Coconut Salted Caramel Ice Cream Sandwiches

A base of crispy coconut cookies, homemade salted caramel, and a filling of creamy vanilla ice cream take these caramel ice cream sandwiches completely over the top!

If you’re not screaming for ice cream by this point of July, are you even doing summer right?

Allow me to help by shoving a mess of caramel + coconut + ice cream in your face. All in delightfully-messy ice cream sandwich form, of course, because we take our ice cream game seriously around here.

For real, my freezer is currently locked and loaded with a bag of these sandwiches and you won’t catch me without that bag full for the rest of summer.

Probably way into fall too if we’re being honest here.

These Ice Cream Sandwiches Feature…

• A base of golden chewy coconut cookies
• A layer of homemade salted caramel sauce spread on cookies
• Creamy vanilla ice cream sandwiched between cookies

Making the Ice Cream Sandwiches

(scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe)

Ingredients You Will Need

• Unsalted butter
• Brown sugar
• Egg
• Vanilla extract
• All-purpose flour
• Coconut
• Baking soda
• Ground cinnamon
• Kosher salt
• Granulated sugar
• Heavy whipping cream
• Vanilla ice cream

Tips for Perfect Ice Cream Sandwiches

1. Use stand mixer or mix cookie dough by hand – this recipe is both mixer-friendly and old-fashioned-bowl-and-spoon friendly.
2. Cream butter and sugar together – make sure your butter is softened to room-temperature and cream well with the sugar several minutes until completely smooth.
3. Use room temperature egg – allow the egg to come to room temperature or submerge in hot water for about 2 minutes to quickly warm it. A room temperature egg will incorporate much easier into the dough.
4. Measure flour correctly – I use the spoon-and-level technique for measuring flour as this will prevent over-measuring your flour. Use a spoon to scoop flour into the measuring cup, then level with the back of a knife. For the most accurate measuring you can also weigh your flour.
5. Flatten dough balls before baking – I find that this helps the cookies spread more evenly during baking making for the perfect cookie thickness for ice cream sandwiches.
6. Use a heavy-bottom saucepan for caramel – this ensures even heat distribution when cooking the caramel.
7. Temp caramel with a candy thermometer – this ensures that the caramel reaches soft-ball stage at 235F.
8. Spread caramel on cookies while warm – the caramel will be much easier to spread when it’s still warm.
9. Allow caramel to cool on cookies 20 minutes – this will keep the ice cream from excessive melting when constructing the sandwiches.
10. Freeze ice cream sandwiches immediately – I like to transfer these to a container in the freezer immediately after building one and before moving on to the next so they don’t melt.

Recipe Variations

Try these ideas for a different twist on these ice cream sandwiches.

• Use premade caramel sauce – use jarred caramel sauce in place of the homemade recipe.
• Try a different cookie base – try chocolate chip, snickerdoodles, or peanut butter.
• Try another ice cream filling – any ice cream flavor works great here! Try chocolate, cookie dough, or cookies and cream in place of the vanilla.

Biting into one of these creamy beauties standing in front of the open freezer is honestly the highlight of this summer for me. It’s the layer of homemade salty caramel and toasty coconut that really makes them into something special!

Stockpile your freezer with these and never look back.

More ice cream sandwiches you’ve gotta try next!

• Chocolate-Dipped Peanut Butter Ice Cream Sandwiches
• Espresso Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches
• Snickerdoodle Ice Cream Sandwiches