Candy Craze Ice Cream Sandwiches

Halloween. Marcus escorted Jasmine through the neighborhood as Thurgood Marshall while she sparkled beside him as a pop star. The image of my son in a graduation gown holding a cardboard gavel walking next to my daughter in sequins and sunglasses is the most perfect photograph I will ever take. I took forty-seven of them. Marcus protested after the twentieth. Jasmine posed for all forty-seven. They are their parents' children in every way that matters.

Derek and his kids joined us for trick-or-treating. Isaiah dressed as a basketball player (his actual jersey; minimal effort, maximum accuracy). Zoe was a butterfly — wings that Derek spent three hours making from wire and tissue paper, which Zoe pronounced "not bad" and Derek considered his finest engineering achievement. The six of us walked the neighborhood: two adults, four kids, enough candy to fund a dentist's vacation. Marcus and Isaiah walked ahead — not together exactly, but in proximity, which is the teenage boy version of together. Jasmine and Zoe held hands. Derek held my hand. The neighborhood saw us. The church will know by Sunday. I don't care. I am walking through my neighborhood holding the hand of a man I am falling for and my children are ahead of me and his children are with them and we are a constellation, not yet a family, but the stars are aligning.

After the kids went to their respective homes, Derek and I sat on my front porch in the dark, eating the kids' rejected candy (Almond Joy — universally rejected; I love Almond Joy; more for me). He said, "This was a good night." I said, "It was." He said, "I want more of these." I said, "The nights or the candy?" He said, "Both." We laughed. We sat in the dark. The porch light was off. The neighborhood was quiet. The candy was sweet and the man was steady and the night was enough.

That porch moment — the dark, the quiet, the Almond Joys that every single child rejected and I happily claimed — got me thinking about what to do with the mountain of candy that survived the night. Because here’s the thing: a bag of Halloween candy is just ingredients waiting for a better idea. These Candy Craze Ice Cream Sandwiches are exactly that better idea — a way to take all that trick-or-treat overflow and turn it into something the kids (and, let’s be honest, Derek) will actually ask for by name. Next time there’s a constellation forming on the porch, I’m bringing these out.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 12 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 32 minutes (includes freezing) | Servings: 12

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups chopped Halloween candy (Almond Joys, Snickers, Reese’s, or any mix)
1.5 quarts vanilla or cookies-and-cream ice cream, slightly softened
Additional crushed candy for rolling edges (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven. Heat your oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
Mix dry ingredients. Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl until evenly combined.
Cream butter and sugars. In a large bowl, beat the softened butter with both sugars using a hand or stand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Add eggs and vanilla. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla extract, mixing until fully incorporated.
Combine and fold in candy. Gradually mix in the dry ingredients until just combined, then fold in the chopped Halloween candy with a spatula.
Scoop and flatten. Scoop 2-tablespoon portions of dough onto prepared baking sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart. Gently flatten each cookie to about 1/2-inch thickness — you want flat, even rounds for sandwiching.
Bake. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are set but the centers still look slightly underdone. Do not overbake. Cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Assemble sandwiches. Match cookies into pairs of similar size. Scoop about 1/3 cup of softened ice cream onto the flat side of one cookie, then press the matching cookie on top, flat side down. Squeeze gently until ice cream reaches the edges.
Roll edges (optional). Roll the exposed ice cream edges in crushed candy for extra craze-worthy flair.
Freeze to set. Place assembled sandwiches on a parchment-lined tray and freeze for at least 1 hour before serving. Wrap individually in plastic wrap for storage up to 2 weeks.

Nutrition (per serving)

Candy Craze Ice Cream Sandwiches — Sweet Endings for a Night Worth Remembering