip cookies. Here's an abbreviated version of his recipe (taken from foodnetwork.com, though I can't find it on the site anymore.)

Thin, crisp chocolate chip cookies from Alton Brown (foodnetwork.com)

2-1/4 c ap flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 egg
2 oz milk
1-1/2 tsp vanilla
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

bake at 375 for 13 – 15 minutes
bake on parchment paper

To these instructions, I add one more piece taken from an article in the New York Times: after making the dough, refrigerate it for 24 - 36 hours. The theory is that the liquids in the recipe moe thoroughly infuse themselves into the flour. We like the results - the cookies do seem more flavorful.

The other ingredient for the ice cream sandwiches is of course ice cream. Since the birthday girl had recently returned from a couple of months in Italy, we used vanilla/chocolate gelato from Bommarito's in St Clair Shores. Take a slice from their block of gelato, slap it between cookies and serve. Happy Birthday singing is optional, but makes it more festive.