Classic chocolate ice cream sandwiches

Whisk the flour, salt, baking soda and cocoa until evenly distributed; sift if clumpy.

Mix and smear the soft butter, white sugar, brown sugar and vanilla with a spatula to a relatively smooth paste, a couple of minutes.

Add the flour-cocoa mixture and the milk, all at once, and stir and fold to a smooth, relatively stiff batter.

Spray the Silpat-lined baking sheet with a little vegetable oil and rub it in.

Scoop the batter with a sorbet scoop into 12 cookies (or 8 for larger sandwiches); smooth ragged edges with a damp finger.

Bake in the centre of a 350 oven 9 or 10 minutes; a minute or two more for larger cookies.

As soon as they come out, tap the pan on the counter five times to settle and compress the cookies.

Cool to room temperature on the pan, then freeze 10 to 15 minutes until firm and very cold.

Release each cookie from the mat by coaxing from underneath; poke at least 10 or 12 holes in each with a chopstick.

Return the cookies to the freezer until cold and firm.

Flip one cookie, add a scoop of vanilla ice cream and press a second cookie on top; wrap in plastic and freeze a few hours before serving.