Nutella Ice Cream

In all the hubbub, I forgot that I recently decided to make Chocolate and Zucchini’s Nutella Ice Cream. I figured I had to, when both Amy and Tommy linked me to it. Plus, the fact that the recipe has just two ingredients that I happened to have on hand was like a sign - it was practically begging, “Make me now!”

Like Amy, I am a huge fan of Clotilde, the food she makes and her writing style. Amy has successfully tried her chocolate zucchini cake but even though I faithfully bought zucchinis at the Farmer’s Market last summer with that hope in mind, the opportunity never presented itself. So this is my very first Clotilde recipe and I am pretty excited by that.

In her recipe, she suggests using a different chocolate hazelnut spread rather than Nutella, because the original Nutella recipe has changed to include goodness knows what kind of scary weird preservative-y things. Martin and I actually had lots of Nutella - and I mean LOTS, we bought it at Costco last summer. One Costco-Nutella container was the size of 2.5 normal Nutella containers. I’d made my self-frosted cupcakes with one container of Nutella and I still had the other container (they came in sets of 2). I decided to use it for this recipe.

I combined the two ingredients together and put a little elbow grease behind my whisk and kind of stirred / pushed at the Nutella clump until it was blended with the evaporated milk. This took awhile but I enjoyed watching the two very separate ingredients slowly become a smooth, homogeneous mixture. But I AM weird like that.

The only way I differed on her recipe is that I did equal parts cup measurements milk and Nutella, more for ease of measurement than anything else. After chilling it overnight, I put it in my ice cream maker and let it churn. The results were very creamy and VERY Nutella-y. I gifted this to Greg and Kjersti, because I knew one of Kjersti’s favorite gelato flavors at our local gelato place was his Caramello Crunch, which basically tastes like Nutella ice cream with random crunchies. However, before I did, I cheated and snuck a little bite - all in the interest of making sure I was giving them something edible. That’s my story and I’m stickig to it.

Out of all the ice creams I have made, I think my favorite (and Martin’s by a mile) is still Cookie Dough but this one was great as well, especially if you are a Nutella fan. Next time, I am thinking of making my own “Nutella” so I can control the ingredients that go in. We’ll see how that goes!

Nutella Ice Cream

2 (12 oz.) cans unsweetened evaporated milk (this is approx. 3 cups)
3 cups Nutella

1- Mix together two ingredients until smoothly blended.

2- Let chill overnight.

3- Place in ice cream maker and let churn until desired consistency is reached. Scoop into container and place in freezer to harden slightly. Serve.

Servings: A lot

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

I saw these and decided to make them for Arun’s House Warming / Birthday / Disco party. I wanted to try them and see what they were like, without the burden of eating 24 cupcakes. A party seems like just the answer!

These are really easy to pull together, especially if you cheated and used a box mix, like me. I’ve tried making cake mixes from scratch before and they always come out dense and heavy. I’d rather just save my time and use a box mix, lazy as that sounds. Actually, wait. I take that back. The only cake mix that I have ever successfully made from scratch is Kyle’s Red Velvet Cake, which I really love and which has always come out very tasty for me - perhaps why I love it? But that’s it. Yellow cake, white cake, brown cake … might as well be tasteless lumps of flour. Who wants cake that tastes like that?

Anyway, I made these and got lazy towards the end. I split up the cookies without making sure there was cream on both sides. Since I used double stuffed, some people had an extra special surprise waiting at the bottom and for others, well - sorry Greg!

You can always substitute your own cake recipe, of course. These were crowd-pleasing and sweet enough on their own that no frosting was needed. Good for me, because I spent so long debating what kind of frosting I wanted that there was eventually no more time and people had to eat them muffin-style.

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

30 Oreo cookies
1 pkg. vanilla cake mix
1 cup sour cream
½ cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1- Note: This quick, easy way can be substituted with the Magnolias Vanilla Cupcake recipe. Make vanilla cupcake recipe as-is and add crushed Oreos.

2- Preheat oven to 350-degrees and place liners in muffin tin.

3- Count out 12 Oreos and separate bottoms from top, making sure there is frosting on both sides. Place one wafer, icing side up, in bottom of each muffin tin.

4- Coarsely crush remaining Oreos.

5- Combine remaining ingredients in large bowl and beat until well-mixed.

6- Measure out 1-½ cup of crushed Oreos, using the remaining Oreos for garnish.

7- Spoon batter into muffin tin in ⅓ cup amounts or until muffin tin is approximately ⅔ full.

8- Bake until toothpick comes out with wet crumbs attached. Remove from oven and let cool before serving. Frost as desired.

Servings: 24

Do you want to be a cupcake or a muffin?

Surprise, surprise from the Cupcake Muffin!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

When I decided to make these, I wanted something that would taste just like a Reese’s cup. The cookies I made are indeed very peanut buttery and very soft, but not as chocolatey as I would have liked. Everyone knows the best iteration of Reese’s cups are the mini ones, because they have the ideal chocolate-to-peanut-butter ratio. And if they don’t know, well … trust me, everyone knows.

I didn’t preserve the ratio in these cookies. I used a lot of peanut butter but not a lot of chocolate chips. For the peanut butter, I used White Chocolate Wonderful peanut butter by Peanut Butter and Co. I bought some (in bulk) through Amazon and now have four containers of the stuff. It’s tasty, but not as good as their Dark Chocolate Dreams Peanut Butter, which is like eating semi-solid Reese’s cups. Mmmm. So good.

I am taking the time to explain this because at the end, when I went to add the chips, I couldn’t decide what kind to add. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to add white, to compliment the peanut butter I used, or dark, to make it like a Reese’s cup. In the end, I compromised both and pleased none. Isn’t that what they say about compromises? They slightly satisfy, but mostly dissatisfy, both. In this case, do not compromise! Pick white or dark, but not both!

So these were more peanut buttery and less chocolatey than I was hoping for, but they stay very soft and are pretty tasty. I just dropped them onto the cookie sheet, rather than making the signature criss-cross. What I am wondering is - who decided peanut butter cookies should be all criss-cross to begin with? What’s wrong with good ol’ rounded dome cookie shapes?

Anyway, here is the recipe. Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup peanut butter
1 stick butter, softened
½ cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1 egg
3 tbsp. heavy whipping cream or whole milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1-¼ cup AP flour
¾ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
1 cup chocolate chips

1- Preheat oven to 350-degrees and line cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2- Beat together peanut butter, butter and sugar until fluffy.

3- Add egg, heavy cream and vanilla, beating until combined.

4- Mix flour, baking powder and salt together. Add to butter mixture and beat until smooth.

5- Add chocolate chips and stir to combine. Drop by rounded teaspoon onto cookie sheet.

6- Bake for 10 – 12 minutes or until cookies just start to turn golden brown at edges. Remove from oven and leave on cookie sheet until cool.

Servings: 24 medium cookies

Triple Chocolate Cookies

I found this recipe online and was immediately sold on its description, which had words like ooey, gooey, chewy and brownie-like. As anyone knows, I am a HUGE fan of brownies.

The recipe itself came from a recipe book called Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey by Jill O’Conner. I ask you, how can you fail with a name like that?!

You can if you do what I did and fail to add in one cup of sugar. After I’d mixed up and baked all the results, I eagerly tried one and was disappointed that it wasn’t asgooey and chewy as my beloved brownie. It was, however, a very nice, soft and extra-chocolately chocolate cookie and it had that lovely shiny crust that brownies typically acquire. I would make it again, with hopes that were not so high. And as I was transcribing the recipe, for my “next time,” I realized I’d left out brown sugar. A cup of it to be exact.

I am no scientific baking expert but I was kind of appalled that I’d left out a whole (and very important!) ingredient. Perhaps that is why they weren’t as brownie-like as promised.

I made half the batch one night and half the batch the next night, both under different circumstances. The first night, the batter was slightly chilled and produced cookies that spread more. The second time, the batter was more chilled and the batter did not spread too much. However, too chilled and the batter retained its lumpy texture. It was better to let it defrost a little and allow it to develop a smooth surface (and a pretty brownie sheen!).

Also, the original recipe called for microwaving the chocolate and butter together and immediately mixing. I let mine sit for a few seconds after coming out of the microwave and I think that step is crucial to making sure everything melts after the first heating.

So without further ado:

Triple Chocolate Cookies

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
¾ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1-¼ cups all purpose flour
12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 oz. unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
1-½ milk chocolate chunks
1-½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.

2- Combine 12 oz. semisweet chocolate, 1 oz. unsweetened chocolate and butter in microwave safe bowl. Microwave, uncovered, on high for 1 minute. Remove and let sit for a few seconds longer. Stir until chocolate is completely melted andsmooth.
3- In a large mixing bowl, beat together eggs, sugars and vanilla until fluffy.

4- Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in melted chocolate.

5- Add flour, baking powder and salt. Stir until just combined.

6- Stir in chocolate chips.

7- Drop batter onto baking sheets at least 3″ apart to give room to spread. Bake one sheet at a time until cookies are firm and have a glossy, crackled exterior (like a brownie!), approx. 12 - 15 minutes.

8- Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheets.

Servings: 18 - 24 cookies

Wow, that’s a lot of melted chocolate.

Thank you, cookie scoop!

Watching me post this made Martin want cookies again.

Brownie Ice Cream

There’s no photo for this but you might thank me for that - vanilla ice cream irregularly studded with giant chunks of brownie really just looks like the side of a cow. But tastier.

The more I think about that last sentence, the more I realize how very bad of an analogy that was. So let’s move on.

I once read that Ben and Jerry (of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream - is there really any other combination?) differed in ice cream technique, one liking big chunks sparsely integrated into the ice cream and the other liking smaller chunks consistently throughout. What kind of ice creamer are you?

I think I vote for smaller chunks consistently throughout. I made up this batch of vanilla ice cream to use up the batch of brownies that I made for Movie Night and which no one ate! So I had a lot of brownies leftover and no desire for them to go to waste.

As the base, I used the French Vanilla ice cream I’d already tried making before. I underestimated the amount of ice cream I was making and only broke up about 3 - 4 large brownies into small chunks. That was actually pretty hard, as the brownies were relatively moist and clung desperately together. After the ice cream was finished churning, I scooped the ice cream into my Tupperware and dumped in the brownie pieces, giving it a quick stir. That’s when I realized that 3 - 4 large brownies into small chunks gets you NOWHERE.

I was worried about the ice cream melting and getting that unpleasant “ice cream-melted” texture so I quickly broke up the remaining brownies into large chunks that would not have passed my previous quality control. I think that contributed to the overall texture, which was “uneven.” I need to learn how to stir the ingredients in evenly, as they seem to be focused mostly towards the center, with brownie-crumb flecked vanilla on the outside.

Martin says I am just a couple of steps closer to recreating our all-time favorite Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. That’s right - three cheers for Oatmeal Cookie Chunk! I’m still trying to think how I’d do this - I know Oatmeal Cookie Chunk is a sweet cream ice cream with small chocolate chip pieces (but not in the familiar Nestle baking chip format) with smooth chunks of oatmeal cookie that somehow tastes uncooked. I have been toying with the idea of mixing up some oatmeal cookie batter (without eggs or baking soda, since there would be no need to bake them) and mixing that in when it is super soft.

Anyone out there an ice cream expert who can help me along?

White Chocolate Orange cookies

I’d fallen so hard in love with my new chocolate chip cookie recipe, my other drop cookies fell by the wayside. That’s why, when Martin asked for my white chocolate orange cookies, I didn’t have the heart to say no.

I’d almost say these were my signature cookies. Not that I made up the recipe, but more these were always the cookies I’d make if I wanted cookies. They have a higher butter-to-sugar ratio. I don’t know what this does, precisely, but these cookies are very buttery and soft. I think the original recipe called for smaller amounts of orange flavor but I always wanted it to pack a punch so I kept amping it up. I think currently, I am quite content with the ratios here. I put a little more than 1 tbsp. of dried orange zest in and noticed that the zest came out as almost hard-chewy, so I think I might keep it at an even 1 tbsp. next time.

Also, each time, the dough-to-chips ratio change, mostly because I shake a bag of white chocolate chips a few times until I think a good number has been added. I think this usually amounts to about half the bag, but I estimate around 2 cups. And I’m very careful to make sure that they’re baked until they have just acquired golden-brown edges.

Other than those notes, this is a great cookie recipe. People always come up to me, saying that they loved them. I think it might have to do with the expectations - people are expecting a regular cookie and instead its packed with a citrus-y bang. Either way, I love their compliments and I love these cookies.

White Chocolate Orange Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
¾ cup brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp. orange zest
1 tbsp. orange extract
2-¼ cups AP flour
¾ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
2 cups white chocolate chips

1- Preheat oven to 350-degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper.

2- Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.

3- Add egg, orange zest and orange extract while beating.

4- Sift flour, baking soda and salt together. Slowly add while beating.

5- Add white chocolate chips and mix.

6- Drop onto cookie sheets by rounded teaspoon.

7- Bake. Remove from oven and let cool before eating.

Servings: 36 cookies

Results a la scoop

The cookie scoop: it does good work.

Chewy Cocoa Cookies

When I first read about these cookies, I was really excited to try it. Cookies that got a lot of its moistness from yogurt rather than butter? That seemed fairly tame in the calorie-department? That were chewy and soft and chocolatey? Win-win, easily.

The first night I baked these, they looked great until they cooled down and quickly flattened. I checked my baking soda by pouring some vinegar into it but it fizzed appropriately. The thermometer in my oven registered at precisely 350-degrees while baking. I used parchment and cooled down my cookie sheets between batches. Amy suggested chilling the dough before popping them in the oven.

Biting into them, they were soft on the inside, with a chewy exterior, a sort of crispness to the teeth right before getting to the heart of the cookie … not exactly what I was expecting. These go great with milk because the large quantity of cocoa in them makes them very rich. I liked them, but they also made me very thirsty for some reason.

So … I baked them again the second night. This is a relatively easy recipe and makes a small number of cookies, so it was no hard feat. I carefully prepared each part and chilled the batter in the fridge for half an hour, until it was almost hard. And … same result. Flattened cookies.

I’m still a little disappointed but it’s hard to hate these cocoa discs of happiness. I put them in a Tupperware container with a paper towel and the next day, they were soft and moist. I definitely liked them more the next day than fresh out of the oven (which I thought was odd for a cookie). Either way, I’ll probably keep this in my recipe book and keep experimenting, as they’re so easy to make and register low on the “bad for you!” treats scale.

Chewy Cocoa Cookies

1 cup unbleached AP flour
¼ tsp. baking soda
⅛ tsp. salt
4 tbsp. unsalted butter
⅔ cup sugar
⅓ cup light brown sugar
7 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
⅓ cup plain yogurt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ cup bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350-degrees and line baking sheets with parchment.

1/ In a small bowl, whisk flour, baking soda and salt together.

2/ Microwave butter until just melted. Add sugar and cocoa powder and stir to blend.

3/ Add yogurt and vanilla and stir to mix thoroughly.

4/ Add dry flour mixture and stir to combine.

5/ Add chocolate chips and stir to incorporate.

6/ Drop by rounded tablespoon onto baking sheets. Bake until tops look crackly and have set.

Servings: 20 cookies

First night results

Second night results

My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

After the hustle and bustle of the weekend, all I wanted to do yesterday was curl up around the apartment and be lazy. So that’s what I did. It was a lot of surfing the Internet, watching some television, bothering Martin and drinking hot tea to get warm fast.

Of course, whenever I drink tea, I like to nibble on something sweet as I go. Usually, I’m fine with some McVities chocolate biscuits (my favorite!), but yesterday, I felt like a good ol’ chocolate chip. So I dug around and found this recipe. I pulled these out of the oven and watched doubtfully as they quickly flattened to as thin as a digestive. But I took one bite - and promptly fell in love. They were thin, but slightly crisp on the outside and still very chewy on the inside. I no longer want thick, fluffy, cake-like cookies. I want these thin, dainty ones with a nice chew on the inside. Most excellent.

If you are in the area, stop by and try one. I have a heaping amount to share.

Melanie’s Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2-½ cups AP flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
⅔ cup white chocolate chips
⅔ cup semisweet chocolate chips
⅔ cup bittersweet or milk chocolate chips

Optional For Nut Lovers:
⅓ cup finely chopped walnuts
⅓ cup finely chopped pecans
⅓ cup finely chopped almonds

Preparation: Preheat oven to 350-degrees and prepare cookie sheets for baking.

1/ Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

2/ Add eggs and vanilla and mix until blended.

3/ Add flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt, mixing until just blended.

4/ Add chocolate chips and, optionally, nuts, mixing until combined.

5/ Drop by rounded teaspoon onto cookie sheets and bake for 10 – 12 minutes or until edges are a dark golden brown.

6/ Let sit on cookie sheets until they have flattened out and cooled down. These cookies will flatten out very quickly (and will be VERY flat) once pulled from the oven but are crispy on the edges and chewy on the inside, even the next day.

Servings: 36 large-ish cookies or 48 normal-ish cookies

Pizza and Chocolate Cake

On Friday, I felt like pizza but Martin and I have been doing pretty well with the whole “eating-at-home” trend, which I have been liking. We decided to have a “pizza party,” where we invited people over and they brought over an ingredient to put on the pizza. I debated making my own pizza crust for awhile but thought that a party would not be a good time to debut my first attempt at a bread product with yeast.

So we bought some pizza crusts from the grocery store and I baked a cake for dessert. The pizza turned out awesome, both had some wild assortment of mushrooms, pepperoni, onion, shrimp and pineapple. NOM NOM. The shrimp was a surprisingly good addition to the pizza.

The chocolate cake was a rich way to end the night. I first tried this recipe when in college, eating dinner at my friend Deidre’s house one night. What she didn’t warn me was that this recipe had a whopping 6,000 calories per cake, which I found out about after finding a similar recipe on allrecipes.com. However, I think Deidre’s family had tweaked it in a few ways to hopefully bring down that total.

And here goes the recipe for chocolate cake, requested to be the cake served for almost all her older sister’s birthdays. Because of this, I will dub it “Katryne’s Chocolate Cake.”

Katryne’s Chocolate Cake

Chocolate Cake
1 pkg. chocolate cake mix
1 (small) chocolate pudding mix
1 cup applesauce (or vegetable oil)
4 eggs
1/2 cup hot water
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Whipped Cream
1 pint heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tbsp. sugar

Preparation: Preheat oven to 350-degrees and prepare bundt pan for baking.

1/ Combine all ingredients and mix everything until smooth. Pour into bundt pan.

2/ Bake until toothpick comes out clean. If the cake starts pulling away from the edges of the pan, it has been overbaked. (The original recipe calls for 1 hr. but I am pretty sure mine baked in about 35 minutes – I just have a tendency to check my cakes frequently).

3/ Let cool.

4/ When ready to serve, combine all ingredients to make the whipped cream and beat on highest setting until soft peaks form. Check for soft peaks by stopping the mixer and pulling thebeaters out of the cream. If some of the whipped cream pulls up with the beaters but then flops over, soft peaks have formed. If the peaks stay up straight, stiff peaks have formed. This stage is still okay. Don’t go any further, however!

Servings: 12