Ingredients
Method
Start by making the ice cream
- Line a 9x13 inch rectangular baking dish with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl using either a hand or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the cream on high speed to stiff peaks. Add the sweetened condensed milk, cocoa powder, vanilla bean paste, ½ cup of the Nutella, and salt. Whip until just combined.
- Pour/spread the ice cream into the previously prepared baking dish. Add the remaining ¼ cup of Nutella in dollops evenly on top of the ice cream and use a toothpick to swirl it around. It doesn't need to be pretty and it doesn't need to be even. Sprinkle the chopped hazelnuts on top. Cover the ice cream with cling wrap and place in the freezer until hardened, around 4 hours or overnight.
Make the cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350℉.
- Start by tearing the rye bread into small chunks. Spread the torn bread in an even layer on a baking sheet. Toast the bread in the oven (it's ok if it hasn't completely reached temperature yet) until the bread is slightly browned and mostly dried out. This usually takes about 5 minutes, but keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn. Remove from the oven but keep it at 350℉.
- Pour the slightly cooled toasted bread into a food processor and pulse until broken into a powder. It can still have some small clumps. Set aside. Line the baking sheet you toasted the bread on, plus one additional one, with a silicon baking mat or parchment paper.
- Place the butter in a medium sized saucepan and melt over medium heat. Once melted, keep cooking while stirring occasionally and the butter begins to sizzle and foam. It will then start to turn an amber brown color and give off a nutty aroma. Once browned, remove from the stove and pour the butter into a large mixing bowl, and set aside to cool.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- To the bowl with the cooled brown butter, add the granulated and brown sugars and whisk until combined. Whisk in the vanilla and eggs. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and, using a large spatula, fold the two together until mostly combined. Finally, add in the toasted bread crumbs and fold them in. The dough will be a little thick.
- Scoop the dough into balls, about 2 Tablespoons in size, and place on the baking sheets, roughly two inches apart. Bake the cookies for 12-13 minutes or until browned on the bottom and sides but still a little gooey in the middle. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Assemble the ice cream sandwiches
- Remove the ice cream from the freezer. Using a round cookie cutter roughly the same diameter as your cookies (or freehand with a knife), cut out the ice cream into pucks. Sandwich the pucks between the flat sides of two cookies. Repeat with the remaining ice cream and cookies. Make sure to move quickly as the ice cream will start to melt. You may have some extra ice cream, just scoop it into a sealable container, and store it in the freezer to enjoy by itself.
- Place the assembled sandwiches back in the freezer for at least 2 hours to firm up before serving. You may need to let the sandwiches thaw for a couple minutes before enjoying. Leftovers keep sealed in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 weeks.