Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches

Summer is fast approaching and that means ice cream sandwich time!  I decided to make a large batch of chocolate chip cookies and vanilla ice cream for sandwiches.  I thought this would be great because they would last through the summer.  As I write this post, there is exactly one sandwich left in the freezer!  Guess I will have to make a couple more batches this summer!

So here we go....

Make a batch of chocolate chip cookies.  I used dark chocolate chips and the recipe on the bag.

Then make a batch of vanilla ice cream.
I was exhausted from making the cookies so I slacked on the ice cream.  I made an egg-less, non-cook recipe.  The ice cream got a little grainy, so I would advise making a more time consuming batch of ice cream.

Make sure everything is nice and chilled.  Lay out pieces of plastic wrap.  Pair cookies with similar size cookies.  Put a nice glob of ice cream in the middle.  Squish cookie on top, wrap and put directly into the freezer.

I also put the wrapped cookies into large freezer bags.

And enjoy while you can because they will not last long!

St. Patties Day Pub Crawl Bailey's Ice Cream With Mint Chocolate Sprinkles

Happy belated St. Patrick's Day!  In honor of this booze-filled holiday, I created a Bailey's ice cream.

 

 Unfortunately, this was not a favorite of mine, nor my friends (I can tell this because there is still some left in the freezer a month later!).  The ice cream was amazing fresh out of the machine but after it spent some time in the freezer it lost flavor.

Let me know if you come up with a better recipe for next year!

Ingredients

• 20 oz (ounces) milk (whole)
• 16 oz (ounces) cream (double)
• 4 fl oz (fluid ounces) Baileys
• 3 large egg(s)
• 4 large egg yolk(s)
• 8 oz (ounces) superfine sugar
• 2 teaspoons Pure vanilla extract
• plus mint chocolates to sprinkle on top

 

1. Bring the milk and cream mixture to a slow boil over medium heat, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Combine eggs, egg yolks, and sugar in a medium bowl. Use a hand mixer on medium speed to beat until the mixture is thick, smooth, and pale yellow in color (similar to mayonnaise), about 2 minutes. Remove the vanilla bean pod from the milk/cream mixture and discard.
3. Measure out 1 cup of the hot liquid. With the mixer on low speed, add the cup of hot milk/cream to the egg mixture in a slow, steady stream. When thoroughly combined, pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan with the rest of the milk/cream mixture and stir to combine.
4. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium-low heat until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Transfer to a bowl through a sieve, stir in Bailey's, cover with a sheet of plastic wrap placed directly on the custard, and chill completely. Process custard according to the ice cream machine manufacturer's directions.
5. The ice cream will have a soft, creamy texture. Transfer the ice cream to an airtight container, cover ice cream directly with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming and place in freezer. Because of the alcohol it will take about 10 hours to freeze.
6. Remove from freezer about 15 minutes before serving.

 

 

Valentine's Day Red Velvet Ice Cream

Because it's Valentine's Day

First, I made red velvet cupcakes a day ahead of time.  I put about four unfrosted cakes in the freezer for the ice cream and frosted the rest to just eat.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 tablespoons red food coloring
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 (12-cup) muffin pans with cupcake papers.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. In a large bowl gently beat together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla with a handheld electric mixer. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet and mix until smooth and thoroughly combined.

Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins about 2/3 filled. Bake in oven for about 20 to 22 minutes, turning the pans once, half way through. Test the cupcakes, they should spring back. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.

Icing

Package cream cheese, cold
About a cup and a half of powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

I beat all the ingredients together and added just enough sugar to make the frosting sweet but not too sweet.

Ice Cream
1½ cups heavy cream
¾ cup plus 3 tbsp. sugar, divided
1½ tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
6 large egg yolks
1¼ cups buttermilk
1 tbsp. liquid red food coloring*
1 tsp. vanilla extract


In a medium saucepan, combine the heavy cream with ¾ cup of the sugar and the cocoa powder. Heat over medium-high heat, whisking occasionally, until warmed through and the sugar and cocoa have dissolved into the cream.  Meanwhile, in a medium bowl or a large liquid measuring cup, combine the egg yolks and the remaining 3 tablespoons sugar.  Whisk until smooth.  Once the cream mixture is warm, slowly pour the mixture into the bowl with the egg yolks, whisking constantly to temper the eggs.  Return the egg-cream mixture to the saucepan over medium high heat.

Cook the mixture, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula or spoon (about 170-175° F.)  Pour the custard through the strainer into a bowl or storage container.  Stir in the buttermilk, red food coloring, and vanilla.  Cover and chill thoroughly in the refrigerator.

Freeze the ice cream base in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Mix in frozen crumbled cupcakes by hand. Transfer to a storage container, alternating layers of ice cream with layers of frosting.  Transfer to the freezer and freeze until firm.

Peppermint Ice Cream with Candy Cane Cookie Dough

Christmas is all about peppermint (as you can tell when it is impossible to purchase peppermint extract or candies during the whole month of December)!  One of my childhood favorites are Candy Cane Cookies.  They are a simple braided cookie with an almond flavor and dusted with crushed candy canes.  This inspired me (along with much harassment from my friend to make a cookie dough IC) to create my latest ice cream flavor!

First, I made the cookie dough.  I braided the colored with the plain dough, cut them into pieces, rolled them in crushed candy cane, and froze them.

Then, I made the ice cream.  I put crushed candy cane in the ice cream, as well.  The candy cane melted into the ice cream and their were no chunks at all.  The candy cane on the cookie dough also melted into the dough.  So, this was a useless step.  Next time I will crush the peppermint larger for the ice cream and not bother rolling the dough in it.

Candy Cane Cookies

INGREDIENTS

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the work surface
• 1 teaspoon fine salt
• 2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup sifted powdered sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon red food coloring
• Granulated sugar, for dusting the cookies

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat the oven to 375°F and arrange a rack in the middle.
2. Combine the measured flour and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and powdered sugar on low speed until combined. Increase the speed to high and beat until light in color and fluffy, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the egg, almond extract, and vanilla extract and beat on medium speed to combine (the mixture may look curdled). Turn the mixer off, add the reserved flour mixture, and mix on low speed until the dough just clumps around the paddle.
4. Divide the dough in half. Leave half in the mixing bowl and transfer the other half to a small bowl. Add the food coloring to one half of the dough and knead with a rubber spatula until the coloring is evenly incorporated.
5. Lightly flour a work surface. Pull 12 teaspoon-sized pieces from the red dough, then repeat with the uncolored dough. Using the palms of your hands, roll one piece of red dough into a thin rope, dusting the work surface with flour as needed. Repeat with a piece of uncolored dough. Place the two ropes side by side and twist them together.  Cut into small pieces.
6. Put dough in a freezer container.  Freeze until solid.  Stir pieces occasionally so they do not stick together.

 
I rolled the cut pieces in crushed peppermints (will not do this next time)

Peppermint Ice Cream

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups Half-and-Half
• 2 cups Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Peppermint Extract
• 8 whole Large Egg Yolks
• 3 cups Heavy Cream
• 1/2 cup Coarsely Chopped Peppermint Candies (chop coarsely, do not crush)

INSTRUCTIONS

Pour the half-and-half into a heavy saucepan. Add the sugar and stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks until they're light yellow in color. Temper the egg yolks by slowly drizzling in about 2 cups of the hot half-and-half mixture while whisking quickly. Pour the tempered egg yolk mixture into the saucepan, whisking gently as you add it. Simmer over low heat until it gets very thick, 5 to 7 more minutes.

Pour the mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a medium bowl, pressing with a spoon or spatula to gently force it through. Pour in the heavy cream, then stir to combine. Stir in vanilla. Cover and refrigerate this mixture until it's totally cool.

Freeze the mixture in an ice cream maker according to its directions. After the cycle is completed, stir in the chopped peppermints and immediately transfer to a freezer container.  Stir in the cookie dough and place in the freezer. A couple of hours later, open the container and stir again to make sure the candy and dough is distributed.

Freeze for another 24 hours or until frozen hard and solid.

 Enjoy the ice cream with your friends and a holiday shot class full of your favorite liquor!

Chocolate Brownie Chunk Ice Cream With Caramel

One of my favorites (along with many of my friends') thus far.  An ultimate chocoholic's fix.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of this one :(

I used No Pudge! Brownie mix for the brownies.  I usually make everything homemade, but this brownie mix has all great ingredients and you only add yogurt. The caramel sauce is homemade and very easy.

Chocolate Ice Cream

8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 cups heavy cream, divided
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
6 large egg yolks
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vailla extract
2 cups frozen brownie chunks (mine were not frozen, but next time I will do that so that they keep their form better)

1. Place the chocolate in a medium bowl. In a medium saucepan, bring 1 cup of the cream to a gentle boil. Remove from heat and whisk in the chopped chocolate until completely melted. Whisk in the remaining 1 cup of cream. Scrape the mixture into a large bowl and set aside.

2. In the same saucepan, heat the milk and sugar over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Heat until bubbles begin to form around the edge of the pan. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the yolks and salt until well blended. Pour the hot milk into the yolk mixture, then return the entire mixture to the saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the custard thickens and coats the back of the spoon. Pour the custard through a fine-mesh sieve into the melted chocolate mixture. Whisk to combine. Whisk in the vanilla extract. Place the bowl in an ice bath and stir until cool.

3. Cover the bowl and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 3 hours. While the base is chilling, make the Caramel.

Caramel 

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium, heavy saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the sugar and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the sugar becomes dark golden brown. Remove the pan from the heat and very carefully add the heavy cream. Stir until smooth (if there are lumps, you may need to heat the mixture over low heat until they dissolve). Stir in the salt and vanilla. Cool completely. 

Putting it all together

Process the base in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer the ice cream to a large bowl and mix in the brownie chunks with a rubber spatula.

 

Scrape ice cream into an airtight container. Drizzle Caramel on top. Repeat layering, and then top with remaining ice cream.

Cheesecake Ice Cream

 Just as you hoped, this is basically frozen cheesecake filling.  Super rich, super thick and super good!  This can be the base for plethora of your favorite cheesecake flavors.  This round I threw in some Teddy Grahams to mimic cheesecake crust.  I thought that maybe the Teddy Grahams would be frozen chunks, out to break teeth, but they softened and were delicious.  Things to try next with this base: balsamic roasted strawberries.

6 oz. cream cheese, soft but still cold
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup cold sour cream
1 cup cold heavy cream
pinch of salt
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract


Chill a medium mixing bowl and the beaters of an electric mixer. In the bowl, beat the cream cheese at medium speed until soft and smooth. Gradually add the sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the sour cream and then the heavy cream. Add the salt, lemon juice, vanilla and beat the mixture just until thick and smooth. Cover and refrigerate overnight, or until very cold. Wash and dry the mixer beaters and chill again. 

Using the chilled beaters and gradually increasing the mixer speed from low to medium, beat the cold ice cream mixture until loose and creamy, about 3 minutes. Pour into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.  Add Teddy Grahams with about 5 minutes left to go. Serve immediately, or pack the ice cream into a covered container and freeze for up to 24 hours. Allow the ice cream to soften in the refrigerator for 20 to 30 minutes before serving. 

Don't forget to let others enjoy!

Maple Caramelized Walnuts in Maple Ice Cream

Maple walnut ice cream has always been a part of my family.  Not only is it my dad's all time favorite, but also brings up nostalgic feelings.  I remember birthday's, so long ago, when I would wake up to warm, homemade waffles with melting maple walnut ice cream on the top.  The heat of the waffle and the chill of the ice cream was a wonderful combination, yum.  OK, so enough of the walk down memory road.  All I'm trying to say is, maple walnut ice cream is a freakin' good ice cream!

So, like I do, I tired something new and mixed it up a bit.  I caramelized the walnuts and tried a custard base for the first time.  It takes longer and it is a lot harder to make, but oooooohhh boy was it worth it!

Maple Custard Base

1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups 2% milk
4 egg yolks (save the whites for your roommate so she can make an egg white omelet)
1 cup Grade A Maple Syrup (reduced to 3/4 cup)
      *every review I read said to use Grade B (richer, darker) but I couldn't find any
1/4 teaspoon salt
thermometer

Simmer Maple Syrup on medium heat until it is reduced to 3/4 cup and put aside.  Make sure you watch the pot so it doesn't overflow (may have had a bad accident...I blame Facebook!).

Prepare an ice bath.  Fill a bowl with two trays of ice and some water.  Put a slightly smaller bowl inside that bowl.  The water and ice should come up the sides a bit.

Put cream and milk in a large saucepan and heat over medium heat.
While the milk mixture is heating, separate eggs into a bowl and beat yolks until pale yellow (3-4 minutes).

Once the milk and cream have started to steam, add the syrup and salt, stir well.  Heat and stir the mixture until thermometer indicates 175 degrees.  Remove saucepan from the heat.

Take a shot glass amount of the mixture and slowly pour it into the yolks, stir continuously and vigorously.  Pour egg yolks into the cream/milk slowly while stirring continuously.  Place saucepan back over medium heat and continue to stir until thermometer indicates 180 degrees.  Immediately remove it from the stove and pour into the bowl in the ice bath.

Stir custard until it is room temperature.

Pour through a mesh net (if you have one, I didn't so I just used a strainer).  Strain into a new, clean bowl.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.  Place in the freezer for 5 minutes before putting into the ice cream machine.  Freeze in machine for about 25 minutes.

Caramelized Toasted Walnuts

heaping 1/2 cup of raw walnuts
tablespoon butter
about a tablespoon maple syrup

Toast the walnuts under a broiler for about 5-10 minutes.  Heat maple syrup and butter over low heat.  Coarsely chop nuts.  Throw them into the maple syrup.  Stir until nuts are coated and crusted with maple syrup mixture (about 5-8 minutes).

Add nuts to ice cream machine a couple minutes before ice cream is done freezing.

Next time:

  I thought it was a little too sweet (but I'm kinda a sissy when it comes to sweet).  Next time I will reduce the amount of maple syrup and put in caramelized walnuts or not caramelize the nuts.

  The custard base was well worth the work.  Next time I will try more recipes with the custard base and not be so scared of the work involved.

I also found these great freezer cups.  They are easy to close and are a serving size (if you are me!).