It’s a homemade ice cream sandwich — but instead of cookies, we made it with waffles. And instead of plain old waffles, we made our waffles with chocolate cake mix. Remember our epic waffle ice cream cake? We realized that each layer on its own was actually just a huge ice cream sandwich — and we thought, “Yes.”
It’s like we upped the waffly-ness of a waffle cone. Then we stuffed our ice cream sandwiches with candy-coated chocolates and hot fudge sauce to make them the stuff of dreams.
Let this recipe inspire your own personal ice cream sandwich fantasy. Here are some ideas to get you started:
- don’t be vanilla — use your favorite flavor of ice cream
- use any kind of box cake mix (Funfetti would probably look pretty awesome)
- drizzle on peanut butter instead of hot fudge sauce
- top the ice cream layer with crumbled Oreos, rainbow sprinkles, peanuts, coconut, cherries, or chopped candy bars like Kit Kat and Snickers
- swap in froyo for a lighter treat
Our incredibly simple recipe makes enough ice cream sandwiches to share, or you can keep some in the freezer for midnight cravings.
Chocolate Waffle Ice Cream Sandwich
Makes 8 – 12 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Ingredients
- 1 box chocolate cake mix (plus the ingredients called for in the package directions)
- 2 – 3 pints ice cream (your favorite flavor)
- cooking spray
- candy coated chocolates (such as M&M’s), chopped
- hot fudge sauce (we have a recipe for that!)
Directions
- Preheat your waffle iron on high.
- Prepare the cake mix according to the instructions on the box.
- Once the waffle iron is hot, spray it with cooking spray and scoop a heaping ½ cup of chocolate cake batter (or, depending on the size of your waffle iron, the amount of batter recommended in the manufacturer’s instructions) onto the center of the waffle iron. Close the waffle iron and cook the chocolate waffle for 3 – 5 minutes, or until it’s fully cooked. The waffle will be very soft while it’s still warm. Transfer the waffle to a wire rack to cool, and repeat with remaining cake mix. Depending on the box of cake mix you use and your waffle iron, you will get 4 – 6 waffles out of a box of cake mix.
- Chill the cooked waffles in the freezer for about 30 minutes before assembling the ice cream sandwiches. Near the end of the chilling, let your ice cream soften a bit on the counter top, so that it can easily be spread. Take one waffle out of the freezer and scoop 1 pint of softened ice cream onto the frozen waffle. Spread the ice cream like frosting, evenly and smoothly, out to the edges of the waffle.
- If desired, top the ice cream with chopped candy coated chocolates and hot fudge sauce. Top this with another frozen waffle and press gently on the top to secure the ice cream sandwich.
- Freeze the whole waffle sandwich for 2 hours, or up to overnight. Repeat the assembly process with the remaining frozen waffles, ice cream, candy, and hot fudge sauce.
- Cut each whole waffle sandwich into 4 individual ice cream sandwiches, and serve them immediately or freeze them for later. If you prefer, you can also make plain ice cream sandwiches and top them with the chopped candy and hot fudge right when you’re ready to serve them. Any unused waffles can be frozen and reserved for later use.
For savory waffles that are just as over-the-top, try our Egg & Cheese Hash Brown Waffles.