These are great when you get those midnight munchies – either keep the cookies separately in an airtight cookie jar and sandwich only together each time with the softened ice cream of your choice when required or make the sandwiches complete with ice cream and coating and then freeze until required.

Ingredients: (Makes 12)

• 115 g/4 oz/½ cup unsalted (sweet) butter, at room temperature, diced
• 115 g/4 oz/generous ½ cup caster (superfine) sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 200 g/7 oz/1¾ cups plain (all-purpose) flour
• 25 g/1 oz/¼ cup (unsweetened cocoa powder, sieved
• Ice cream, to fill
• Toasted nuts, biscuit (cookies) crumbs, to coate
• Chocolate flakes or demerara (raw) sugar, to coat

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, then beat in the egg. Stir in the flour and cocoa powder to make a firm dough.

Roll the dough out to a thickness of 6 mm/¼ inch on baking parchment. Using a 7.5 cm/3 inch plain round biscuit (cookie) cutter, stamp out 24 rounds and place on the prepared baking sheets. Alternatively cut into squares or rectangles of equal size. Bake the cookies for about 15 minutes. Set aside on the baking sheets to cool.

To make the ice cream cookies, spread 2 good spoonfuls of softened ice cream on a cookie and press a second on top. Squeeze so the filling reaches the edges.

Put your chosen coating on a plate and roll the cookies in it to coat the sides. Either eat straight away or wrap individually in foil and freeze. The cookies may be kept for up to 2 weeks in the freezer.