1 Picture
Ingredients
- For the brownies
- 3 ounces (85 grams) unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped
- 1 stick (4 ounces or 115 grams) unsalted butter, plus extra for pan
- 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt or 1/4 teaspoon table salt (about 2 grams)
- 2/3 cup (85 grams) all-purpose flour
- For the filling
- 2 to 3 cups ice cream (see Note up top)
Details
Servings 1
Adapted from smittenkitchen.com
Preparation
Step 1
Heat oven to 350°F. Line two 8×8-inch square baking pans with parchment paper, extending it up two sides. Butter the parchment and exposed sides of the pan or spray them with a nonstick cooking spray.
In a medium heatproof bowl over gently simmering water, heat chocolate and butter together until about 3/4 of the way melted. Remove from heat and stir until smooth. Stir in sugar until fully combined, then eggs, one at a time and vanilla. Stir in salt until combined, then flour, until it just disappears.
Divide batter between two prepared pans and spread it evenly — an offset spatula will make this easier. Bake on different racks for 12 to 15 minutes, rotating once top to bottom and front to back, until a toothpick inserted into the center of each pan comes out batter-free. Transfer hot pans directly to freezer (you can put down dish towels or a cooling rack to protect shelves). Chill until cold and firm, about 15 to 20 minutes.
Remove first pan from freezer, and, working quickly, cover with ice cream. (I did this in a patchwork 1-tablespoon scoops of each flavor for a mottled look.) Use a spatula to smoosh it down and smooth the top. Remove second brownie pan from freezer. Run a knife between edges of brownie and pan to make sure it’s not sticking anywhere and use parchment sling to life the brownie out of the pan, remove the parchment and place it on top of the ice cream. Place the empty brownie pan on top of the brownie lid, to weight it, and press down a little. Keeping the weighting pan on top, return brownie-ice cream stack to freezer until fully firm, another 30 minutes. Run a knife around brownie stack again to make sure it’s not stuck, and use the parchment sling to transfer the ice cream sandwich block to a cutting bard. Cut into squares — we cut it into 16 (4×4), but I might make 25 (5×5) tinier ones next time instead.
Please let there be a summer get-together soon so I can make these… without risking eating them ALL myself! Yum yum yum.
Loving this! I wanted brownies last night but it’s too hot to bake right now so opted for ice cream instead. But this would be the perfect mix of two of my favorite things. Makes me think of the pancakes video, “And ice cream!”
(with some brownie doctoring: cutting sugar, adding espresso powder, using 9×13 cake pan) for a 4th of July BBQ. I like your plan of 8×8 pans and freezing in the pan with the ice cream, and will have to give that a whirl next time. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Your one bowl brownie recipe is already a staple in my recipe collection as it is perfect for any get-together. Everyone loves the brownies and I get the simple pleasure of being smug about not using boxed mixes. ;)
Oh gawd. Oh stop. Oh no! I’m going to have to make these! I’m 20 weeks pregnant and brownie sundaes are my weakness. But a brownie sundae that you can eat with your hands? Agggggghhhh! Delicious!
this is next on the list to make with HOMEMADE ICE CREAM, which i can’t believe you didn’t mention. i did make your hot fudge sundae cake for my husbands birthday (yes, all from scratch!) and it was a hit! i suspect these will help me keep up my kitchen stardom.
You know, I just scheduled a housewarming party in a few weeks for my very first home and I told myself nothing more than fresh fruit as a sweet treat because it will be peak fruit season and I don’t want to make myself crazy with more stuff to do, but, well, crap. I can make these this weekend and that wouldn’t even count as work for the party. Though then they’d actually have to survive until the party…taste-testing and quality control of course.
(And BTW, that salted caramel sauce is TO DIE FOR. And the easiest thing to make – no one believes me, because it is that amazing, but it is really super easy.)
sally, Terese — The 9×13-inch pan would require roughly the same baking time, at most, 2 minutes more. Once it’s firm and cold, cut it in half, but keeping on half in the baking pan. Place the ice cream on the side in the baking pan (you might need slightly less because half a 9×13 is less area than an 8×8), place the other half on top, press them down. You’ll have one messier side because the pan will be bigger than the ice cream sandwich slab, but it shouldn’t be a big deal, nothing that cannot be trimmed.
Thanks to you I now have my sister’s birthday “cake” all figured out. Perfect solution for my need to make something homemade with the reality that I have zero time. Smitten strikes again! Why would I ever look elsewhere?
Laurie — No, you should spread it. I just loved the way the blobs looked. I’ll edit the recipe to make it more clear.
Brownies most definitely talk to me, although putting them in the freezer doesn’t shut them up. In fact, it makes them scream louder…
I also love cold brownies, Deb! When I make your cheesecake-swirled brownies I only eat them straight out of the freezer!
Hi Deb, these look great! My sister loves chocolate chips in her brownies, so would it work if I added them to the batter, or would they get to hard in the freezer? Thanks and I can’t wake to make these!
This looks great…but appears to only make 1 serving.
Hey Deb, wanted to let you know that one of your advertisers did something kinda funky today. I loaded this blogpost via RSS, and was reading it, and then I was redirected to some site called sponsor.adverstitial.com/view/advertisement… which is not my favorite to begin with, but on top of that the go back to site link didn’t work, so I had to close the tab and try to access your site again. :/ I took a screenshot of it, but wasn’t sure how to make it available to you in case you’re curious, so I stuffed the screenshot in an evernote here:
I just want to say this makes me so happy! There is nothing like ice cream in the summer (or any time) and the next best thing is brownies. I’m on a total neapolitan bend right now and seeing those scoops and then seeing the ice cream blended together like that…swoon! You really rock. Have a great weekend ahead!
I can hardly wait to make this with gluten free brownies (which to my mind are the easiest and most delicious gf dessert) with some fresh raspberries smushed in with the ice cream. We have a monthly dinner date with friends, one of whom requires gf and ALL of whom enjoy ice cream. Thanks for the idea!
. She posted that the day I used up my last drop of $20 extract and there I was, ordering vanilla beans online and draining grandpa’s (yes, really) vodka we keep in the freezer to make a bottle. It’s wonderful. I highly recommend it. Unsolicited advice: always buy vanilla beans by weight, not count, whenever possible. By count, you can get stuck with very tiny ones. By weight, it’s fair whether you’re sold dozens of skinny ones or one dozen fatter ones.
These look great, definitely the best way to beat the heat!
Maybe if you make a cake out of it, you could press crushed oreos onto the sides instead of sprinkles?!
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