For the Cookies:

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the egg whites and salt until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes.
3. While the egg whites are beating, stir together the coconut, condensed milk, and vanilla until well combined.
4. Gently fold the egg whites into the coconut mixture. It will be a sticky batter.
5. Using two large spoons, scoop out 2-tablespoon mounds onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Gently flatten the tops of the formed cookies (this just ensures a better shape for ice cream sandwiches). I was able to get 16 cookies (for 8 ice cream sandwiches) out of this recipe.
6. Bake for 25 minutes, rotating the baking sheets halfway through, or until the tops of the cookies are golden and the edges are a deeply golden brown.
7. Allow the cookies to cool on the sheets for a couple minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. Make sure the cookies are completely cool before attempting to fill them with ice cream.

Sandwich Assembly:

1. About 5-10 minutes before you assemble the sandwiches, allow the ice cream to soften a little bit at room temperature.
2. Match up the cookies by size, pairing together the most similar sized cookies. Using a small ice cream scoop, scoop out ice cream and place on the flat side of half of the cookies. Working quickly, create sandwiches by topping the ice cream with the remaining cookies and pressing down just slightly.
3. Place formed ice cream sandwiches on a baking sheet and place in the freezer for about 15 minutes so that the ice cream firms up again. Serve immediately or transfer to a resealable bag and keep in the freezer for a week or two.
4. (Optional step: I actually softened my ice cream and scooped it into a muffin tin and let it freeze again in the tin before assembling the sandwiches. This just made for an easier, less messy assembly and is totally not necessary.)

NOTE:

1. For the ice cream, I like to use 2-3 different flavors for variety. I used vanilla bean, chocolate, mango ice cream, and mango sorbet. The mango flavors were killer with the coconut! I also think pineapple or raspberry sorbet would be fabulous here.