Chocolate Sea Salt Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches

Found this PMS dream cookie in the LA Times Food Section (chocolate, salt & sugar!). Given that I'm not the only chocolate lover in the house I suspect these will have to be squirreled away in different places to make certain at least 1 or 2 are around when medicinally required The article mentions how the salt balances the sweet & specifically suggests sel gris, Celtic sea salt, which I am sure would be the bomb but I suspect Kosher salt will work just fine too. Preparation/assembling the day before gives the cookies time to soften & the ice cream time to harden - if you care. Prep time includes 2 hour minimum dough chilling time. Thinking of making a chunky banana ice cream to go into these bad boys...

• Ready In: 2 hrs 42 mins
• Yields: 18 sandwiches

Ingredients

• 10  tablespoons butter, room temperature (plus extra for greasing the baking sheets)
• 1⁄2 cup sugar
• 1⁄3 cup sugar, for rolling
• 1⁄4 cup brown sugar
• 2  tablespoons brown sugar
• 1  egg
• 1  teaspoon vanilla
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1  cup flour
• 1⁄4 cup cocoa powder
• 2  tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1⁄4 teaspoon sea salt, coarse, for sprinkling
• 1 1⁄2 quarts ice cream

Directions

1. In the bowl of a stand mixture using the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl using a hand mixer, beat the butter, one-half cup sugar and the brown sugar at medium speed until light, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the egg and mix well to incorporate. Add the vanilla and mix until thoroughly combined.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together the salt, flour, cocoa powder and baking soda. Mix the dry ingredients into the butter mixture, one-half at a time, until thoroughly combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Form the dough into a disc, wrap with plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours or longer.
3. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the remaining one-third cup of sugar in a small bowl.
4. 4Shape the dough into 1-inch balls. If the dough starts to become sticky, return it to the refrigerator to chill briefly. Roll the cookies in the sugar. Lightly press down on the balls to flatten them to one-half inch. Place 5 to 6 small grains of sea salt on half the cookies (these will be the tops of the sandwiches), spacing the salt crystals out on top of the balls as much as possible.
5. Place the balls 2 inches apart on lightly buttered baking sheets. Bake until the surface puffs and begins to deflate, and the cookies darken slightly, 10 to 12 minutes. Rotate the pan halfway through for even baking. Cool the cookies for 1 minute on the baking sheet, then transfer the cookies from the sheet to a wire rack to cool.
6. To assemble, spread a generous one-fourth cup ice cream (slightly softened) over a bottom cookie, and carefully cover with a top cookie containing the salt crystals. Press firmly but gently to avoid breaking the cookies. Run a knife or offset spatula around the edges to clean up any ice cream hanging over the edge. Freeze for at least 1 hour to firm the ice cream. Repeat with all the cookies.