Cuisine – Ice-cream sandwiches with a twist

If you love ice-cream, these make a great treat or dessert all year round. Makes 8

1½ cups plain flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp ground mixed spice
½ cup desiccated coconut
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup soft brown sugar
¼ cup white sugar
½ tsp salt
40g crystallised ginger (finely diced) plus extra for decorating
200g butter
1/3 cup golden syrup
¼ cup molasses
1 tsp vanilla essence 
1 tsp baking soda
Vanilla ice-cream
½ cup toasted desiccated coconut

Preheat oven to 160°C.
Line two baking sheets with baking paper. Mix all the dry ingredients and crystallised ginger together and set aside. In a saucepan over medium heat melt the butter, syrup, molasses, and vanilla, swirling the pan until the butter starts to foam and turns golden brown. 
Watch it carefully, so that it doesn’t burn. Cool slightly, then whisk in the baking soda. It will foam even more – that’s what we want.
Scrape the butter mixture into the dry ingredients. Combine well. Take two tablespoons of mixture at a time and form balls. Place them on lined baking sheets, spreading them evening so they don’t touch.
Bake for 14 minutes or until golden and crispy. 
Remove them from the oven and let them cool completely before serving. Now turn them into ice-cream sandwiches, Place a dollop of ice-cream in between two cookies. Gently squeeze until the ice-cream reaches the edge of each cookie. Roll the sandwiches in the toasted coconut with finely diced crystallised ginger to give them a pretty look.  Eat straight away or store in the freezer until you’re ready.