RECIPE DOCTOR: Healthy homemade 'It's-It' ice-cream sandwiches

Lancaster New Era

Published: Aug 20, 2008
07:02 EST

By ELAINE MAGEE, Staff Writer

Q. I was vacationing in San Francisco and very much enjoyed an "It's-It" Ice Cream Sandwich. I can't find them in the Midwest, where I live. I'm hoping you can concoct a light homemade rendition that we can enjoy for months to come.
A. This is my favorite childhood ice-cream memory — no kidding! Over the years, I don't know if I got bigger or the sandwiches have gotten smaller, but they seem to have shrunk in size. I used to cut them in half and share them with my sister. If you haven't yet experienced the amazing "It's-It," it's an ice-cream sandwich made with creamy vanilla ice cream in between two oatmeal cookies. The sandwich is completely coated in chocolate.

Our lighter homemade rendition begins with light, higher-fiber oatmeal cookies, made with whole-wheat flour, less sugar and fat. Then some great-tasting light vanilla ice cream with 3.5 grams fat per half-cup is used for the filling. Instead of dipping the whole ice-cream sandwich into melted chocolate, we are going to dip a token "end" of the sandwich — just enough to say we did dip!
Light Oatmeal Vanilla Ice Cream Sandwiches

Cookies:

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¾ cup less-fat margarine (with about 8 grams of fat per tablespoon)

¼ cup reduced-calorie pancake syrup, maple syrup or honey

1 cup packed dark- or light-brown sugar

1 large egg; higher omega-3, if available

¼ cup egg substitute

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1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup whole-wheat flour

½ cup unbleached white flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground cloves

½ teaspoon salt

3 cups rolled oats

Filling:

4 cups light vanilla-bean ice cream (about 3.5 grams fat per ½-cup serving)

6 ounces semisweet or milk chocolate (chips or broken into pieces if using chocolate bars)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat 2 nonstick cookie sheets with canola cooking spray, or line sheets with parchment.

In a large mixing bowl, cream margarine, maple syrup, brown sugar, egg, egg substitute and vanilla until smooth. In medium mixing bowl, combine the flours, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Pour flour mixture into the margarine mixture, and beat on low until just combined. Pour in the oats and beat on low until blended in.

Using a cookie scoop (1/8 cup), drop mounds of dough onto prepared baking sheets, spacing as far apart as possible. Press down gently on the cookie dough to make the cookies as round as possible. You should have around 24 cookies total.

Bake until golden, about 8 minutes (Be careful not to overbake.). Remove cookies to rack to cool completely.

In small microwave-safe bowl, melt chocolate chips or chunks in microwave on LOW setting (watching carefully).

To assemble the sandwiches: Line a cookie sheet with wax paper. Scoop a-c cup ice cream onto flat side of a cookie. Top it with another cookie, and press gently to form a sandwich. Dip one end of the sandwich (about a-v of the sandwich) into the melted chocolate. Place sandwich on the wax paper-lined baking sheet and keep it in the freezer. Repeat with the remaining cookies and ice cream and chocolate, placing them into the freezer as you finish each sandwich.

Once the chocolate is hardened, you can individually wrap the sandwiches, if desired, and freeze sandwiches until ready to enjoy (Within one to two weeks is ideal.).

Makes 12 ice cream sandwiches.
An It's-It Ice Cream Sandwich contains 340 calories, 18 grams fat (10 grams saturated) and 1 gram fiber.

Revised recipe nutrition information per serving: 340 calories, 9 grams protein, 58 grams carbohydrate, 8 grams fat (4 grams saturated, 2 grams monounsaturated, .4 grams polyunsaturated), 20 milligrams cholesterol, 4.5 grams fiber, 265 milligrams sodium. Calories from fat: 21 percent.

Omega-3 fatty acids: .1 gram

Omega-6 fatty acids: .3 gram

Weight Watchers POINTS: 7