Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Sandwiches

I am taking one of my favorite summer desserts - Strawberry Shortcake - to a whole new level and adding ice cream! My family loves fresh strawberries really anytime, not just summer, so this is definitely a favorite of ours on a hot day!

INGREDIENTS

• ready-to-bake Pillsbury sugar cookies

• vanilla filling (ingredients and recipe included below)

• fresh strawberries (1/2 cup diced, 1-3 sliced)

• strawberry ice cream (our fave is Breyer's)

• graham crackers, crushed for topping

Vanilla Filling ingredients (this will make EXTRA, so if you do not want any to keep for later, cut everything in half!)

• 1 block cream cheese

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 1/4 cup instant pudding powder

• 2 cups thawed cool whip

• 1lb bag of powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS

1. Bake your cookies per directions on the box and let them cool before topping. I prefer them on the softer side so take them out as soon as the bottom starts browning.

2. While cookies are baking, make your vanilla filling. Mix cream cheese and vanilla extract in bowl with mixer FIRST. Add in cool whip and vanilla pudding powder, mix. Then SLOWLY add in powdered sugar, mixing everything until it is a smooth icing texture. If you have an icing bag, add filling to that. It will help with the next step.

3. After cookies have cooled, spread vanilla filling on bottom of one cookie, then sprinkle with diced strawberries.

4. Next top with your strawberry ice cream followed by another sugar cookie.

5. Last step, do another squeeze of vanilla filling on top, sprinkle with crushed graham crackers and top with a slice of strawberry.

These will melt fast so have those little hungry mouths ready!

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