Strawberry Sorbet Brownie Sandwiches

I really cannot believe it's July already! Strawberry season is already coming to a close and because it was our first year growing strawberries, I wanted to give our beloved berries one last hurrah. So I made these. And by these, I mean: decadent, rich, creamy, gooey frozen bundles of strawberry chocolate delight.

I had always wanted to try my hand at a homemade ice cream sandwich, but I still don't own an ice cream maker and they always just seemed like so much work. But faced with mountains of gorgeous ripe strawberries to use up, I was reminded that strawberry sorbet is actually dead easy to make. Because strawberries are naturally fleshy and high in pectin, you don't even need an ice cream maker to get a perfectly creamy and smooth strawberry sorbet. Plus, if your strawberries are ripe and delicious enough, you barely need to add any sugar.

So I whipped up a batch of sorbet and then these brownie cookies just kind of happened. Because in my world, if you add chocolate to an already good thing, you usually end up with a divine thing.

It's been such a pleasure growing our own strawberries. And also a challenge because we are doing it organically and still learning how best to manage pests, mold, weeds, irrigation, and soil fertility.

But for our first year, we were incredibly impressed with the size, quality, and amount of strawberries we got.

Growing and providing our local community with organic strawberries is very important to us because they are one of the worst crops for pesticide residues. Did you know that 45 different types of pesticide residues have been found on conventionally-grown strawberry by the USDA Pesticide Data Program? Many of them are carcinogens and hormone disruptors. I realize we can't all always afford to buy organic, but if there's one thing I always always recommend buying organically, it's strawberries.

A few notes about my sorbet recipe. I use ground chia seeds because I find they improve the texture of sorbet. They also deliver a nice omega 3 and nutrient punch. No one will ever realize they're there, they don't leave a taste and you can't see them. Also, I use sugar very sparingly because the berries are already very ripe and sweet. Beautifully ripe strawberries are essential for achieving a delicious sorbet! And finally, a tablespoon of vodka will give your sorbet a lovely texture because it lowers its freezing point and prevents it from getting too hard.

So if you're also looking to celebrate what a wonderful strawberry season it's been this year, I encourage you to make these rich and refreshing morsels of goodness. Or at the very least, a nice easy batch of strawberry sorbet. Enjoy!

Aube is a passionate organic gardener and home cook who likes to share the stories of how food gets to our dinner plates. Her work has been shown on television and at international film festivals. Her web series was nominated for a 2014 James Beard Award. In 2012, she was the recipient of Saveur Magazine's Best Food Blog award in the video category.