No-Ice-Cream-Maker Salted Caramel, Bourbon, Nutter Butter and Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream

by Averie Sunshine on July 3, 2013

I was so in love with the last batch of ice cream I made, and wondered if it could be topped.

This one sure gave it a run for the money.

You can’t compare Funfetti, cake batter, and sprinkles with salted caramel, bourbon, and Nutter Butter cookies. Apples and oranges.

But it sure has been fun taste-testing. Good thing I don’t mind cardio and love to run.

It’s a no-cook recipe so you don’t have to stand around whisking eggs, cream, and sugar together, then having to wait for them to cool. I love time-savers.

And the recipe is written to reflect making it with or without an ice cream maker. From the comments on my last ice cream post, most people don’t have ice cream makers. I’m just doing my part to help you beat the heat with these ice cream recipes that can be made by everyone.

It’s dangerously easy, taking just minutes to make with two main ingredients – whipped cream and sweetened condensed milk. If you can whip cream and stir in sweet milk and a kitchen sink full of add-ins, you can make this.

Whip the cream, fold in the sweetened condensed milk and bourbon. Use vanilla extract if you’re opposed to bourbon. Although, there’s just as much alcohol in vanilla extract as there is in bourbon. The bourbon is a background note, and adds wonderful depth of flavor, but skip it if you must.

Chop up Nutter Butters and dark chocolate, add sprinkles, and some salted caramel sauce.

Fold it all together. Be gentle. Don’t stir like you’re mashing potatoes. Take your time so that you don’t deflate the puffiness of the cream you just whipped. If you have an ice cream maker, the machine does the folding.

Transfer it to a container little by little, stopping to drizzle in some caramel sauce in every few cupfuls, so that when it’s done and you’re scooping out ice cream, there’s ribbons of caramel running through the ice cream.

The ice cream is beyond words creamy and rich. Cream, sweetened condensed milk, Bourbon, salted caramel, sprinkles, Nutter Butters and chocolate. Yeah. And so worth it.

There’s something for everyone, with so many textures and layers of flavor.

The chocolate sprinkles and chocolate chunks will keep the chocolate fans happy.

The salted caramel breaks up the sweetness from the sweetened condensed milk as does the dark chocolate.

The abundance or Nutter Butters in every bite add so much texture, crunch, and a pop of peanut butter flavor.

I was tempted to add actual peanut butter, but it would have dominated the flavor profile as peanut butter does. I wanted the creaminess of the ice cream, and the other ingredients to shine, too. The Nutter Butters are the perfect middle ground from both a flavor and texture standpoint.

The chocolate chunks and sprinkles stay crunchy, while the cookies soften just slightly after being soaked in the rich, luscious, creamy, salted caramel and bourbon bath.

And to think I spent most of my life not even being that into ice cream. I’ve been making up for lost time.

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This is some of the best ice cream I've ever had and it's the easiest to make with just two main ingredients - whipped cream and sweetened condensed milk. It's a no-cook recipe and the recipe is written to reflect making it with or without an ice cream maker. It's ridiculously creamy and subtly flavored with bourbon, and ribbons of salted caramel are woven throughout. The crunchy Nutter Butter cookies add a pop of peanut butter flavor and lots of texture, while the chocolate chunks round out this rich, indulgent treat.

Yield: about 2 quarts

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 0 minutes

Total Time: about 6 hours, for chilling

2 cups whipping cream or heavy whipping cream - for the No-Ice-Cream-Maker version (if using an ice cream maker, use 4 cups/1 quart)
one 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup bourbon (if omitting, use 2 tablespoons vanilla extract)
1 pound (16 ounce) package Nutter Butter cookies, or peanut butter-sandwich cookies, coarsely chopped
8 to 10 ounces semi-sweet or dark chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup+ chocolate sprinkles
8 ounces (salted) caramel sauce (use homemade or storebought), divided

These directions (through number 6) reflect the No-Ice-Cream-Maker method.To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or large mixing bowl and hand mixer; or lots of elbow grease doing it by hand), whip 2 cups heavy cream to very stiff peaks, about 5 minutes on high power.Add half the can of sweetened condensed milk, bourbon (or vanilla), and fold gently to combine. After it's combined, add the remaining sweet milk. Fold means turn the mixture over with a spatula from the bottom of the bowl up, rotate the bowl, repeat until the mixture is homogenous. The goal is to keep all that fluffy cream you just made as fluffy as possible. Take your time and be gentle. If your mixture has deflated or is on the soupy side, turn the mixer back on, and whip for another few minutes until it's re-puffed.Add the cookies, chocolate, sprinkles, and drizzle about half the caramel sauce over it. Fold gently to combine.Transfer ice cream mixture to a freezer-safe 2-quart container with a lid or freezer-safe bowl that can be covered with plasticwrap. When you're transferring the ice cream from mixing bowl to storage container, every few cupfuls, stop and drizzle some caramel sauce in, creating layers of caramel in the container.Cover and freeze for at least 6 hours, or until solid. Ice cream takes about 5 minutes to come up to room temperature to scoop it out without having to wrestle with a rock. Ice cream will keep airtight in the freezer for up to 3 months.If you are Using an Ice Cream Maker - Stir together 4 cups heavy cream, sweetened condensed milk, and bourbon. Stir in the add-ins as indicated in step 4. Follow processing directions on your ice cream maker, noting to chill the mixture if necessary before churning. After churning and as you're transferring it into a container, layer in the remaining caramel sauce as indicated in step 5.

Adapted from No-Ice-Cream-Maker Funfetti Cake Batter Golden Oreo Ice Cream

Recipe from Averie Cooks. All images and content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or simply link back to this post for the recipe. Thank you.

No-Ice-Cream-Maker Funfetti Cake Batter Golden Oreo Ice Cream

10-Minute Homemade Hot Fudge (gluten-free)

Chocolate Buttermilk Pancakes with Homemade Salted Caramel Sauce

Dark Rum Caramel Sauce (gluten-free) – The caramel sauce can be made with or without rum, although I recommend it. A step-by-step guide for easy at-home caramel sauce to be used on everything from ice cream to apples

Double Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups and Ice Cream

Chocolate Cake Batter Milkshake

Salted Caramel Pretzel Blondies

Marshmallow Caramel Oreo Cookie S’Mores Bars – An Oreo cookie-crumb and buttery crust is topped with marshmallows, caramels, and chocolate chips for an easy and fast dessert reminiscent of s’mores

Chocolate-Covered 7-Minute Microwave Caramels – Too good to be true. The recipe really works and they’re the best caramels I’ve ever had

Do you make ice cream? With or without an ice cream maker?

What’s your favorite ice cream flavor?

Have a safe and Happy Fourth of July. I’ll be posting giveaways and recipes over the weekend – business as usual – so please check back.

View the original article here

Polymer Clay Chocolate Tacks

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Dark Chocolate Dark Brown Sugar Cookies

by Averie Sunshine on June 30, 2013

I’ve been wanting to make chocolate sugar cookies for awhile.

But not just any sugar cookies because I don’t even really like sugar cookies.

Sugar cookies are usually too crispy, crunchy, and dry. Those adjectives don’t belong with cookies.

These cookies are moist, soft, and chewy. And thick. So you can really sink your teeth into them.

And I didn’t want white-sugar sugar cookies. Way too boring.

So I made them dark in two ways. With dark cocoa powder and dark brown sugar.

If you don’t have dark cocoa powder and run into snags trying to find it like I did for over two years, order it to save time and a headache. Or use regular unsweetened natural cocoa powder. Your cookies just won’t be as dark.

I tested and wrote the recipe with dark brown sugar rather than light, and recommend it. If all you have is light brown sugar, you can make dark brown sugar by stirring in about 1 or 2 teaspoons of molasses into the 3/4 cup dark brown sugar. It’s not a perfect conversion, but it’ll work.

The recipe has a very short ingredients list and the batch size is small, only making about 15 cookies.

The dough comes together in no time. Make sure to chill it before baking so your cookies bake up thick. Baking with unchilled, warm dough will result in thinner, flatter cookies.

Although they’re thick, the cookies stay soft from using cornstarch. I have written about cornstarch so many times and why I love it. It’s my secret weapon for creating super soft cookies that stay soft, but not cakey.

They’re fudgy, rich, intensely chocolaty, and not overly sweet.

I try to judge a cookie overall by the quality of the dough. These aren’t loaded up with add-ins, candy, chocolate chips or chunks, or anything else. Just boldly chocolaty dough.

Cookies with Reese’s Pieces and M&M’s are destined to be good. It’s what you get when you strip that all away and focus on the dough, sans fillers. And these cookies deliver.

They’re the cookies I recommend for bad days, PMS days, or when the chocolate monster is calling your name and nothing else will do.

I imagine some people would like to wash these down with a big glass of milk or a cup of coffee. I recommend red wine, Homemade Baileys, or champagne. It’s a holiday week, after all.

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These cookies are the dark ode to sugar cookies. They're rich, fudgy, intensely chocolaty, soft, and chewy. Both dark cocoa powder and dark brown sugar add depth of flavor, richness, and these not-too-sweet cookies are perfect for serious chocaholics. Pour a glass of milk, cup of coffee, or glass of red wine and enjoy an uber-thick and dense cookie.

Yield: 15 medium cookies

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 8 minutes

Total Time: 2+ hours, for dough chilling

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed (I have not tried using light brown sugar)
1 large egg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened natural dark cocoa powder (I used Hershey's Special Dark; regular cocoa powder or Dutch-processed may be substituted)
1 teaspoon cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
pinch salt, optional and to taste

To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until well-creamed, light and fluffy, about 5 minutes (or use an electric hand mixer and beat for at least 7 minutes).Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the remaining ingredients and mix on low speedy until just combined, about 1 to 2 minutes.Using a medium 2-inch cookie scoop, form heaping 2-tablespoon mounds (I made 15). Place mounds on a large plate, flatten mounds slightly, cover with plasticwrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 5 days, before baking. Do not bake with warm dough because cookies will spread and bake thinner and flatter.Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat Non-Stick Baking Mat or spray with cooking spray and place mounds on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart although they don't spread much. I bake 8 cookies per sheet.Bake for 8 to 9 minutes, or until edges have set and tops are just beginning to set. It's hard to tell with dark cookies when they're done, but do not bake longer than 10 minutes as cookies will firm up as they cool; baking longer causes cookies to set up too crunchy and crumbly. (The cookies shown in the photos were baked with dough that had been chilled overnight, allowed to come to room temp for 15 minutes, and were baked for 8 minutes, with trays rotated at the 4-minute mark). Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing and transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.Cookies will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored airtight in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.

Recipe from Averie Cooks. All images and content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or simply link back to this post for the recipe. Thank you.

Nutella Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Thick and Soft Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies (GF) – No butter, No white sugar, and No flour used

Soft and Chewy Brownie Cookies – A soft, scrumptious, and nearly flourless brownie-like batter is baked into cookies that are rich, decadent, and lined with hidden chunks of dark chocolate

Quintuple Chocolate Fudgy Brownie Cookies – For the ultimate chocolate lover and supremely rich. Chocolate is used five times: Cocoa powder, melted bittersweet baking chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate chips, diced chocolate and caramel-filled truffles, and chocolate-filled Oreos

Mounds Bar Chocolate Coconut Cake Mix Cookies – Chocolate and coconut is a winning combination and I baked both chocolate chips and Mounds Bar candy bars into these easy, goofproof chocolate cake mix cookies that turn out soft and moist every time

Dark Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Cookies Stuffed with Chocolate Covered Strawberries – Any dried fruit may be used but there’s something about the combination of chocolate and chocolate-covered strawberries that is especially good

Soft Batch Dark Brown Sugar Coconut Oil Cookies

Chewy Sugar Sprinkles Cookies

Homemade Little Debbie Cosmic Brownies

Thanks for the 25 Buttery and Cheesy Recipes and Kerrygold Giveaway entries

What’s your favorite chocolate cookie recipe or dark chocolate recipe?

View the original article here

Chewy Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cereal Bars

by Averie Sunshine on June 25, 2013

These bars are my heaven.

They’re everything I want in a bar. I had to hide them from myself.

There’s something about supremely chewy, thick, and dense cereal bars that I just go for. I always have.

They’re no-bake and come together in the microwave in less than 5 minutes. So fast and easy to make and no need to heat up the house with a hot oven.

They’re vegan and gluten-free. There’s no butter or flour, but you’d never guess it because they’re exceedingly buttery-tasting and rich.

There’s an abundance of peanut butter and chocolate. Always a win.

The chocolate layer stays softer, fudgier, and isn’t prone to cracking or setting up too hard, courtesy of a couple tablespoons of shortening.

It’s a little trick I’ve learned.

They remind me of my beloved Special K Bars, my grandma’s recipe, which I included it in my cookbook because I love them so much. That recipe makes a bigger pan and involves a bit of stovetop cooking, whereas just two minutes in the microwave is all you need here to melt together peanut butter and sugars.

The saucy mixture then drenches cereal in a sweet, brown sugary, caramel-vanilla heaven. I used tablespoon of homemade vanilla extract just to be sure it was noticeable.

The bars are loaded with chewy texture from the cereal and are soft, but they still hold their shape and don’t turn into a gooey mess.

They’re sort of a cousin to Rice Krispies Treats, replacing marshmallows with peanut butter. And you could likely use crushed Frosted Flakes or Corn Flakes. I have a Frosted Flakes Bar recipe in my cookbook because yes, I love cereal bars.

If you need a last minute dessert that takes just minutes to make, try these. Especially if you need them for an event where vegan or gluten-free options may be welcome.

Let’s pretend that because they’re vegan and gluten-free that they’re healthy and we can eat half the pan in a sitting.

I loved these. They’re one of my favorite bars I’ve made in 2013.

My husband also loved them. He’s sort of immune to all sweets and treats I make, but these were keepers for him, too.

The only person who didn’t go crazy with them was my 6 year old. She’s missing her two front teeth and chomping is difficult. She’s been enjoying No-Ice-Cream-Maker Funfetti Cake Batter Golden Oreo Ice Cream instead.

I proudly claim those chomp marks as my doing.

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These are my definition of the perfect bar. Soft, extra chewy, rich, dense, peanut buttery, smothered in chocolate with more peanut butter swirled in. There's no butter or flour used, and they're vegan and gluten-free. They-re no-bake and made in the microwave in minutes. If you need a quick and easy dessert that looks and tastes more complicated than it really is, I highly recommend these.

Yield: one 8-by-8-inch pan, 9 to 12 squares

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 2 minutes, microwave

Total Time: 2 hours, for chilling

Bars
1 heaping cup creamy peanut butter (use Jif, Skippy, or similar; do not use natural or homemade peanut butter)
1/2 cup light corn syrup (light colored, not lite)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 light brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 cups Rice Krispies cereal (or similar crispy rice cereal that's vegan/GF)
Chocolate Topping
1 1/2 heaping cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening, optional but highly recommended to keep chocolate smooth; see below*
1/4 creamy peanut butter, melted

For the Bars - Line an 8-inch square pan with aluminum foil leaving overhang, spray with cooking spray; set aside.In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine 1 heaping cup peanut butter, corn syrup, sugars, and heat on high power for 1 minute to melt.Stop to stir. Mixture will be on the granular side, this is okay.Return bowl to microwave and heat for 1 more minute on high power.Stir in the vanilla.Stir in the cereal.Turn mixture out into prepared pan, packing it down somewhat firmly with a spatula and smoothing the top; set pan aside.For the Chocolate Topping - In a medium microwave-safe bowl, combine chocolate chips, shortening, and heat on high power for 1 minute to melt. *I highly recommend using shortening for many reasons. It helps the chocolate melt smoother and easier. It prevents the chocolate from setting up too quickly. It keeps the chocolate from cracking when you slice into the finished bars because the chocolate is fudgier and more forgiving than typical hardened chocolate.Stop to stir. Chips may not be completely melted. Return bowl to microwave and heat in 10 to 15-second bursts until chocolate can be stirred smooth.Pour chocolate over bars, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula or knife; set pan aside.Add 1/4 cup peanut butter to a small microwave-safe bowl and heat to melt, about 30 seconds. Stir peanut butter smooth.To create the marbled pattern, drizzle peanut butter over the chocolate in 5 wide, evenly spaced, parallel lines, each spanning the width of the pan. Like 5 rows of long train tracks.Rotate pan 90-degrees. With a toothpick, starting at the top of the pan, "draw" 5 evenly spaced lines through the peanut butter. In essence you're dragging the toothpick perpendicularly through the first set of lines to create the marbling.Cover pan with a sheet of foil (to prevent fridge smells), and place pan in fridge to set up for at least 2 to 3 hours, or overnight, or until chocolate layer is completely set before lifting out with foil overhang, slicing, and serving.Bars will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, or in the freezer for up to 6 months.

Take care all ingredients used are appropriate for your dietary needs, reading labels and selecting brands that are appropriate.

Recipe from Averie Cooks. All images and content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or simply link back to this post for the recipe. Thank you.

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