SUNDAE SUNDAY: Peanut butter x chocolate sorbet “ice cream” sandwiches
When I worked at Good Eggs, I had a Slack channel, #hayesbakes, dedicated to my baked goods for those who wanted VIP notice when I brought treats into the office. This in and of itself counted as my most noteworthy accomplishment from that job, given the plethora of daily, delicious snacks and free samples available (hello, free pie every Friday the five weeks leading up to Thanksgiving). However, I had several “fans” who often had to sit out whatever dessert I brought in because they couldn’t eat dairy.
Similarly, some people aren’t able to enjoy my ice cream-centric Sundae Sundays due to a dairy sensitivity. Posting about grapefruit sorbet in my last sundae recipe brought more folks out of the woodwork than I imagined who fell into this group. As a result, I plan to do a healthy -- and always delicious -- mix of sorbets and ice creams going forward.
Case in point: this week’s dark chocolate sorbet. Anchored by quality chocolate and sandwiched between friendly-for-everyone-besides-those-with-a-peanut-allergy peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies, I enjoy either component on its own as much as I do sandwiched together.
And if your dietary restrictions spread wider (vegans, looking at you), use vegan dark chocolate and organic sugar, and you’re good to go.
SUNDAE SUNDAY: PEANUT BUTTER X CHOCOLATE SORBET “ICE CREAM” SANDWICHES
By: Kathleen Hayes; adaptations and yields listed by component below
Dark chocolate sorbet - adapted from King Arthur Flour; yield = 3 cups
MISE IT
200g organic sugar
60g dutch-processed cocoa powder
2 pinches kosher salt
Optional: 2 teaspoons ground espresso powder
90g dark chocolate (I used Valrhona Guanaja)
510g water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
28g bourbon, to make it more scoop-able once frozen
MAKE IT
Bring sugar, cocoa powder, salt, optional espresso powder, dark chocolate, and water to a boil over medium to medium high heat. Keep heated until all chocolate has melted and sugar has dissolved.
Mix in vanilla extract and bourbon, and then place over an ice bath to cool. Put in refrigerator until chilled.
Place a container in the freezer so you have a dismount plan for your finished sorbet. I use the smaller of these Le Creuset dishes for all my sorbets and ice creams.
Follow the instructions of your ice cream maker to spin your sorbet. Dismount into your designated container, cover with a piece of parchment paper, and let thoroughly chill in the freezer. The alcohol in this sorbet keeps it nice and scoop-able even after being in the freezer for some time.
Peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies - adapted from Food52’s all tahini and no butter chocolate chip cookies; yield = 30 cookies
MISE IT
227g (8oz) creamy peanut butter
150g organic sugar
150g organic brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
100g water
256g gluten-free or all purpose flour (I used Cup4Cup)
1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
¾ teaspoon baking soda
300g dark chocolate, roughly chopped (I used two types of Guittard dark chocolate as well as Valrhona Guanaja)
Flaky sea salt, to taste
MAKE IT
Preheat your oven to 365 degrees F.
Chop chocolate in desired chunk sizes. Set aside.
Combine peanut butter, sugars, and vanilla extract in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on medium speed for several minutes.
Add in the water and mix on low speed until incorporated
Combine all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl, and then add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix on low until dough forms.
Add in 95% of the dark chocolate chunks, reserving 5% of them for topping cookies later. Mix by hand or on low speed until combined.
Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop cookies and place onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Top with the remaining chocolate chunks and flaky sea salt.
Using the bottom of a glass and an offset spatula, flatten each cookie to ½” thick. These cookies don’t spread in the oven, so the shape going in will be the shape that comes out.
Bake for 10-13 minutes and let cool on a rack before using in the ice cream sandwiches.
Store in an airtight container for several days (if they aren’t eaten in one go).
Special equipment - all components
Baking dish for housing finished sorbet
ASSEMBLE IT
Match like-sized cookies into pairs, which will form ice cream (sorbet) sandwiches.
Place a scoop of sorbet on the bottom half of one of the cookies in each pair, and top it with the 2nd cookie, gently pressing down/out the sorbet.
Either eat the sandwiches VERY quickly, or chill in the freezer until sorbet is reset.
TWEAK IT
Make this dessert vegan-friendly by choosing vegan dark chocolate for the sorbet and cookie.
Try making the cookie with tahini or other nut butter instead of peanut butter.
If sandwiches aren’t your thing, serve this sorbet in a bowl or sundae dish and crumble the cookies on top.
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