Browned Butter Sugar Cookie Ice Cream

The idea for this ice cream just popped into my head one day. Once it was there, it was hard to stop thinking about it. I even pushed back a chocolate ice cream to make this one, so that’s saying something! I wanted the flavors of my favorite sugar cookie recipe, given to be by my friend Shaye. Butter, vanilla and almond. The vanilla and almond flavors were easy, but I was worried about incorporating butter. I didn’t want it to be greasy or lumpy. Who wants to eat a chunk of butter in their ice cream? Well, some of you do love butter.

This ice cream is definitely Scoopapalooza-worthy!

I know there are butter flavorings out there, and I did look at some. But Lori at The Burp! Blog chimed in on my Facebook discussion (thank goodness!) and told me not to worry. She and Eric had just done a Browned Butter Cinnamon Ice Cream. She said the texture was perfect and still had all of that buttery good flavor in it. Even better, because it was browned butter, and if you’ve never tried it that way, you’re missing out! So this recipe base is based on the method in their recipe. Thanks, Lori!

You don’t have to add sprinkles to this if you don’t want to. I wanted to pretty it up a bit and have it look a little like the famous Lofthouse sugar cookies. There were no multi-color sprinkles at the store, so I went with pretty in pink ones.

Browned Butter Sugar Cookie Ice Cream

Makes about 2 quarts

12 tbsp butter (Yes, twelve.)
1 - 1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp vanilla powder (That’s what gives it tiny brown flecks. Optional-you can use extract instead.)
2 cups half and half (You'll add more later for a total of 3 1/2 cups.)
Approximately 1 1/2 cups half and half
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp almond extract
a couple pinches fine sea salt
1/2 cup sprinkles

In a medium pan over medium heat, melt the butter. Keep an eye on it, and let it go until it starts to brown and smell nutty. Don't let it go too far and burn! When it's smelling good and nutty, add the sugar and salt. (*Start with 1 cup of sugar, you can always add a bit more later if it needs it.) Mix the salt and sugar in well, then carefully add 2 cups of half and half, stirring until sugar and salt dissolve.

Pour the hot liquid into a heat safe container and chill completely.

When you remove the chilled liquid from the fridge, carefully lift off the solids that have collected on the top. Don't discard this buttery goodness--it tastes incredible! Use it on muffins or scones or pancakes or something. So you've removed the solids, add enough half and half to bring it to 3 1/2 cups total--test it now to see if you need more sugar. If you think you do, add up to 1/4 cup more and stir until it's dissolved. Stir in the heavy cream, almond extract and sea salt. 

Freeze according to your ice cream maker's instructions. In the last few seconds of churning, add the sprinkles and let them get completely stirred through. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze from a few hours to overnight so it can set up.

• This ice cream is scoopable right out of the freezer--no waiting or popping it in the microwave to soften it a bit.
• It’s buttery, slightly nutty, sprinkly, creamy and a tiny bit salty. Kids love it. Adults love it. It’s a win-win. It also makes pretty ice cream sandwiches, as you can see in the photos. I used some Duchy Originals Oaten Biscuits which aren’t sweet all, so they were a nice contrast to the ice cream.

Caramel Corn with Pretzels, Peanuts and Chocolate Drizzle

You could call this “Caramel Corn, Part II.” I’ve posted my all time favorite caramel corn recipe already. As I said in that post, I’ve tried so many recipes over the years, but they were never just right. Always too sticky, too messy, too complicated…you name it. This one is simple and delicious. I thought I couldn’t make it any better. But I did! Which may or may not be a good thing, because damn, it’s addictive! I added mini pretzels, peanuts--and if that wasn’t enough, an over the top chocolate drizzle, that’s sprinkled with salt.

Oh. My. It’s funny--when you try it all together, it’s like a sweet and salty chocolate chip cookie! The chocolate, butter and brown sugar mingle on your tongue and you’ll just want more and more. And more! Which is why I sent most of it to the office with my husband this morning, and I just got word that it’s a big hit.

So, yeah. This is a microwave recipe. There’s no standing over the stove or wondering if your caramel is at the correct stage, and no baking. It’s so simple! But here are a few things I’ve learned over the years:

• Use a glass bowl--not plastic. I finally got a bigger microwave and thought I could switch to a larger plastic bowl, as opposed to the 2 QT. Pyrex glass bowl that I’ve always used. No. No, no, and no. I burned my first batch the other day, and as a result, the bowl melted on the bottom. Oops! What a mess. So stick with glass, and have potholders close at hand in case the bowl is getting hot. If you’ve got a 3 QT. glass bowl and it fits in your microwave, even better!
• In my old, small microwave, in the “cook for 4-6 minutes” step, I needed the 2 minute intervals to get the caramel to get darker. In my new larger one, it only takes a few minutes, stirring every minute, and maybe every 30 seconds toward the end to avoid burning. And I’ll be damned, but I cannot see how many watts our new oven is, no matter where I look! So play it by ear, erring on the side of shorter cooking/stirring intervals. Because it stinks to have to toss out an entire batch of caramel corn!
• When you add the popcorn into the caramel and start to stir it in, you may be thinking “Oh that Elle! What the hell did I get myself into?” But LISTEN. Add half the popcorn, stir, then add the rest. A few kernels may jump out of the bowl, but pop them back in. And keep stirring, because as the kernels get coated, it gets easier and easier to stir. Trust me.
• After you pop the popcorn, please be careful to remove the unpopped kernels. You definitely don’t want friends coming to you with a dental bill because they broke a tooth on your caramel corn.
• Speaking of popcorn, you can use microwave popcorn, or like we do, get out your Whirley Pop and pop your own! It takes just a few minutes longer, but it tastes so much better and fresher than chemically processed popcorn. I find that lightly spraying the popped corn with this canola oil, then sprinkling with salt makes it perfect! I don’t even miss the butter. I’m serious!

When all is said and done, this is a fast, easy recipe. Once you get it on the baking sheet, it cools in about 10 minutes and you can start pigging out. So you know what that means? This isn’t only good for planning ahead to serve, but it’s fantastic for a last minute snack attack! Oink!

• Game snacks!
• “At home” movie night with the family.
• Kid’s sleepovers.
• Holiday gifts.
• Office party snacks.
• Anytime!

Microwave Caramel Corn with Pretzels, Peanuts and Chocolate Drizzle

Makes about 4 quarts

For the caramel corn:

2 quarts plain, salted popped popcorn or 1 (3.5 ounces) bag microwave popcorn
1/3 cup butter
2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup light or dark corn syrup, or Lyle's Golden Syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp baking soda

For the caramel pretzels and peanuts:

4 cups mini pretzel twists
2 cups lightly salted peanuts
1/3 cup butter
2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup light or dark corn syrup, or Lyle's Golden Syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp baking soda

Chocolate drizzle:

One 11 oz bag of Ghirardelli Bittersweet Chocolate Chips, or your favorite
your favorite salt (I used Kosher)

Prepare popcorn as directed, either in your own popper or in the microwave. Remove any unpopped kernels. (This step is really important, because a broken tooth is not a good gift.)

In a 2 quart microwave-safe bowl, microwave butter on high until melted, about 1 1/2 minutes. Stir in sugar and corn syrup, and microwave on high for 4-5 minutes. Stir in vanilla and baking soda until well blended.
Stir in popcorn, mixing well. (It may be a bit tricky to mix the popcorn in at first, but the more you stir, the easier it gets. I like to add half, stir it to coat, than add the rest.)

Microwave on high for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring every 1-2 minutes to coat popcorn evenly. Watch it carefully--if you have a very powerful microwave, watch closely so it doesn't start to burn, and you may can reduce the intervals to 30-45 seconds. Transfer caramel corn to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper to cool.

For the caramel pretzels and peanuts, repeat the same steps as above, but without the popcorn. When it's done in the microwave, transfer to another parchment lined baking sheet.

When cool, break up the caramel corn and the caramel pretzels and peanuts, and mix them all up in a large bowl. Spread it all back out on the two parchment lined sheets, and melt the chocolate:

In a small microwave safe bowl, melt 3/4 of the chocolate chips, stirring after one minute, and microwaving again for 30 seconds to one minute at a time, stirring after each time. When it's completely melted, add the remaining chocolate chips to the melted chocolate, and stir constantly until all the chips are melted. Transfer the melted chocolate to a squirt bottle (or a small zip top bag , then cut off a small tip.) I've found that drizzling chocolate is the easiest when you use a squirt bottle--and they're dirt cheap! I picked mine up for 99 cents, so stock up on a few!

Drizzle both pans with chocolate, and immediately, before the chocolate completely dries, sprinkle with salt. Let it all dry completely, and store in an airtight container.

Salted Almond Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies

Stay tuned for a giveaway at the end of this post!

Cooookieeees!!!  Kidding!  But how funny is that pic?  You guys know I love my fruits and veggies.  But cookies will always be among the top of my list of loves. 

These are my new favorites.  Chewy cookies with crisp edges, dots of chewy caramel, crunchy almonds, chocolate, and to top them all off, kosher salt.

I was inspired by an ice cream flavor for these.  One (sort of) benefit from being sick and having a sore throat is that you get ice cream.  Because that always makes you feel better!  That, and a stack of new magazines to read.  And DVD's to watch.  Aaaaaand the remote close at hand.  My point is, inspiration can come from many different places, and at anytime.  A special flavor combo, something you get at a restaurant, or maybe even just in a passing conversation.  It’s a good idea to be ready for those inspiring moments, and carry a journal so you can jot notes down at a moment’s notice.  (More on this in a few minutes.)

The cookies are super easy.  It’s a basic cookie dough, packed full of goodies.  I love all kinds of cookies--the ones that are just cookie with no stuff in them, the ones that aren’t overpowering or sweet…but I also adore a cookie with stuff in every single bite.    That’s what these are.  Chock full o’ good stuff.  (EEK! Thank God I proofread that last sentence!  I left out a very important “h” in the first word that would’ve had crazy Google searches leading to this post.  Whew!)

In some of the cookies, the caramel bit was on the top and made a little dent, like in this pic.  Still tastes good, though!

Salted Chocolate Almond Caramel Cookies
makes about 35 cookies, more if you make them smaller--about 4 doz. or so

1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup chopped almonds (I used lightly salted almonds)
3/4 cups Caramel Bits
1 bag chocolate chips (I love Ghirardelli Bittersweet Chips, 11.5 oz bag) 
kosher salt

Heat oven to 375 degrees.
Whisk the dry ingredients together and set aside.
In a mixer, cream the butter and sugars until fluffy, and you just want to dip your fingers in and eat it as is.
When you get past that crazy good urge, add the eggs and vanilla, then mix well.
Add the dry stuff to the creamed stuff, and mix well, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
(Unless you're lucky and have the mixer paddle-rubber spatula-all in one thing.  You can skip that last step.  And bite me.)
Mix in the nuts, caramel bits and chocolate chips.
I used a 3 tbsp ice cream scoop to drop them on parchment covered baking sheets.  You don't have to--but if you do make them that size, bake for 12-13 minutes.  If you make them normal sized--rounded teaspoon sized--bake those for 9-11 minutes.  ***Sprinkle them before baking with a good pinch of the salt!
Let them cool on the sheet for 3-5 minutes.  If you don't, the caramel bits on the bottoms will stick to your spatula.  Trust me.
Remove to a cooling rack.
EAT!

• Hell yeah, these are good!
• Chewy, crunchy, sweet and salty.
• Did you know that those are the 4 food groups?
• It’s true. They ARE!

Guess what?  Because I was sick for what seemed like 6 weeks--oh wait, it was 6 weeks!  Because I was sick, I blew right past my 2 year Blogiversary.  It was February 24th!  I can’t let it go by completely without celebrating and having a giveaway, can I?

When I saw the new Passions Journals from Moleskine, I was immediately hooked.   A special journal, tailored to our passions?  Yes!  Check out the link, see if they have your passion already!  Mine, of course, is food.  I’ve been writing my ideas and recipes in a plain old notebook.  A cute one, but still, just a notebook--no bells and whistles. 

Silvia Trenta at Moleskine very kindly sent me a Recipe Journal to check out.  Thank you Silvia, I love it and appreciate it very much!

What’s your passion?  Recipes? Wellness?  Films?  Books, music, or wine?  If it’s one of those, Moleskine has got you covered!

The Moleskine Recipe Journal has all the bells and whistles!  

• It’s a very well made (and well thought out)  journal with a hard cover, and a stretchy band to hold all of your ideas inside. 
• First page has the text “In case of loss, please return to:” and also “As a reward: $” just in case you lose it!  That’s how much people love their Moleskine journals. 
• There are pages to keep track of events.
• Food Calendars for the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, so you can see what’s in season and when.
• Food Facts that list all kinds of foods and their nutritional info, with blank spots to fill in your own.
• A Measures and Conversions chart.  I always need one of those!
• Next is tons of pages for recording your favorite recipes, or recipe ideas.  They include all you need to know--spots for difficulty, serves how many, prep time, cook time, cooking process, wine pairings, notes--and of course--places for recipe name, ingredients and procedure.
• There are also tabs for Cocktails, Desserts, Mains, Sides, First Courses and Apps.
• Then there’s an entire section of tabs that you can customize with included stickers.  And that’s not all, you get 3 sheets of stickers to totally customize your journal!  How fun is that?
• There are blank pages next, and by the way, all the pages in the book are numbered for easy reference.
• Three place holder ribbons.
• A flex file in the very back that holds your sticker sheets, and any clipped recipes/papers you need to keep in there.
• The cover is embossed with all kinds of cool kitchen gadgets!

YES!  All of that!  I haven’t had a chance to look at the other types of Passions Journals, but I can only assume that they’re just as well thought out.   Moleskine thought of everything. 

Remember earlier when I was talking about how important it is to have a journal with you to jot down inspirations at a  moment’s notice?  Well, I’m giving one away!  One winner will have their choice of any one of the Moleskine Passions Journals.  

As a bonus, I’m including a super cute pepper grinder!  It’s a Chef’n G’Rabbit Jr. Magnetic Pepper Grinder.  This was pointed out to me just this morning by good friend Heather.  She always finds the best stuff!  I really would have loved to give the set (salt and pepper) away, but that’s out of stock for 1-2 months.  Months!!  There was only 4 of the pepper grinders left, so I scooped one of those up immediately. 

One more thing--the giveaway is open to everyone, no matter where you live!

How to enter?  You have three ways to do it…

1) Visit the Moleskine site and have a look around.    Come back here and tell me something you found there or learned about in a comment.

2) Tweet about the giveaway.  You can do this once per day.  Leave a comment here for each tweet, with a link to your tweet.  How do you do that?  Easy!  After you tweet about this, look at your tweet.  Underneath it in smaller text, it will say how long ago you tweeted it:  5 seconds ago, one minute ago, etc.  Click on that, and it will take you to a page that shows just your tweet.  Copy the url link at the top of that page and add it to your comment here.

3) If you use Facebook, you can also post about this there, then come back and leave a comment with a link to your status update.  Again, check the time under your update, click it, and you’ll get to a page with the status update on it.  Use that link in your comment.

I’ll choose a winner on April 1st.  Make sure the email you use when commenting is valid, or I’ll have to choose another winner.   Again, this is open to everyone. 

Good luck!

You can see full size versions of these photos in my Flickr Stream.

Holiday Baking, Week 2 : Sea Salted Smoked Almond Bark

This one is always a favorite! It has two major things going for it. Well, three. It's incredibly easy to make, with just three ingredients. It has that wonderful sweet/salty combination of flavors, and ladies, you all know how that hits the spot, right? And it tastes fabulous! It also looks pretty on holiday trays. And a bonus--your non-cooking friends will be amazed that you made them chocolate bark, hehe.

This one is from Nestle, but I like to use Ghirardelli bars. Whichever you choose, just make sure it's a good chocolate. Since there are only three ingredients in this recipe, each one of them stands out.

I know some of you probably don't like smoked almonds, and even of you do, you can only eat so much of them, right? But combined with the chocolate and the salt? The smokiness totally mellows out and makes this one a winning chocolate bark.

Who doesn't love smoky nuts??

So let's get to this (un)complicated recipe, ok? The actual recipe name is more complicated than the recipe itself! Oh! I always double this. It's so easy, so why not? One piece for you, one-two pieces for me. Two pieces for you, one-two-three pieces for me...hehehe. Takes me back to my Bugs Bunny watching days. (Like....last weekend...)

Sea Salted Smoked Almond Chocolate Bark

Long list of ingredients:

-8 oz. Nestle Chocolatier 53% Cacao Dark Chocolate Baking Bar, broken into pieces (OR your favorite dark chocolate--not too bittersweet because you want some sweetness to balance out the salt and smoked almonds)
-1/2 cup smoked-flavored almonds, coarsely chopped, divided (but I use more)**
-1/8 teaspoon sea salt (preferably large crystal) (I also use more than this)**

**Eyeball these two, ok? If you think you want more nuts, go for it. And the salt--1/8 tsp? Who are they kidding? I like some in every single bite, so I sprinkle some all over, I don't measure it--but it's more than a skimpy 1/8 tsp.

Extremely complicated directions:

Line 8-inch baking pan with parchment or wax paper.
Microwave the chocolate in uncovered, microwave-safe bowl on high for 1 minute, then stir. The chocolate may keep some of it's shape. If necessary, microwave at additional 10- to 15-second intervals, stirring just until smooth.
Stir in 1/4 cup almonds.
Pour into the lined pan.
Sprinkle with remaining almonds.
Tap pan several times to spread the chocolate and settle the nuts.
Sprinkle with sea salt.

Refrigerate for about 1 hour or until firm.
Break into pieces.
Store in air-tight container at room temperature.

See? Wasn't that easy? And just wait till you taste it.

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