CHOCOLATE STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM CAKE

Hot out? Want to cool off? Here's an easy, pretty, and delicious Chocolate Strawberry Ice Cream Cake recipe. I found the recipe on the Whole Foods Market site and adapted it slightly. Some other great summer recipes to be had there! 

CHOCOLATE STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM CAKE

Ingredients
14 Oreos
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 quart chocolate ice cream, softened
1 1/4 cup chocolate fudge sauce, divided
1 quart strawberry ice cream, softened
2 cups sliced fresh strawberries

Directions 
Pulse cookies in bowl of food processor until ground (you should have about 1 1/2 cups crumbs). Pour in butter and pulse just until mixed.
Press mixture firmly into bottom of a 9-inch springform pan.
Freeze until chilled, about 30 minutes.
Using rubber spatula, spread chocolate ice cream over cookie crust and smooth top.
Place in freezer until firm, at least 1 hour.
Reserve 2 tablespoons of fudge sauce for decorating top of cake and spread remainder evenly over top of chocolate ice cream.
Freeze until firm, about 30 minutes. 
Spread strawberry ice cream over fudge, level top of cake, and freeze until whole cake is very firm, at least 3 hours and up to 1 day.
Remove cake from freezer. Run large knife under hot water, wipe dry, and run knife around rim of the pan to loosen ice cream from sides; repeat as necessary. Release and remove sides of springform pan. Lightly spread reserved fudge sauce over top of the cake using back of a spoon, and arrange strawberries however you like.
To serve, cut cake into wedges with knife warmed in hot water and wiped dry.

GOOEY CHEWY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES: National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day

If you're like me, you can never have too many recipes for Chocolate Chip Cookies. Sometimes I like them crispy, sometimes chewy, sometimes goey! That's why I like this recipe for Gooey Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies. These are the perfect cookies to make for National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day!


GOOEY CHEWY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In small bowl, whisk together flour, corn starch, and baking soda, set aside.
In bowl of electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment, combine butter with both sugars.
Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add salt, vanilla, and egg until just combined. Gently fold in dry ingredients and finally chocolate chips.
Drop tablespoon-size balls of dough about 2 inches apart on baking sheets.
Bake 8-10 minutes until cookies just start to brown and place on wire rack to cook for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Oreo S'mores and Recipe for Home-made S'moreos

Nabisco has been adding different flavors to their Oreo line-up for years, usually seasonal, around the holidays--Halloween Oreos, Christmas Oreos, Valentine's Day (Red Velvet Oreos), etc. Of course there are Vanilla Oreos, but that seems to defeat the purpose. Some of the flavors work and some don't, but I think you'll find these do!

To the delight of S'mores and Oreo Lovers every where, Nabisco has a Limited Edition  -- Oreo S'mores. These Oreos are like camping in the woods without the bugs. You can eat them straight out of the bag. The cookie is not chocolate! It's a graham cracker cookie, and instead of the usual creme filling, there's chocolate-marshmallow creme. These cookies are not too sweet, either. They're just right. If you like S'mores, you'll want to try these! They may be out of stock, but look for them. It' summer, and that's when they appear.

So if you can't find them, make your own S'moreos? These are a fun variation on Traditional S'mores.

S'MOREOS

Ingredients
Double-Stuffed Oreos
Large marshmallows, cut in half
Hershey bar

Directions
Twist Oreo apart so top and bottom are separated. Put filling side up and put 1 Hershey's rectangle on top. Add 1/2 large marshmallow. Top with remaining Oreo half.
Put on microwave safe plate and microwave on high for 15-20 seconds.
If top half of Oreo falls off, just put it back on top after removing from microwave.

Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches: Ice Cream Sandwich Day

I've posted lots of easy Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwich recipes including one for making your own Chipwich, but here's another recipe from Martha Stewart for a very sturdy chocolate chip cookie which is essential for chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches. I'm always looking for new chocolate chip cookie recipes.

One change I would suggest is to use either Chocolate Chip Ice Cream or in my case Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia. One other TIP for making ice cream sandwiches is to soften the ice cream and use a cookie cutter to get the size you want rather than just spreading on the cookie. This is great because when you squeeze, ever so lightly, you'll have a perfect center with very little cookie crumbling.

And, of course, you can use packaged big chocolate chip cookies if you're in a hurry.

Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches 

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup sour cream
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups mini chocolate chips
1 pint Ben & Jerry's Jerry Garcia ice cream (or whatever ice cream you prefer)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with rack in center.
In medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Using  electric mixer, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add sour cream, egg, and vanilla; beat until smooth. With mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture; mix in 1 cup chocolate chips.
Using 1 rounded tablespoon per cookie, drop mounds of dough, about 1 1/2 inches apart, onto two baking sheets. (You'll have 25 to 30 cookies.) Bake until golden, 10 to 12 minutes; transfer to a rack to cool completely.
Scatter remaining chocolate chips on a plate. Place about 2 tablespoons ice cream between 2 cookies--or cut a chunk of ice cream using a cookie cutter the approximate size-pressing slightly until ice cream exceeds or matches the size of the cookies, bottoms facing in; press gently.
Roll sides of each sandwich in chips. (If ice cream is melting, place sandwiches in freezer until firm enough to roll in chips.) Transfer sandwiches onto baking sheets. Freeze until firm, at least 2 hours; then wrap individually in plastic.
Freeze up to 2 weeks.