Delicious, Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches!

I spent the day care-taking for two elementary aged children and one of our adventures included making our very own ice cream sandwiches! The children enjoyed mixing the ingredients together for the sandwich part and loved the end result: Neapolitan ice cream sandwiches! Next time we're even going to make our own ice cream to go in them, but we'll save that for a later recipe...


Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted *(I used half a stick of low fat butter and half a stick of regular)
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 cups (about 2 pints) of ice cream

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Then grease a 10" x 15" baking sheet with edges.
First, melt the butter. Whisk the butter and sugar together until smooth. Then whisk in the egg and vanilla extract. Add the flour, cocoa powder, and salt and stir until combined and smooth.
Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan. It will be about 1/4" thick.
Bake for about 5 minutes, turn the pan around, and bake for 5 more minutes. The cake is done when it is dry to the touch and the edges just begin to pull away from the sides of the pan.
Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Gently lift the cake onto a cutting board and cut in half.
Get out a medium piece of wax paper and a large piece of plastic wrap. Put the wax paper on the plastic wrap. Then place one half of the cake, top side down, on the wax paper.
Spread with the softened ice cream of your choice, smoothing with a spatula. Top with the remaining half of cake, top side up. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Place in the freezer until firm (30 minutes will be soft set; 2 hours will be firm).

We only put ours in the freezer for 30 minutes, so it was soft set but we used spoons to eat it as the ice cream would squish out the sides. However, if you have more time, feel free to leave it in for the full two hours and you should get a nicely firmed ice cream bar! Either way, it tastes DELICIOUS! Enjoy! :)

Grasshopper Brownies - with and without coconut!

I was in Alaska last summer and visited a nice tourist town called Seward. While there, my sister and I wandered around and discovered this cute cafe/bakery place. I cannot for the life of me remember the name of the cafe, but I do remember that they had the most incredible brownies I've ever had. I tried looking up the cafe, but I wasn't able to find the name of these delectable brownies! So, I tried looking for recipes that included the parts I could remember: brownie layer and mint layer plus a bit of toasted coconut.
I searched online and found a recipe on epicurious for Grasshopper Brownies. It didn't call for any coconut, so I decided to conduct an experiment: one-third of my brownies would follow the original recipe, one-third would have a layer of coconut on top of the brownie, and one-third of my brownies would have the coconut mixed into the brownie layer.
Thus, my adventure for a tasty brownie-minty treat began...

Brownie Layer Ingredients
1 box of Betty Crocker Fudge Brownies (or style of your choice)
2/3 cup oil
1/4 cup water
2 eggs

Brownie Layer Directions
Mix ingredients until well blended. Pour into a 9"x13" greased pan. Bake for 22-26 minutes at 350 degrees F.

Mint Ganache Layer Ingredients
1/2 cup heavy cream
10 oz fine-quality white chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons green creme de menthe
1 teaspoon peppermint extract

Mint Ganache Layer Directions
Bring cream and white chocolate to a simmer in a 2- to 3-quart saucepan. Then, whisk until smooth. Stir in the creme de menthe and peppermint extract. Pour into a medium-sized bowl and chill, covered. Stir every 15 minutes or so, until thick. It takes about 1 hour.

Chocolate Ganache Layer Ingredients
1 cup heavy cream
10 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), chopped

Chocolate Ganache Layer Directions
Bring cream and bittersweet chocolate to a simmer in a 2- to 3-quart saucepan and remove from heat. Whisk until smooth. Pour into a bowl and chill, covered. Stir every 15 minutes, until thick. It takes about 30 minutes.

Grasshopper Brownie - Assemble Layers
Pour the mint layer over the top and smooth with a spatula. You can either chill for 30 minutes and let the mint layer set, or you can pour the chocolate layer on immediately afterwards. I poured the chocolate on and didn't notice any problems. Just make sure the mint layer is well-chilled! :)

If you want to try your brownies with coconut, I found that I liked the coconut best when it was toasted (takes about 5-10 minutes on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees F) and mixed in to the brownie batter itself. After cooking the brownies like normal, add the "grasshopper" layers and you have coconut Grasshopper brownies!

I shared the brownies with my husband, mother, and step-father. They all enjoyed them! They are very rich, so I divided the brownies into very small squares (about 30 squares for a 9" x 13" pan). Absolutely wonderful recipe!

Carmelized Onion Tarts!

This past January I married a wonderful young man whom shares my love of food. At the wedding, there were these delicious goat cheese tarts with carmelized onions. Unfortunately, because we had to be in the receiving line, we only got one of these tasty treats.
After scouring my grocery store, I discovered frozen some mini-Fillo (Phyllo) Shells already baked and ready for me to use. I was so excited at the thought of making my very own carmelized tarts that I bought them on a whim.
I finally had a chance to put them together and they were incredible!

Here are two simple recipes for using Fillo Shells:

Carmelized Onion Tart Ingredients
1 medium onion, sliced
1 tbsp butter or margarine
1/2 tsp of sugar
1 package of Fillo Shells
4 oz of 1/3 less fat Philadelphia cream cheese (or goat cheese) at room tempurature

Carmelized Onion Tart Directions
Cut up the onion into thin strips. Saute the onion in the butter on low heat for 10-15 minutes. Add the sugar and saute for 2 more minutes.
Meanwhile, put about 1 tsp of cream cheese in each of the Fillo shells. When the onions are fully cooked, place the onions on top and enjoy!

Strawberry Tart Ingredients
6-7 medium strawberries, washed and sliced
1 tsp of sugar
1/2 tsp lemon (or lime) juice
1 package of Fillo Shells
4 oz of 1/3 less fat Philadelphia cream cheese (or goat cheese) at room tempurature

Strawberry Tart Directions
Put about 1 tsp of cream cheese in each of the Fillo shells.
Then, wash and cut up the strawberries into small slices. Cook the strawberries in the lemon juice and sugar on low heat for 2-4 minutes or until tender. Finally, place the strawberries on top and enjoy!

Both of these treats are wonderful as an appetizer or dessert!

Warm, Fresh Baked Strawberry Pie!

Usually when I bake a "strawberry" anything pie, it's a strawberry rhubarb. However, my friend was visiting from out of town and special requested a warm, strawberry pie with top and bottom crusts. I loosely based my recipe on a blueberry pie recipe that my grandma taught me. It worked out fabulously! One caution: warm strawberry pie does not have time to congeal properly, so it will leak delicious strawberry goo in the pan. No worries! Afterall it still tastes amazing!


How to make your very own strawberry pie from scratch:

2-Pie Crust Ingredients
2 cups flour (I've used both white and whole wheat flour in the past and both turn out great!)
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup shortening (I recommend Crisco sticks; they're easy to measure)
5-6 tbsp Sprite (or other lemon-lime soda)

2-Pie Crust Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Put the first three ingredients into a large bowl. Use a pie cutter to cut the flour mixture until it forms small balls of dough (it will not be completely mixed at this point). Then add the Sprite. Cut it about 5 more times. Then mix the dough with your hands until you can form a ball.
Split the ball of dough into 3/5 and 2/5. Using the larger portion of dough, roll it out to 12-13 inches on a pastry mat with a rolling pin (or, if you don't have a rolling pin or pastry mat, roll it out between two pieces of wax paper).
Put the rolled out dough into a 9" pie pan. Then roll out the smaller portion of dough to 9-10".

Strawberry Pie Filling
4 cups strawberries (preferably fresh and cut)
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup and 2 tbsp flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp of butter or margarine

Strawberry Pie Filling
Cut up medium-sized strawberries into about eighths. Mix in sugar and flour until well-combined. Pour strawberry filling into the pie. Dot pie with butter. Place 9" rolled out pie dough on top. Cut 4 to 8 small slices in the top to let steam escape while baking.

Bake pie at 425 degrees F for 15 minutes. Then reduce to 375 degrees F for 30-40 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.

If you are impatient (like I was), wait until the pie cools for about 20 minutes before cutting. It will make a bit of a gooey mess, but it will taste amazing, especially with a dollop of ice cream.
If you are not impatient (or prefer to let the pie actually congeal), wait until the pie pan cools completely. Then place it in the fridge for about 3-5 hours. This will allow the pie filling more time to congeal, preventing the "spilly" mess.

Tuxedo Brownie Cups - Another innovative way to make your brownies more fun!

My mom is a huge Pampered Chef fan and is always trying out their recipes. When she throws little get-togethers, I am fortunate enough to be invited and have the pleasure of taste-testing these delights. One of my absolute favorite recipes is called Tuxedo Cups.

You take your favorite boxed brownie mix (mine happens to be Betty Crocker's fudge brownies) and add a delightful whipped cream / cream cheese topping that you then decorate with strawberries. It tastes chocolatey, creamy, and fruity all at once!



Ingredients
Cooking spray with flour
1 package fudge brownie mix (plus 2 eggs, 1/4 cup water, 1/4 cup oil)
1 oz white chocolate chips (or 2 squares of white baking chocolate)
2 tbsp milk
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup whipped topping (I made my own with 8 oz heavy whipping cream and 1/4 powdered sugar - there will be left whipped cream as you only use one cup of the final product)
1 pint small strawberries, sliced

Directions
Preheat oven to 325°F. Spray cups of mini-muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray with flour. Prepare brownie mix according to package directions for cake-like brownies. Fill wells of pan two-thirds full.*

Bake 14 minutes or until edges are set. Remove pan from oven and immediately press tops of brownies to make indentations using a teaspoon or round dowel. Cool in pan for about 15 minutes. Then, remove the brownies from the pan to cool completely.

Combine white chocolate and milk in a small, microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir until smooth. Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, combine cream cheese and sugar; mix well. Gradually stir in the white chocolate mixture until smooth. Fold in whipped topping.

Pipe cream cheese mixture into brownie cups and top with strawberries. If you don't have a cake decorating set (i.e. bag and tips), use a Zip-Loc plastic baggie and cut off a small chuck of one of the lower corners. Fill the baggie with the whipped topping and begin piping!

Refrigerate the Tuxedo Brownies for 1-3 hours before serving.

*Note: I filled my cupcake pan somewhere between 2/3 and 3/4. It made 24 cupcakes and had a bit of leftover batter that I put in a 1-cup Pyrex round glass container and cooked as a large, personal brownie circle (for my husband who likes a more traditional brownie that I do).

This dessert is perfect for a small gathering of friends or potluck! Enjoy!

Cheesecake brownies (includes: from scratch and from the box methods)

I have always had a bit of a sweet tooth and nothing gets me like a really good chocolate cake or chewy delicious brownies! When my mom started making cheesecake brownies I thought I was in Heaven! They have all the delicious chewy-ness of regular brownies with the added bonus of a cheesecake-like layer. This fantastic dessert will leave your guests begging for the recipe.

That being said, there are a couple of methods to make this dessert. Method 1 involves my grandma's homemade Hershey's syrup brownies with the added cream cheese layer. Method 2 is the boxed brownies (still very tasty) and cream cheese layer. If you are a stickler for making things from scratch, I strongly recommend the Hershey's brownies. If you've already got a box of brownies or wanna whip something together quick, go for one of Betty Crocker's boxed brownies. In either case, always make the cream cheese layer first as it will need to be soft.

Cream Cheese Layer
Ingredients
2 packages (8oz) cream cheese (I recommend Philadelphia 1/3 less fat cream cheese)
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 large egg


Directions
Beat all filling ingredients together until well mixed and set aside.

*Note: this recipe makes a lot of the cream cheese layer, like 50% of the brownie is actual brownie and 50% is cream cheese layer. If you want more like 1/3 to 2/3 cream cheese to brownie, I recommend cutting the cream cheese in half (1 package), reducing the sugar to 1/4 cup, and reducing vanilla to 1 tsp. One egg still works just fine for the half batch.


Hershey's Syrup Brownies
Ingredients
1 cup sugar
1 stick margarine, softened
4 eggs
1 can Hershey's syrup
1 cup flour



Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cream together the margarine and sugar. Mix in eggs two at a time. Add the flour and mix. Then, stir in the Hershey's syrup. Pour in a 9"x13" greased pan.


Betty Crocker Boxed Brownies (follow the directions for "cake-like brownies")
Ingredients
1 box of Betty Crocker Original Supreme (or style of your choice)
1/4 cup oil
3/4 cup water
2 eggs *(makes the brownies cake-like and thus easier to marble)

Directions
Mix ingredients until well blended. Pour into a 9"x13" greased pan.

Adding the cream cheese layer: After you have poured the brownie batter into your greased pan, start adding spoonfuls of the cream cheese layer to about 6 points spread out on the brownie layer. Then use a knife or spoon and drag it length-wise across the pan at about four points. Next, go cross-wise in the pan about 6 times. You should start seeing the marbled pattern of brownie and cream cheese combining. Do this a few more times. If you still have cream cheese layer left, you may add more and marble again, or just save it for something else.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out mostly dry (keeping in mind that the cream cheese layer may stick a little more to the toothpick than batter).

I really hope you enjoy these delicious brownies! They go great with whipped cream, ice cream, strawberries, or just by themselves.