It’s officially summer in DC and it’s hot! It’s also muggy, sticky, and humid, but honestly I’m loving the heat. On my day off, I’m trying to find time to just sit outside and soak it up a bit. I’m inside so much now that it feels good to feel the sun. Even if I’m just sitting and doing nothing but sipping on my iced coffee. Plus I need the vitamin D.

The heat also has me craving my favorite summer frozen treats from when I was a kid. It reminds me of sitting on the beach in Nantucket in cut off jean shorts and a bathing suit top, licking up the ice cream or popsicle before it melts completely over my sticky fingers. I loved creamy push-up pops, Italian ice, and soft serve covered in rainbow sprinkles. But really my favorite frozen dessert was absolutely an ice cream sandwich.

The Chipwich defined some of my favorite summer memories. In fact, for many years, I thought they were sold exclusively at Jetties beach on Nantucket, because that’s where I exclusively had them for years. Chipwich, Jetties, hot sand, kites in the air, sandbar, boardwalk, ferries in the distance. The perfect Nantucket summer memory. When I found out I could get a Chipwich anywhere, I felt both excited and betrayed. The idea that I could eat one without all those great things surrounding me was so unnerving.

But I’m not going to Nantucket this summer (big bummer, I know), so I’ll do anything I can to recreate those memories. So here is my attempt, with these chocolate chip coconut ice cream sandwiches. Here’s how it goes… bake your favorite batch of chocolate chip cookies and sandwich your favorite ice cream between two cookies. For this batch, I used a great roasted coconut ice cream, which was creamy, sweet, and added just a hint of another rich flavor. Go outside, even if you have to sit on your city stoop, and enjoy both the sun and your ice cream sandwich all over you.