A Scoop of Mom Guilt with Chocolate Cherry Vanilla Ice Cream Sandwiches

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**SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: I AM A CHEATER. Yes, I’m admitting it. I totally cheated. I have failed as a mother because I made ice cream sandwiches and BOUGHT THE COOKIES. I know it’s an atrocity to motherhood. Even worse? I secretly planned to buy the ice cream too. My children will be embarrassed to tell their friends. They’ll be scarred by the horrific ingredients I usually so carefully block out of their diets, and I’m not sure I will ever be able to forgive myself, but my ice cream sandwiches? They’re store bought cookies. **

Dramatic? Sure, but how often have we as mothers felt this way about things that are really inconsequential? In the scheme of life, I’m pretty sure none of this truly matters. It only matters because we see what APPEARS to be perfection around us and we fail to measure up – even for something as “small” as ice cream sandwiches.

Barb over at A Life in Balance and I are teaming up to bring you the best homemade ice cream sandwich recipes and flavor combinations. All month long we are celebrating ice cream sandwiches so make sure you check out her Vanilla and Chocolate Sugar Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich combination today and stay tuned for next week’s recipes. I just might have an amazing peanut butter cookie recipe to make some more of our favorite summer treats.

Today I’m cruising the grocery store aisle for the perfect cookie for an ice cream sandwich for the kids. It’s been a long week of choir camp and I want to reward them for a job well done after tomorrow’s final performance. I have my mind set on the perfect soft cookies and last I knew they cost $1. They still do!

We’re not even looking at the label because you know what? I already have mom guilt running through my mind at not making the darn cookies. I can picture certain people and see certain blog posts pointing fingers at me and giving disapproving stares and you know what? Those disapproving images can just back off today. I’ve been running all week and I don’t have time to deal with it.

I was going to buy the ice cream too. After all, Ben and Jerry’s makes a mean Cherry Garcia, Breyer’s has Cherry Vanilla, and Turkey Hill’s Black Cherry is delish. But then visions of plump red juicy cherries in my refrigerator and rich bittersweet chocolate taking up residence in my cabinet completely over ran my mind with thoughts of homemade vanilla ice cream full of chunks of cherry and chocolate. By the way, you’ve gotta get a peek at our visit to a cherry packing house. This post is all about cherries and my visit to a cherry packing line.

I am sharing my Chocolate Chip and Cherry Vanilla Ice Cream recipe with you today but I release you to feel free to buy your ice cream for these ice cream sandwiches.  No guilt from me, mom, because you already suffer enough mom guilt.

Chocolate Cherry Vanilla Ice Cream Sandwiches

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• Author: Heather McCurdy

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 cup milk
• 2 cups cream
• 1 cup half and half
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 vanilla bean (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
• 1 cup pitted and quartered cherries
• 2.5 ounces bittersweet chocolate

Instructions

1. Scrape vanilla bean seeds into milk.
2. Heat milk and vanilla (if using bean) until it bubbles on the edges.
3. Pull off heat and add sugar and salt.
4. Stir until dissolved.
5. Add cream, vanilla if using extract, and half & half.
6. Refrigerate for 4 hours or more.
7. Freeze ice cream in ice cream maker.
8. When finished, add chocolate and cherries.
9. Churn 5 minutes longer to incorporate.
10. Freeze 4+ hours until firm.

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