No-Churn Salted Caramel Ice Cream Sandwiches

Ingredients

• 600ml double cream, well chilled
• 1 x 397g tin condensed milk
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 150g salted caramel sauce (shop-bought or homemade), plus 50g extra for rippling
• 1/2 tsp flaky sea salt
• 200g unsalted butter, softened
• 180g soft light brown sugar
• 80g caster sugar
• 1 large egg, plus 1 yolk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 240g plain flour
• 60g cocoa powder (Dutch-processed)
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp fine salt
• 150g dark chocolate (70%), chopped into rough chunks

Method

1. Start with the ice cream — it needs at least 6 hours in the freezer. Line a 20cm square tin (or any flat freezer-safe container roughly that size) with a long sheet of cling film, leaving overhang on all sides — you want to lift the slab out cleanly later.
2. Whip the double cream to medium-stiff peaks. You're looking for peaks that hold their shape but still have a soft curl at the tip — overwhipped cream goes grainy and won't fold smoothly into the condensed milk.
3. In a separate large bowl, whisk the condensed milk, vanilla paste, 150g of the salted caramel sauce, and the 1/2 tsp flaky salt until smooth. Fold in the whipped cream in three additions, using a spatula and a gentle cut-and-turn motion — knock too much air out and the ice cream sets hard and icy instead of scoopable.
4. Scrape into the lined tin and level the top. Drizzle the extra 50g of salted caramel over the surface in lines, then drag a skewer through to ripple — don't overmix or you lose the distinct caramel veins. Cover with cling film pressed onto the surface and freeze flat for at least 6 hours, ideally overnight. You want it firm enough to cut into squares without sagging.
5. While the ice cream sets, make the cookies. Cream the softened butter with both sugars for 3-4 minutes until pale and fluffy — this is where the cookies get their chew, so don't skip the time. Beat in the egg, yolk, and vanilla.
6. Sift in the flour, cocoa, bicarb and fine salt. Mix on low until just combined — overworking develops gluten and you'll get tough cookies instead of soft and fudgy. Fold in the chocolate chunks.
7. Chill the dough for 30 minutes — cold dough spreads less and gives you a thicker cookie that holds up to an ice cream filling.
8. Heat the oven to 180°C fan. Line two trays with greaseproof. Scoop dough into 40g balls (you want 16 cookies, to make 8 sandwiches) and space them well apart — at least 6cm — because they'll spread.
9. Bake for 10-11 minutes. The edges should look set but the centres will still look slightly underdone and puffy — that's correct, they firm up as they cool and stay soft in the middle. Pull them now or you'll end up with crisp biscuits that crack when you bite into a frozen sandwich.
10. Cool on the tray for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack and cool completely. Warm cookies will melt the ice cream on contact, so be patient — fully cold, ideally fridge-cold, is what you want.
11. To assemble: lift the ice cream slab out of the tin using the cling film overhang. Working quickly, cut into 8 squares or rounds roughly the size of your cookies. If the ice cream softens too much, pop it back in the freezer for 10 minutes — soft ice cream squeezes out the sides when you press the top cookie on.
12. Sandwich each ice cream piece between two cookies, pressing gently until the filling just meets the edge. Sprinkle the exposed ice cream rim with flaky sea salt.
13. Wrap each sandwich individually in greaseproof, then stack in a freezer container with a sheet of greaseproof between layers so they don't fuse. Freeze for at least 1 hour to firm up before transport.
14. For the picnic: pack into a thermos bag with two solid ice packs above and below, and eat within an hour of arrival — any longer and you're eating caramel soup with biscuits, which is also nice but not the point.