Ice Cream Sandwhiches

Ingredients:
For the ice cream:
1 cup whole milk
¾ cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream
Pinch of salt
1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise
6 large egg yolks
¾ tsp. vanilla extract

For the cookies:
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt

Directions:
Combine the milk, sugar and 1 cup of the cream in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until warmed through. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the mixture and add the husk of the bean as well. Cover the saucepan, remove from the heat and set aside to steep for 30 minutes at room temperature.
Pour the remaining 1 cup of cream into a large bowl with a fine mesh sieve set over the top. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour some of the warm milk mixture into the bowl with the egg yolks, whisking constantly to temper the eggs. Continue until you have added all of the milk mixture. Return the mixture to the saucepan.
Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, being sure to scrape the bottom of the pan as you stir. Continue cooking until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon (about 170-175°F.) Pour the custard through the mesh sieve and stir it into the cream. Place the vanilla bean into the custard mixture, stir in the vanilla extract, and stir until cool over an ice bath. Cover and chill thoroughly in the refrigerator.
Remove the vanilla bean from the ice cream batter, stir well, and freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Line a chilled 9 x 13″ pan with plastic wrap. When the ice cream has reached a soft serve consistency, spread some of the ice cream into the pan in an even layer about 1 inch thick. Freeze until firm.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter, vegetable oil and brown sugar. Beat on medium speed until combined. Blend in the eggs one at a time, and the vanilla extract until smooth. In a separate bowl combine the cocoa powder, flour, baking powder and salt; whisk to blend. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the wet ingredients and mix just until incorporated and a soft dough forms. Gather the dough into a disc, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough to about ¼-inch thick. Use a cookie cutter to cut out as many pieces as you can, transferring the cut outs to the prepared baking sheet. Gather and re-roll the dough scraps as needed. If desired, use a wooden skewer to make a dotted pattern on the cookies. Bake 8-10 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheet a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
To assemble the sandwiches, use the same cookie cutter that was used for the cookies to cut out pieces of ice cream. Layer one piece of ice cream between two of the cookies and return to the freezer immediately. Wrap the sandwiches individually as desired. Keep frozen until ready to serve.

"Watermelon" Ice Cream

Ingredients:
1 container raspberry sherbet -- at least 1.5 quarts
1 container lime sherbet -- at least 1.5 quarts
About 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Soften the container of lime sherbet for the rind. Be careful and don't soften too much or you will have a gooey mess! Take a larger size mixing bowl; I prefer to use metal, and spread it evenly around the bottom and sides of the bowl. Freeze until hardened. Depending on the temperature of your freezer, that can take up to six hours.

When the lime sherbet rind is frozen, soften the raspberry sherbet and stir in chocolate chip seeds. Put raspberry sherbet mixture inside of the lime sherbet rind and then freeze for at least six hours. When you are ready to serve, you can put the mixing bowl in a pan of hot water for about 2 to 3 minutes; then invert on serving tray. If your watermelon is unfrozen too much, refreeze for a little longer.

Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream

Note: one of the great things about making your own ice cream is that you can control the amount of sugar or fat! You may want to use cream instead of the fat-free half and half or full-fat half and half. You could also use whole milk instead of the 1 percent milk. Because of the fat in the peanut butter, I don't think these other fats are needed.
Ingredients:
1-1/8 cups good quality, but NOT natural peanut butter
3/4 cup white sugar
1-1/4 cups 1 percent milk
2 cups fat-free half and half
1-1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, chopped in small pieces and additional ones to garnish.

Directions:
In a medium mixing bowl, use a handmixer to combine the peanut butter and sugar until smooth. Add the milk and mix on low speed until the sugar is dissolved, about 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the half and half and vanilla. Pour the mixture into the freezer bowl; turn on the machine. Mix until thickened, about 20 to 25 minutes. Five minutes before mixing is completed, add the chopped candy though the top and let mix in completely. The ice cream will have a soft texture. If a firmer consistency is desired, transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and place in freezer for about 2 hours. Because I like a harder ice cream, I usually freeze it for about 2 more hours. Remove from freezer about 15 mintues before serving. Garnish with additional Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

Pumpkin Pie Milkshake

Ingredients:
1/3 C canned pumpkin
1/4 - 1/2 C milk
1/4 t vanilla
1/2 t cinnamon
pinch cloves
pinch nutmeg
2 T brown sugar
2 C vanilla ice cream
1-2 graham crackers

Directions:
Pop everything but graham crackers in a blender. Start with 1/4 C milk and then slowly add more if needed to make the blender process it all. I used somewhere between 1/4-1/2 C. Pour into a glass and sprinkle with crushed graham craker crumbs just before serving.

A note about blenders: Here's the problem with making thick, diner style milkshakes at home: A lot of times you have to add so much milk to the thing to get the blender to process that it turns into a milk-slushie instead. Or you have to blend and plunge, blend and plunge, etc. You know the drill, right? So if you have any trouble with your blender, I would recommend blending everything but the ice cream first and then mashing it into the ice cream by hand (well, with a hand. Holding a fork or spoon :) If your scooped ice cream sits out at room temp while you measure the other things and get them all ready, then by the time you mash it all together it should be a good consistency.

Rocky Road Ice Cream

Ingredients:
2 cups heavy cream
3 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
5 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup whole milk
¾ cup sugar
Pinch of salt
5 egg yolks
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup miniature marshmallows
1 cup walnuts
½ cup chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Warm 1 cup of the cream with the cocoa powder in a medium saucepan, whisking to thoroughly blend the cocoa. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer at a very low boil for 30 seconds, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat and add the chopped chocolate, stirring until smooth. Then stir in the remaining 1 cup cream. Pour the mixture into a large bowl, scraping the saucepan as thoroughly as possible, and set a mesh strainer on top of the bowl.
2. Warm the milk, sugar, and salt in the same saucepan. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm milk into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.
3. Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula (and reaches 170 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer). Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the chocolate mixture until smooth, then stir in the vanilla. Stir until cool over an ice bath.
4. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. (If the cold mixture is too thick to pour into your machine, whisk it vigorously to thin it out.) Once the ice cream has finished churning, fold in the marshmallows, walnuts and chocolate chips.

Peppermint Patties

Ingredients:
Cookies:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup Dutch process cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
Cooking spray

Filling:
30 hard peppermint candies, crushed (about 1 cup)*
3 cups vanilla low-fat ice cream, softened

Directions:
To prepare cookies, lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk. Combine sugars and butter in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add vanilla and egg, and beat well. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture, and beat at low speed until well blended.
Lightly coat hands with cooking spray. Divide dough in half. Shape each half into a 6-inch log. Wrap logs individually in plastic wrap; freeze 1 hour or until firm.
Preheat oven to 350°.
Cut each dough log into 24 (1/4-inch) slices; place cookies 1 inch apart on baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 11 minutes or until set. Cool completely on wire racks.
To prepare filling, place candies in a shallow bowl. Spread 2 tablespoons ice cream onto flat side of each of 24 cookies. Top with remaining cookies, flat sides down, pressing gently. Lightly roll the sides of each sandwich in candy. Wrap each sandwich tightly in plastic wrap; freeze 4 hours or until firm.
*The peppermint candies should be coarsely crushed in a large zip-top plastic bag by lightly tapping them with a rolling pin or heavy skillet (a food processor would just pulverize them). You can substitute regular unsweetened cocoa powder in the cookies.

Mini Ice Cream Cookie Cups

Ingredients:
1 package (16 ounces) Pillsbury® Ready to Bake! refrigerated sugar cookies (24 cookies)
4 tsp. sugar
1/3 cup finely chopped Fisher® Chef's Naturals® chopped walnuts
1/2 cup Hershey's® semisweet chocolate baking chips
1/4 cup Smucker's® Seedless red raspberry jam
1 1/2 cups vanilla bean ice cream , softened
24 fresh raspberries


Directions:

Heat oven to 350°. Spray 24 mini muffin cups with Crisco® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray. Place 1 cookie dough round in each muffin cup. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Place 2 teaspoons of the sugar in small bowl. Dip end of wooden spoon handle in sugar; carefully press into center of each cookie to make 1-inch-wide indentation. Cool completely in pan, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in small bowl, mix walnuts and remaining 2 teaspoons sugar; set aside. In small microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips uncovered on High 30 to 60 seconds, stirring after 30 seconds, until smooth.

Run knife around edges of cups to loosen; gently remove from pan. Dip rim of each cup into melted chocolate, then into walnut mixture. Place walnut side up on cookie sheet with sides.

In another small microwavable bowl, microwave jam uncovered on high about 15 seconds until melted. Spoon 1/2 teaspoon jam into each cup. Freeze cups about 5 minutes or until chocolate is set.

Spoon ice cream into cups, using small cookie scoop or measuring tablespoon. Top each cup with fresh raspberry. Store in freezer; let stand at room temperature 5 minutes before serving.

Ginger-Pumpkin Ice Cream Cookies

Pumpkin Ice Cream
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups light cream
6 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups canned solid pack pumpkin

Directions:
Scald light cream in a heavy saucepan. Whisk yolks, sugar, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Gradually whisk in the light cream, add the spice. Return to saucepan and stir over medium-low heat until the mixture thickens, about 10 minutes; do not boil. Removed from heat. Whisk in the heavy cream and the pumpkin. Strain into bowl. Refrigerate until well chilled. Freeze in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions.

Big Soft Ginger Cookies
Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup margarine, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
1/4 cup molasses
2 tablespoons white sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Set aside.In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then stir in the water and molasses. Gradually stir the sifted ingredients into the molasses mixture. Shape dough into walnut sized balls, and roll them in the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Place the cookies 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet, and flatten slightly.Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

Ingredients:

2 cups 1% milk
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp vanilla
3/4 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
4 oz reduced fat cream cheese, at room temp

Directions:
Warm milk and cream on stove over medium heat. Once steamy add in vanilla and sugar, and stir to dissolve. Whisk yolks in a seperate bowl and temper with hot milk mixture. Pour all back into pot and cook until thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Strain into a bowl with cream cheese and whisk to bring together. Cover and refrigerate until very cold. Churn according to manufactures directions. Layer ice cream with blueberry sauce in a freezer proof container and allow to freeze for serval hours before serving.

Blueberry Sauce
1 cup blueberries (I used frozen)
3 tbsp sugar (or more to taste)
1 tsp lemon zest
Place all ingredients into a small saucepan and over medium heat brng to a simmer. Squish blueberries with a back of a spoon to break up if needed. Remove from heat, put into a different container and refrigerate until ready to use.

Coconut Lime Crunch Ice Cream

Ingredients:
1 can (15 oz) sweetened coconut cream (or coconut cream and add sugar)
1 1/2 whipping cream
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
zest from 2 limes
graham crackers, broken

Directions:
In a blender or food processor, puree coconut cream, whipping cream, milk, flaked coconut and lime zest until thoroughly blended. Transfer to ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. Add broken graham crackers to ice cream mixture about 5 minutes before ice cream is done. Transfer ice cream to an air tight container and freeze for 1 hour before serving.