Saltine Toffee Chocolate Peanut Ice Cream Sandwich

This is such a treat - a fancy, grown up ice cream sandwich. They're incredible messy (especially if you don't let them firm up enough) but oh my goodness, they are so good! I saw this recipe on Smitten Kitchen and had to try it. Yum! The saltine/toffee/chocolate/peanut combo is amazing and so crunchy. If you want want to go through the trouble of making the sandwiches, you could also just crack it up and sprinkle it liberally over vanilla ice cream. It's addicting. I recommend making these the day before you want to eat them so they have a lot of time to firm up in the freezer - makes them a lot easier to eat. 

Ingredients:

36 saltines

1/2 cup butter cut into chunks

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/3 cup dark chocolate chips

sea salt (or kosher salt if you don't have sea salt)

2 cups vanilla ice cream, slightly softened

Big handful roasted peanuts (or any other nut of your choice)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350.

Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray. This one was a little too big, so I just made the square and folded up the side on the right below. Lay out the crackers in a square. They are not perfectly square (one side is slightly longer than the other) and I found it fit better when the crackers were facing one direction, so you may need to play around a little.

In a sauce pan, melt the butter and the brown sugar over medium. 

Whisk it for two minutes to melt the sugar. 

Quickly pour it over the crackers and spread it out with an offset spatula or a silicone spatula. 

Pop it in the oven for 10-15 minutes so the toffee melts all over the crackers, but watch it because you don't want it to brown too much. 

Immediately sprinkle the chocolate chips all over it and let them sit (and melt) for five minutes.

Spread the chocolate around with an offset spatula.

Sprinkle the nuts evenly over the chocolate and give them a little push to help them stick. 

Put the whole thing in the freezer for 20 minutes to harden and completely cool. 

Break the whole thing in half down the middle. Place one half, chocolate/nut side down, on some saran wrap. Top with the ice cream.

Spread it around evenly. 

Top it with the other half. wrap it up with saran wrap and put it in the fridge for 4-8 hours (8 hours is much better). Once totally firm, cut them into squares/rectangles using a serrated knife and serve immediately or put them right back in the freezer to eat later.