Better Than Pie

If you limit yourself to prefab confections, you’ll miss one of the great flavor combinations: pumpkin ice cream and spice cookies.

This delicious seasonal concoction was featured at last year’s annual pumpkin festival in Morton, Ill. The sandwiches were made and sold by the hundreds. It threatened to replace pumpkin pie as a favorite dessert among festival-goers.

It’s a relatively easy recipe to prepare at home. For the painless version, buy some pumpkin-flavored ice cream, available in some ice cream stores during the fall, and sandwich it with commercially made molasses, ginger or sugar cookies.

If you prefer a from-scratch sandwich, recipes for a small batch of rich (richer than you’ll ever buy in an ice cream store) pumpkin ice cream and melt-in-the-mouth brown sugar cookies follow. The directions are for six sandwiches, enough for a private pumpkin festival.

PUMPKIN ICE CREAM SANDWICHES

2 tablespoons grated ginger root

1 cup whipping cream

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup sugar

2 egg yolks

1 cup pureed cooked pumpkin

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Dash salt

Brown Sugar Cookies

Combine ginger and whipping cream in medium heavy-bottom pan. Set over medium heat and simmer 15 minutes. Strain well, discarding ginger. Return ginger cream to pan. Add milk and sugar and bring to simmer.

Beat egg yolks well in bowl. Pour few tablespoons hot milk mixture into yolks, stirring to blend. Then pour yolk mixture back into pan. Cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until smooth and as thick as thin pancake batter. Immediately remove from heat. Stir in pumpkin, cinnamon and salt. Cover and chill until cold, about 2 hours.

Freeze pumpkin mixture in ice cream machine according to manufacturer’s directions. Divide ice cream among 6 Brown Sugar Cookies, spreading on thick layer. Top with remaining 6 cookies. Either serve immediately or wrap each sandwich individually in plastic wrap and freeze up to 1 week. Makes 6 sandwiches.

Note: Use fresh or canned pureed pumpkin. Do not use pumpkin pie filling. The two recipes don’t have to be combined as sandwiches. Cookies may be served on the side. However, they taste better with pumpkin ice cream than they do as plain cookies.

Brown Sugar Cookies

6 tablespoons butter

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1 egg

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup raisins, optional

Granulated sugar

Cream butter and brown sugar in bowl. Stir in egg, beating until well combined. Stir together baking soda, flour, cinnamon, ginger and salt in separate bowl. Blend into butter mixture. Stir in raisins.

Shape dough into 12 balls size of golf balls. Place on lightly greased baking sheet at least 2 inches apart. Flatten cookies to 1/3-inch thickness, using bottom of glass dipped in granulated sugar. Bake cookies at 375 degrees until puffed and lightly browned, 11 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven. Let stand 5 minutes, then remove to rack to cool. Cookies will deflate and become firmer as they cool. Makes 12 cookies for 6 sandwiches.

Each sandwich contains about:

526.82 calories; 353.36 mg sodium; 179.41 cholesterol; 18.14 grams fat; 63.11 grams carbohydrate; 5.65 grams protein; .34 gram fiber; 30.99% calories from fat.