Raspberry Swirl Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches,

Raspberry Swirl Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches

January 26, 2015 10 comments Article

Raspberry Swirl Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches (5) I hope you all remember when I warned you a few days ago about all of the berries coming your way on the blog. I wasn’t kidding around. It’s the height of berry season and I’m in heaven!

Raspberry Swirl Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches (3) I have been spending a lot of time recently filling our deep freeze with them and it’s looking pretty good. I’m thinking we may have enough soon to get us through the winter without being completely starved for berries. Raspberry Swirl Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches (4) Geez, I feel like a squirrel storing acorns, but I can’t help it. I have an obsession with berries. Call me crazy if you like but I think I’d choose fresh berries over chocolate at every opportunity. I can eat my weight in them and I hate being without them for months at a time. We buy our produce on a very local and seasonal scale so when the berries are over that’s it, unless you have planned ahead. You can buy them frozen but the prices are ridiculous and the quality is never as good.

Raspberry Swirl Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches (6) Now I may prefer berries to chocolate, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have an almost equal love for chocolate. Oh, and when you put the two of them together……amazing! And if you involve ice cream and cookies in this delicious equation then you’re looking at a pretty over the top dessert!

Raspberry Swirl Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches (8) These were a creation of the moment, guys. I really didn’t put much thought into them at all. I’m making chocolate chip cookies while staring at a crate of fresh raspberries that I need to sort and then they somehow find their way into the cookies. Then I remember that there’s some ice cream in the freezer that I wanted to use and, voila!, raspberry chocolate awesomeness is born!

Raspberry Swirl Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches (9) I love it when this happens. Don’t get me wrong, I put a lot of thought, time, and effort into planning recipes most of the time. It’s just that small percentage of instances that are spontaneous, the thoughtless epiphanies, they always seem to be the best! So I’m hoping you get the chance to try these and they just so happen to be perfect for Valentine’s Day!

Raspberry Swirl Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches

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Raspberry Swirl Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches

Prep Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Yield: about 8 sandwiches

Raspberry Swirl Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter (1 stick), softened
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 cup (175g) semi-sweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
  • 1/2 fresh raspberries
  • 1/2 cup frozen raspberries
  • chocolate ice cream (if you'd like to make it you can try the chocolate ice cream I used for this recipe)
  • additional fresh raspberries (optional)

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F (180 C). Cream butter and sugars together in bowl of stand mixer. Scrape sides of bowl and add eggs; beat until fluffy. Add vanilla, soda, and salt. Add flour one cup at a time and beat after each addition. Stir in chocolate and fresh raspberries (don't worry when they smash, that's the "swirl" part).
  2. Line a cookie sheet with parchment and roll dough into balls, about 2 inches in diameter, and place about 3 inches apart on baking sheet. Divide each ball in half and press each half down slightly to form a tall disc. Top one half with a few frozen berries and place second half on top and press down over berries. Top with a few more berries and press into dough.
  3. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes until edges start to turn golden brown. Remove from oven and cool for about 5 minutes then place in freezer for about 1 hour.
  4. When cookies are cold, assemble sanwiches by spreading chocolate ice cream in between the down sides of two cookies and press them together. If desired, press fresh raspberries into ice cream around the sides.
  5. Serve immediately or freeze until ready to serve.
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Raspberry Swirl Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches (2)

Categories: Desserts, Holidays & Seasonal, Homemade & DIY, Peanut Free, Seasonal, Snacks, Summer, Vegetarian

Turkey Zucchini Burgers with Avocado and Pesto.

Turkey Zucchini Burgers with Avocado and Pesto

November 26, 2014 7 comments Article

Turkey Zucchini Burgers with Avocado and Pesto (10) Happy day before Thanksgiving to everyone in the States! I’m so excited about all of the cooking and baking in the next 48 hours! I love cranking up the Christmas music when everyone is in the kitchen doing various jobs on Thanksgiving day.

Turkey Zucchini Burgers with Avocado and Pesto1 Of course, I’m starting to get a little overwhelmed, like I do every year, at the amount of food we have right now. We should be eating well for at least a week. Yay for leftovers!

Turkey Zucchini Burgers with Avocado and Pesto2 I don’t know about you but I have a lot to be thankful for this year. My family has had a pretty crazy and life changing year and God has blessed us so much and gotten us through some wild parts of our recent adventures. So many stories there, but those are for another time. Let’s talk burgers.

Turkey Zucchini Burgers with Avocado and Pesto (6) I know that fresh basil pesto and burgers are not the first thing you would expect this time of year but it’s getting so summery here. Hey, at least there’s turkey involved here.

Turkey Zucchini Burgers with Avocado and Pesto3 I was going for a lighter burger and I thought I’d throw some veggies in there too. You guys have to trust me on this, you can’t taste zucchini at all.

Turkey Zucchini Burgers with Avocado and Pesto4 I even got my veggie-hating brother to eat this and he had no clue that it was nutritious. Sophie ate almost an entire burger and that is saying something. I guess she is like every other 6-year-old out there because she always leaves a lot of food on her plate.

Turkey Zucchini Burgers with Avocado and Pesto (7) Most people associate turkey with being dry and bland but not these. Uh uh, these are so juicy and full of flavor. Top them with that pesto and avocado, you can’t forget about the avocado, and you’ve got an amazing combo.

Turkey Zucchini Burgers with Avocado and Pesto (9) You can add cheese too, if you want. My family has so many different taste preferences so we pretty much had every variation going on and they were all good. Turkey Zucchini Burgers with Avocado and Pesto (8) We always make big batches of everything to feed everyone in the gang so I made a lot of burgers. I got through about 6 on the skillet before I realized it was going to take forever to finish so I decided to try them in the oven to save time and sanity and I was really happy with the result. Just be sure to line your pan very well if you choose to bake them or the juices will burn on your pan and that’s no fun to scrub. Turkey Zucchini Burgers with Avocado and Pesto (2) This is definitely something that I will be making again and I hope you try them too! Turkey Zucchini Burgers with Avocado and Pesto (4)

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Turkey Zucchini Burgers with Avocado and Pesto

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Yield: 6 burgers

Turkey Zucchini Burgers with Avocado and Pesto

Ingredients

    Pesto:
  • 1 cup pine nuts (you can sub walnuts)
  • 1 1/3 cups freshly grated parmesan cheese
  • 2 cups fresh basil leaves, tightly packed
  • 6 cloves garlic
  • 1 1/2 cups olive oil
  • 1 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
    • Burgers:
  • 1 1/2 cups grated zucchini (about 1 medium)
  • 1 pound ground turkey
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1 egg white
  • 1/3 cup breadcrumbs
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon oregeno
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 6 hamburger buns (try these or the ones from this recipe
  • tomato slices
  • fresh lettuce leaves
  • avocado slices

Instructions

    Pesto:
  1. Combine all ingredients for pesto in blender or food processor and pulse until roughly smooth.
  2. This can be made ahead of time and stored in refrigerator until ready to use.
    3. Burgers:
  3. Combine breadcrumbs, garlic, and seasoning in a large bowl. Add zucchini, onion, egg white, and turkey and mix until well combined.
  4. Heat a medium skillet over low heat and pour in olive oil. Form turkey mixture into 6 patties and place a few on skillet. Cook on each side for 5 - 7 minutes until fully cooked. (These take longer than your average burger because of all of the moisture in the zucchini so try to be patient.) Remove to a paper towel lined plate to absorb excess moisture.
    5. Assemble burgers:
  5. Slice buns in half, toast, and spread with pesto. Place burgers on buns and layer with avocado, tomato, lettuce, and any other desired toppings.

Notes

You can also bake these burgers. Place on foil lined baking tray(well lined) and bake at 350 degrees F (180 C) for 20 - 30 minutes turning halfway through until fully cooked.

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Turkey Zucchini Burgers with Avocado and Pesto (3) Turkey Zucchini Burgers with Avocado and Pesto (5)

 

Categories: Breads, Homemade & DIY, Main Course, Sauces & Such, Sugar-Free, Summer

Maple Cream Sandwich Cookies

Maple Cream Sandwich Cookies

November 21, 2014 5 comments Article

It’s finally friday again! Who’s ready for the weekend? Can I hear a big Whoop WHOOP!

Maple Cream Sandwich Cookies (12) I made these maple creams for you guys and I’m really hoping that you try them. They are a super simple recipe and just what you need this week.

Maple Cream Sandwich Cookies (2) I’ve mentioned before some of the things that I can’t buy where I live but it’s a pretty long list so you probably don’t remember me mentioning the no-maple thing.

Maple Cream Sandwich Cookies (10) Either way, the point is that you cannot buy maple syrup here. It’s a big bummer that I don’t understand because I know there are maple trees here somewhere. Anyway, I found this out when we moved here so when we were visiting the States a few weeks ago I knew that I wanted to find a way to bring some maple home. As much as the idea of lugging a suitcase full of syrup jugs through airport security appealed to me, I decided it probably wasn’t the most brilliant plan. But I did buy some pure maple extract to smuggle bring back.

Maple Cream Sandwich Cookies To say that I have been rationing it would be an understatement. This is actually the first time I have used it and guess what. It is almost like actually having maple syrup. It’s also a great way to get a strong maple flavor without changing the texture of a recipe.

Maple Cream Sandwich Cookies (6) These cookies are a copycat of one of our favorite Trader Joe’s products. You know , those cute little leaf cookies? They were so good but when your closest TJ’s is more than a few miles away (try thousands of miles) what ya gonna do? Duh, make your own! Homemade is always better anyway.

Maple Cream Sandwich Cookies (5) Because I didn’t have maple syrup, I used a little bit of palm syrup which is common here. It’s like maple syrup minus the maple part if that makes any sense. I’m putting maple syrup in the recipe though, because that’s what I would have used if I had it. These were still really good with a substitute but I know they will be even better with that little extra maple flavor in there.

Maple Cream Sandwich Cookies (8) Oh, and on the rolling and cutting out part, my mom has always liked to skip it on cookie recipes that require being rolled in flour. She says that it makes them dry and tough. That’s why I actually rolled these into little balls, dipped them in powdered sugar, then flattened them with something flat. That’s how you get that crinkly puffy texture on the outside. But if you prefer smoother edges, or you perhaps have a leaf shaped cookie cutter, feel free to roll them in flour and cut them like your regular cut out. The dough will need to be chilled for about an hour if you do.

Maple Cream Sandwich Cookies (11)

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Maple Cream Sandwich Cookies

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Yield: 3 dozen

Maple Cream Sandwich Cookies

Ingredients

    Cookies:
  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 sticks(1 cup) + 2 tablespoons butter, ice cold
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon maple extract
    • Icing:
  • 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) butter, softened
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • 1/2 tablespoon maple extract
  • 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

  1. In food processor, pulse butter and sugar until smooth. Add egg and continue pulsing a few times until combined. Add all other ingredients and pulse until it forms your dough.
  2. For this step you can either: Option 1 - chill dough for about an hour, then roll out on lightly floured surface and cut into desired shapes to bake, or Option 2 - Roll into small balls (about 1/2 tablespoon), dip lightly in powdered sugar, and flatten into disc with something smooth like a spatula or the bottom of a bowl.
  3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 C). Place cookies close together on parchment lined baking trays and bake for 5 - 7 minutes watching carefully until edges are golden brown.
  4. For icing, stir together all ingredients except powdered sugar until smooth. Slowly beat in each cup of powdered sugar and whip until smooth.
  5. To assemble, spread icing on bottom side of a cookie then top with a second one. Repeat until all are assembled.
  6. They can be served immediately but for best results allow the icing to dry for about 1 hour before serving.
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Categories: Autumn/Fall, Desserts, Homemade & DIY, Snacks, Vegetarian