And I Like Ice Cream Sandwiches Too

And I like fish sticks, but I love you.

Oops, wrong part of the song. Sorry.

I've been going mad here making ice cream sandwiches now that the weather has finally decided to act somewhat summery. I have remembered once again that unless it is incredibly, unbearably, drippingly hot I don't actually like ice cream. Not that that matters, though, because every single other person in this house adores ice cream. And there is, I admit, a certain pleasure to be gained in watching someone eat something I've made with enormous gustatory devotion.

FDPG and I trolled through Martha Stewart's ice cream offerings last week for some inspiration. As usual they are all staged to perfection. I'm one of those people who deeply admires MS (in case you hadn't noticed). Sure, she features items that look impossibly difficult to make, but she's challenging. Anyone can bake but only Martha (and perhaps Bakerella) can make it distinctive. Me, I love distinctive. Not enough of us strive for culinary distinction, if you ask me. And really, it's mostly smoke and mirrors. Go on, check out those ice cream ideas from Martha: a little coloured sugar, some fancy cake tins, and a little dramatic lighting and you too can have adorable coral-coloured fishie madeleines.
Anyhow, I noticed (I might even have gasped a little) that Martha was using purchased ice cream. She hadn't lovingly churned it in her imported-from-Italy made-especially-for-her-by-Ladurée-or-someone-like-that ice cream maker (you know, the one that only uses imported French rock salt from the deepest cracks in the Pyrenees)! After I recovered from that little shock and considered how hot it would make my kitchen to bake cookies for ice cream sandwiches, I thought "Heck, if Martha can use purchased ice cream I can use purchased cookies."

So I did.

I bought a package of oatmeal cookies. Biggish ones. I even squeezed the packet a bit to make sure they were not the hard-as-nails variety, because I figured those would shatter when frozen. I also bought some vanilla ice cream. We've bought a lot of vanilla ice creams around these parts (two summers ago we got a teeny bit obsessive about making ice cream cakes) and in our opinion the best are not the tiny-horribly-expensive-promise-you-the-world premium vanillas but the big round pails they sell at big no name stores. They taste like the ice milk they sell at Dairy Queen, an ice cream even I like.

So, you've got your cookie. You've got your ice cream. The idea is this: you let your ice cream soften a bit, then you scoop out some with a big round spoon, keeping the scoop rounded. Plop it on one cookie, then top with another cookie, pressing gently. Tip: I lined my cookies up before doing this.

I made them in batches of six at a time, because our ice cream was of the Fast Melting variety. You need to have a really cold freezer (which in my case was not the fridge freezer) so they harden without oozing out of their little cookie prison.

After that I melted some chocolate chips and plopped a bit spoonful on the frozen cookie sandwich. Smooth it out towards the edges and place in freezer until firm. If you were feeling so inclined you could even sprinkle something on top of the melted chocolate.

Eat.

By the way, I've used Hob Nobs, Digestives, and regular bargain brand oatmeal cookies and they've all been received enthusiastically, but if you want to make your own chocolate cookies or something along those lines check out the Martha link because she has recipes.

Gingerbread

1 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup molasses

2 eggs

1 tsp pepper

2 tsp ground cloves

6 tsp ground cinnamon

6 tsp ground ginger

3 tsp cardamon

1.5 tsp baking soda

6 cups (more or less) flour (I use white flour, you might get rocks if you use whole wheat)

Mix everything in order, pausing a little with the sugar and butter. When you've got a nice firm ball of dough, flatten it slightly into a disc, then wrap in a bag and chill for at least an hour.

Then you can roll it out (I roll between parchment, so as not to have too much added flour - I find it makes them hard) and go wild with your cutters. 

This is an incredibly flavourful gingerbread. I've increased the spice amounts from what Martha initially set out, so feel free to get wimpy with the spices if you like. I don't mind. I don't think Martha will, either. 

Oops, forgot the baking instructions:

350ºF for about 12 minutes. Be careful with these though - you don't want them overbaked. 

Amazing Cookies

There is something wonderful about a cookie. I'm very picky about the cookies I make. I like them soft, or chewy, or sandy - what the French call sablé. I like sablé in pastry too. But I don't like hard and crunchy cookies. My geriatric teeth can't handle crunchy. And you know, they never seem to taste as good, either.

Anyhow.

Here is a recipe for a really really really good chocolate chip cookie. I came up with it while looking through Dorie Greenspan's charming Baking: From My Home To Yours. She, like all cookbook writers, has her favourite recipe. I've tried a lot of these favourites, and I don't want to sound supercritical but none of them have become my favourites. I tried Dorie's too. They were okay. But they were not best. 

So, try mine. And let me know what you think.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

3/4 - 1 cup butter (you choose how decadent you want to be)

1 cup peanut butter (I'm partial to the organic Virginia PB at Costco)

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp baking soda

2 cups of white flour (you can use whole wheat but I won't be responsible for the consequences)

one 400 gm bar of decent chocolate, chopped up

Mix in that order. Scoop and plop. Bake 350ºF for about 12 minutes.

Now here is where you can turn these into Amazing Cookies: don't bake them until they are browned. Bake them until they look almost done. Almost. Still dangerously soft and crumbly. Leave them to cool on their parchment or silpat or whatever you baked them on. Do not remove them, or you might cry, because they will totally fall apart. When they are cold, you can move them. Or eat them. Whichever you prefer. They will be soft, chewy, chocolatey, and peanutty. Your mouth will thank you for such an experience.

Lavender Shortbread

No visuals for you, sorry. They were eaten up too fast.

1 cup butter
4 tsp lavender buds
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups flour

First, if you have one of those little Braun coffee grinders, you whiz the lavender with a tablespoon or two of sugar. You can also use a food processor but the texture might be slightly chunkier. Then transfer that to your mixer, add the butter and the rest of the sugar and whip till the mixture looks really well blended. Then add the flour. (such high-tech instructions)

Now you can either roll it out or shape into little balls (which you might want to flatten slightly before baking). Some people use parchment or plastic wrap for rolling, but I used (gasp!) MORE SUGAR. Not a lot more, about another 1/4 cup. It gave them a nice sablé texture, which was welcome with such a rich biscuit.

After you've got them on the cookie sheets you must chill them for at least 30 minutes. I place mine in the freezer. Then bake, 300ºF, for around 15 minutes. Whatever you do, do NOT let them get brown. You want them in the pre-brown phase, if that makes sense. Let them cool in the pan for a few minutes, then place on racks to fully cool.

Bon Appetit!