Cookie Cats from Steven Universe
I've been getting requests to do a recipe/tutorial of Cookie Cats from Steven Universe! These ice cream cookie sandwiches were a favorite of Steven's before being sadly bumped out of the market by the dreaded Lion Lickers. But have no fear; Cookie Cat left his family behind and now he can fly into your freezers at home. ^A^
There are a few recipes out there that yield a soft cookie, more reminiscent of an ice cream sandwich. The recipe I use produces a crispy cookie, similar to an oreo in both texture and taste. I slightly adapted the recipe from Food Network to suit my tastes and cookie texture; you can find it here (x). Steven described Cookie Cats as having "crunchy cookie outsides and icy creamy insides", so I wanted a cookie that had a crunch to it! If you're looking for a softer cookie outside, you might like one of these recipes instead (Food Adventures (in fiction!)) (Feast of Fiction). I have not tried these recipes myself, but they look pretty awesome as well! ｡^‿^｡
By far the trickiest part of this recipe is the ice cream. You have to work quickly and efficiently otherwise your ice cream will melt. I have seen other recipes advise to alternate ice cream flavors in a tray and cut out the ice cream with a cutter. To prevent wasting ice cream, I went with a bit of a different approach and pushed ice cream into the cutter shape individually. I have not tried the ice cream tray method, but if you want to work more quickly, I would suggest going that route. My method probably takes longer, but I prefer not to waste ice cream and figured if I was going to be pressing ice cream, I might as well do it in the mold instead of a tray. Do whichever method works best for you!
These Cookie Cats are very tasty; perfect for a cute snack. The dark chocolate of the cookie is not overly sweet, and compliments the cool ice cream in a delicious way. You can always change up the kinds of ice cream inside to suit your tastes as well! Experimenting can be a great way to find your preferred flavor combination!
☆ This recipe does take some time to chill the dough! Please plan accordingly! ☆
Ingredients:
1 1/3 Cups Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa Powder
1 ½ Cups Flour
¼ Teaspoon Salt
1 cup butter (2 sticks, salted or unsalted is up to you)
2 Cups Granulated Sugar
2 Eggs
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
3 1.5 Quarts Ice Cream of your choice (I used chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla bean)
Yields about 40 cookies (20 Cookie Cats)
Directions:
Sift together the cocoa powder, flour, and salt in a large bowl.
In a mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition to incorporate before adding the vanilla. Turn the mixer off, then slowly sift in 1/3 of the dry ingredients. Turn the mixer to a low speed so the dry ingredients don't fly everywhere, and mix until combined. Add the remaining dry ingredients in parts, repeating the method of turning the mixer speed up gradually. Scrape the bottom of the bowl to ensure all the ingredients have been combined.
Unroll a long sheet of saran wrap and place the dough on it. Fold one end of the saran wrap so it covers the dough, then roll the dough out into a thin sheet, about 1/4 inch thick. The saran wrap will help with transporting the dough and keeping your surface clean, but you're welcome to roll the dough out on a floured surface if that is your preference. You should have one long sheet of thin dough. Cut the dough in half, then stack the two sheets to make for easy refrigeration.
Chill the dough until firm (I'd advise at least 1 hour). When the dough has chilled, remove from the fridge and preheat your oven to 325˚ F. Cut out your cats using a cookie cutter. Because these cookies have both a front and back, you'll only want to cut out eyes for half of them. I found an apple corer made good size eye holes, but feel free to improvise here.
Put a sheet of parchment paper on a baking tray and place the cookie cats about 3/4 inch apart. I didn't notice much expansion in my cookies, so I found the space to be more than enough! Chill for another 20 minutes to re-firm the cookies, then bake for a total of 15 minutes. After 7 minutes, turn the tray to make sure the cookies bake evenly. The cookies shouldn't look too different during/after baking; just a bit more textured.
While the cookies are baking, prep your ice cream. Roll out a small sheet of saran wrap and place your cutter in the center. Gently press your ice cream into the cutter to use as a mold. You will have to work quickly here seeing as the ice cream will begin to melt. I recommend keeping any ice cream not in use in the freezer and getting it right before you are going to use it. Once you have pressed the ice cream into the cutter, lift the cutter and gently press out the ice cream if it is stuck. Wrap the ice cream in the surrounding saran wrap and stick it in the freezer to chill. Repeat for a total of 20 times, alternating ice cream flavors to your preferred ratio. This process is likely to get messy, so be prepared! Let the ice cream chill until firm before working with it again.
☆Before proceeding, I recommend that you prepare storage means for your cookie cats in the freezer! You will have to work quickly to assemble the cookie cats and will want to get them back in the freezer as soon as possible. Make sure you have the room/packaging ready before you move on to the assembly!☆
When the cookies are done baking, allow to cool completely. Using a large knife, cut each ice cream cat in half. Put two different halves together on a bottom-side cat cookie, alternating flavor options as you go. Place a face-side cat cookie on top and gently press together to stick. Work with one cat at a time so that your ice cream can stay chilled for as long as possible. Store the cats in the freezer and allow to chill until firm. I found that a few hours were sufficient, but the ice cream was soft and melted quickly. Chilling overnight yielded a better consistency, but don't worry if you can't wait!
Enjoy your interstellar treat!
(Cookie Cats approved by expert Cat (°∀°)b )
