September 6th is National Coffee Ice Cream Day. Our recipe of choice: coffee ice cream sandwiches, made easily from store bought cookies, ice cream and optional Nutella or chocolate sauce. (And if this sounds super-good to you, National Ice Cream Sandwich Day is August 2nd).

Thanks to Hello Fresh for the suggestion!

In some surveys, coffee has dropped off of the favorite ice cream flavors in the U.S. It didn’t make the Top 10 as recently as five years ago.

In a recent study conducted by an online cake shop, coffee at least ranked number 9 in the top ten.

It’s hard to get consistent data across surveys. Even those based on industry data are skewed, because the data is typically based on both foodservice and supermarket figures*.

Here are 15 more ways to celebrate with coffee ice cream, plus recipes below.

> The History Of Coffee

> The History Of Ice Cream

> The History Of Ice Cream Sandwiches
 
 
RECIPE: COFFEE ICE CREAM SANDWICHES

You can use whatever type of cookie you like. The best candidates are chocolate chip, double chocolate (deep chocolate or chocolate chocolate chip), oatmeal, snickerdoodle and sugar cookies.

We like cookies that are 3″ or 4″ in diameter, although cookies of 1-1/2″ to 2″ afford the option of two smaller cookies with different cookie flavors.

As an alternative to cookies, a loaf cake is nice. We’ve used carrot cake as well as chocolate or regular pound cake, with a special shout-out to the chocolate pound cake.
 
Ingredients For 2 Cookie Sandwiches

 
Preparation

1. SET the container of coffee ice cream on the counter for 10 minutes.

2. SPREAD 1 teaspoon or Nutella or fudge sauce on the smooth sides of four double chocolate cookies.

3. SPREAD the slightly softened ice cream on two of the cookies and top with the remaining cookies. Use an offset spatula or butter knife to smooth out ice cream. If desired…

4. COAT the sides with sprinkles.

5. PLACE on a parchment-lined baking sheet in the freezer for at least 30 minutes before eating.
 

MORE COFFEE ICE CREAM RECIPES

[1] Coffee ice cream sandwiches made with store-bought cookies and ice cream (photo © Hello Fresh).

[2] We prefer artisan brands like McConnell’s Turkish Coffee, which has deep coffee flavor (photos #2 and #3 © McConnell’s Ice Cream).

[3] If you like deep coffee flavor, look for coffee ice creams in “espresso” or “Turkish” flavors. You’re most likely to find them in artisan brands. Some mass-market brands are called “espresso”; you’ll have to see if they measure up to your espresso standards.

*In foodservice—restaurants, cafeterias, etc.—vanilla and chocolate will always be at the top, never trendy flavors that might be in the top 10 of supermarket sales. For example, total retail and foodservice sales in the U.S. combined are $6.22 trillion, while the grocery store sales are $682.86 billion [source].