puckery lemon cookie ice cream sandwiches

Yesterday it suddenly hit 80 degrees, and all day I kept thinking about ice cream sandwiches - specifically, lemon puckery cookies with Haagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream. When I got home, I set to work making a traditional lemon shortbread cookie and sprinkled them with sugar as they came out of the oven. The crystals glittered sweetly on the cookies, and reminded me of ice crystals on a cold winters day. But when I assembled the ice cream sandwiches (which you'll see above), it was so hot the ice cream melted - still, though sticky and messy, it was the perfect pairing for a non-chocolate lover.

Here's how you can make your own.

For the cookie:

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

2/3 cup sugar

2 T. lemon zest ( I used a micro grater)

1-2 t. fresh lemon juice

2 t. vanilla

pinch of salt

2 cups King Arthur or other unbleached flour

Mix the butter and sugar well in a mixer bowl. Add the vanilla and salt and mix again. You will feel some sugar crystals, but they cook away and the final cookie is just fine. Add the flour and mix well, then add the lemon zest and lemon juice and mix.

Scoop the dough onto a long piece of plastic wrap and gently mold into an oval. Wrap and place in the fridge for an hour.

Sprinkle the counter or board with flour, and roll out dough to about 1/3 of an inch. I used a fluted round cutter, but choose whatever works for you.

Place in a preheated 325 oven for about 20 minutes - maybe 22 minutes - it depends on your oven.

Sprinkle cookies with sugar as you take them out of the oven and let cool. For ice cream sandwiches, they need to be very, very cool!

You can serve the cookies with iced tea with lemon balm or mint sprigs for a pretty presentation. To make the ice cream sandwiches, just take a pint of Haagen-Dazs vanilla and chip away with a spoon, pressing the ice cream into the cookie cutter. Pop it out onto a lemon cookie, top with another cookie, and serve with a sprig of lemon balm - or you can wrap them in plasic wrap and stick them in the freezer for another hot day.