Do you remember your first ice cream cookie sandwich? In the test kitchen, we took a little poll, and not surprisingly, most of us could. Combining ice cream and full-size cookies to make a sandwich is not like sending a man to the moon, but it is pretty revelatory for kids — if only for the sheer size of the thing. And of course, they taste amazing: chewy, sweet, creamy, and cold in all the right proportions. Summer bliss!

This ice cream sandwich is all that — and more. The cookies are, of course, made from our best chocolate chip cookies recipe, which bake up with crispy edges, chewy centers, and pools of melted chocolate. They have a fantastic salt ratio, which brings out all the chocolate’s awesomeness and also makes them a delicious foil for the vanilla ice cream.

You could stop right there, and these beauties would still be amazing. But we went the extra mile and dipped the sandwiches in bittersweet chocolate, salty roasted nuts, and chunks of toffee bar. Heavens! They look positively eye-poppingly scrumptious — if they don’t make your kids, partner, friends, and dog ooh and aah, nothing will. And what a bite (if you can get the whole thing in your mouth!): salty-sweet, crunchy, chocolaty, chewy, and so rich and creamy.

Ice cream sandwiches are such a treat, you could roll them out at the end of any meal, from the casual patio dinner to the big, splashy birthday party. They’re also the kind of thing that makes an excellent surprise, like we just came home from the Children’s Museum — surprise! Or, it’s our anniversary, and you think I forgot — surprise! Or it’s National Ice Cream Month — surprise!

Tip: If at any point the ice cream is too soft to work with, stop and put it in the freezer for a little bit. This is especially important when it comes time to dip the ice cream sandwich in the melted chocolate; you want that ice cream nice and cold so it doesn’t melt into the chocolate.