Make the Cookies

1. Preheat oven to the 375°F and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper
2. To make brown butter, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once melted, continue cooking the butter, stirring occasionally. The butter will begin to foam and turn a golden brown color. Once it reaches this color, remove from heat and transfer to a large bowl to cool.
3. While the butter is cooling, coarsely chop the pecans and place in a small bowl. Set aside.
4. In the large bowl that already has the butter, add the sugars and mix together.
5. Add in the egg and egg yolk, then the vanilla extract and mix until combined (you can use an electric mixer on low speed if you'd like, or you can mix by hand).
6. In a separate medium bowl, whisk or sift together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt.
7. Add all of the dry ingredients all at once into the bowl with the melted butter mixture. Combine.
8. As you're mixing, just before all the flour disappears, toss in the chopped pecans. Continue to mix until all the nuts are evenly distributed in the dough and you do not see any flour left.
9. Using a 3T cookie scoop, scoop the dough onto the parchment lined tray. Leave at least 2.5 inches in between each cookie so they have room to spread. Top 10 cookies with 3 whole, pecan halves (if using).
10. Bake until light to medium golden brown, about 10-13 minutes. You don't want to overbake the cookies but you do want to brown them a bit as it adds a lot of flavor!
11. Once finished baking, remove from the oven and let the cookies set for a few minutes before moving to a wire rack to fully cool.
12. Cool completely before assembling with ice cream.

Assembling the Sandwiches

You can do this 2 ways.

The Scoop & Sandwich Method

Soften the ice cream.

Grab one of the cookies and placing it upside down in your hand. We want to add the ice cream to the bottom side of the cookie. Then scoop some softened ice cream and place it onto the cookie. You want to be generous with the ice cream; I like to use about 1/2 cup. Then, place a second cookie on top of the ice cream and press it down to flatten out the ice cream.

The Cut Out Method

This is my preferred method to assemble the sandwiches. It ensures that there is an even layer of ice cream in each sandwich and the presentation is prettier (in my humble opinion!)

Start by lining a small cookie sheet (it must have sides) with plastic wrap. Scoop softened ice cream onto the tray and press it into one even layer using a spatula. Immediately freeze to set. When you're ready to assemble the sandwiches, use a large biscuit cutter to cut out circles of ice cream. Place onto the flat side/bottom of the first cookie and then top with bottom side of the second cookie.

Storage

Place in an airtight container and layer them with parchment paper to prevent them from sticking together, OR wrap individually in plastic wrap.

When you're ready to enjoy, let them sit out at room temperature for a few minutes so the cookies can soften slightly before taking a bite! These will last about 1 month in the freezer.