Ice Cream in a Cookie? Whaaaaat??

I know it sounds crazy, but it is true.  I have made cookies that contain ice cream.  I found the recipe on Picky Palate, and of course I had to make it.  My go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe is the one found on the back of Tollhouse chocolate chips, but recently I've felt I wanted something else.  A more voluminous cookie.  And here I have found it.

They were delightful.  I'm excited to try different combinations of ice cream and add-ins; my next attempt will be cookies and cream ice cream with Oreo cookies. 

2 sticks softened butter
1 c. granulated sugar
3/4 c. packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tbsp. pure vanilla (that's 4 1/2 tsp.)
Heaping 1/2 c. vanilla ice cream (frozen from container)
4 c. all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 bag chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Beat butter and sugars until fluffy.  Add vanilla and eggs and mix until combined.  Add ice cream and mix until combined.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt.  Add flour mixture and chocolate chips to wet ingredients and mix until combined.  Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment.  Bake 9-11 minutes and allow to cool 5 minutes on the sheet before transferring to racks.

Makes about 5 dozen.

Molten Lava Chocolate Souffle Cakes (with guest chefs Sophie and Claire!)

We had some house guests staying with us last week, and all we did was cook and eat and cook and eat.  Not a bad deal.  The girls and I wanted to make dessert, and Sophie said "I'm thinking of something chocolate with, like, pudding in the middle."  Her wish is my command.

I've made this recipe before, and it is very easy, very delicious, and probably very deadly.  But you should expect no less from me.  The recipe is from The All-American Dessert Book by Nancy Baggett.  Here goes:

12 oz. bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, broken up or coarsely chopped
2 sticks butter, cut into chunks
5 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk
3/4 c. granulated sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
Pinch of salt (can be omitted if using salted butter)
2/3 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. powdered sugar
2 tbsp. unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder (of course we used my favorite Black Onyx)

Grease six 3/4 c. ramekins or souffle dishes.  In a double boiler (or a pot in another pot that has water in the bottom), warm the chocolate and butter over low heat, stirring frequently, until partially melted.  Remove from heat and set aside, stirring until completely melted and slightly cooled).

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and yolk until blended.  Add the granulated sugar, vanilla, and salt and whisk until incorporated.  Whisk in the chocolate mixture.  Add flour, powdered sugar, and cocoa powder and whisk until incorporated.  Divide the batter equally among prepared dishes.

This is a good point at which to cover the cakes and put them in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook them.  They will keep up to 48 hours.

When you're ready to bake, position a rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 400 degrees.  Place the dishes on a baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes (may take longer if the cakes are cold).  The cakes should look a little undercooked in the middle.  Run a knife around the edges of the cakes to loosen them and allow them to cool about 6 minutes.

To serve, position a dessert plate over the top of a ramekin and (using oven mitts because they will be hot) quickly flip the ramekin over.  I had to shake mine a bit.  Top them with whipped cream or ice cream and enjoy!

Further adventures in ice cream! Strawberry-Banana Cheesecake

I don't normally eat ice cream out of a martini glass, but there you go.

So the second part of my ice cream tomfoolery was this delightful pink concoction.  I didn't really expect that I would taste anything other than strawberry, but in fact I tasted the banana.  I'm not sure I got the cheesecakie flavor, though.  Nevertheless it was quite refreshing!  So here are the ingredients:

2½ c. hulled whole strawberries, coarsely chopped

¾ c. plus 2 tbsp. sugar (divided: pay attention to this because I messed it up by not reading carefully)

1 tsp. unflavored gelatin

½ c. milk

1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1 c. heavy cream

1 small banana (squishy is okay), peeled and coarsely chopped (okay I didn’t know the banana was supposed to be chopped until this instant.  Who cares?  It’s going in a food processor anyways.)

4 oz. cream cheese, cut into chunks

In a medium bowl, stir together the strawberries and ¼ c. of the sugar.  Letstand until the sugar dissolves and the juices are released (which happens less nicely if you use ¾ c. sugar instead).  In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over the milk.  Let stand, stirring once or twice, until the gelatin softens, about 5 min.  I find both milk and gelatin unspeakably gross, so this step was pretty much revolting to me.

In a medium saucepan, stir together the remaining ½ c. plus 2 tbsp. sugar, the lemon juice, cream, and gelatin mixture.  Bring almost to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring, until the gelatin dissolves.  Let cool slightly.

Transfer the cream mixture into a food processor.  Add the banana (chopped, or whole if you’re like me).  With the motor running, add the cream cheese, several chunks at a time.  Process until the mixture is smooth.  Add the strawberries, processing in pulses until the berries are chopped “moderately fine” (or, screw that and just do what feels right).

Refrigerate, covered, until very cold (4½-24 hours; mine stayed in for about 22).

Stick it in your ice cream maker and have at it.  I’m sure you know the drill.  Let it firm up in the freezer for an hour before serving it.  This one will also keep for about 2 weeks.

 Ice cream is my favorite food group.

Homemade Ice Cream! Chocolate Double-Malted Milk

It’s summer, and even though I don’t need an excuse to eat ice cream (I would sit inside watching it snow outside and still be chowing down some coffee ice cream) I now have an excuse to make it.  Also my dear seester just bought an ice-cream maker and suggested we make stuff “together” but actually on opposite sides of the country.

So, I made two ice cream flavors that I found in this book:

I love this book.  I bought it for like $3 and the recipes are great.  Plus it gives you fun historical facts: for example, I learned that Thomas Jefferson loved vanilla frozen custard, and that he was frustrated by the unavailability of vanilla “sticks” in America.  The other thing you need to make these recipes is an ice cream maker.  Here’s mine:

Pretty old school.  We’ve had it since I was very small.  Something to note before you get started:  you need to plan in advance!  You will probably need to freeze part of your ice cream maker for at least 24 hours, and the mixtures themselves need to chill for at least 4 hours (and up to 24 hours).  This is undoubtedly heartbreaking news for my sister, who is not a planner.

We’ll start with the Chocolate Double-Malted Milk ice cream.  Here are your ingredients:

1 tsp. unflavored gelatin

2 tbsp. cold water

(scant) 2/3 c. sugar

3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

pinch of salt

1½ c. heavy cream

1 c. plain malted milk powder (NOT chocolate, although I’m interested to test what that would taste like.  Mmm, super-chocolate)

1 ½ c. half-and-half or light cream

2 tsp vanilla extract

½-¾ c. chopped malted milk balls, frozen (to taste)

In a small bowl, stir the gelatin into the water.  Let stand, stirring one or twice, until the gelatin softens (5 min.)  In a 2-quart saucepan, stir together the sugar, cocoa, and salt.  Slowly whisk in the heavy cream and gelatin mixture.  Heat the mixture over medium-high heat, whisking until the gelatin dissolves (your mixture will start out pretty thick and then turn pretty smooth—that’s how you know).  Remove from heat.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the malted milk powder into the half-and-half until the mixture is completely smooth.  Stir the half-and-half mixture and vanilla into the cocoa mixture until smooth.  Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until hot.  Remove from heat and let cool slightly.  Cover and refrigerate until very cold, at least 4½ hours and up to 24 hours (I did mine for about 6, just FYI).

Once the mixture is cold, pour it into the ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer’s instructions.  When the ice cream is pretty solid, add the chopped malt balls.  Freeze the ice cream in a Tupperware for at least an hour before serving.

 And voila!  Homemade ice cream.  Delicious.  And it stays good for about 2 weeks, but I have a feeling ours won’t last that long.  Stay tuned for Strawberry-Banana Cheesecake Ice Cream!!