Easy Homemade Ice Cream Cake

October 20, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Ice-Cream-Cake-Pic

Ever since I can remember I’ve been a fan of ice cream. Not just your everyday fan. We’re talking I have to have it quite often kinda fan. Not just once every now and then.

I inherited this strong love for ice cream from my dad. He taught me how to eat it straight from the tub with a fork.

Yes, a fork. 

I’ll never really understand why he liked to use a fork, but I’m almost 100% certain that it tastes better with a fork. #dontwaskmewhy

If you crave ice cream, then you might be in the mood for an ice cream cake come time for your birthday. 

Or just to stuff your face with on a random Tuesday night…

Check out this SIMPLE and awesome recipe for creating a beautiful ice cream cakey masterpiece. It looks like it came from DQ itself. I posted this recently over at Gathering Grain, but I thought it would be kind of me to let y’all in on the awesomeness as well.

Wax-Paper-Springform-Pan

 One thing you’ll most definitely need is a springform pan. If you don’t have one, you’ll want to get one. I use them for all sorts of things these days. It’s my magic tool for making things pretty. Amazon has a CuisinArt 9-inch Springform Pan for just $13.95.

Or you could just check your local thrift store next time you’re in there.

Coat your pan with non-stick cooking spray. Then place a strip of wax paper around the sides. This makes it so much easier when it’s time to take it out of the pan. It just peels off leaving it beautiful around the outside.

*Note*- Though I didn’t have this issue, a friend of mine still had some trouble with the edges sticking to the wax paper so you might even spray the top of the wax paper if you’re concerned.

Ice-Cream-Sandwich-Ring

And now, with the magic of blogging (not TV y’all because Lord knows I’m not Pioneer Woman), this is what you’ll come up with after you place your ice cream sandwiches. 

Cut them longways in half and then cut each of those halves in half again. This will give you 4 pieces per sandwich. Um k?

Filled-cake

Once again, we’re going to fast forward. You will make an easy oreo crust for the bottom and then spoon in softened ice cream (whatever flavor you choose!). I used 3 different flavors to get the neopolitan affect.

Pop into the fridge and then dollop some whipped cream and crushed cookies on top. Let set a little bit and then serve!

Or sit on your couch, use your fork, and go to town.

 Piece-of-Cake

A picture of the middle. Isn’t it pretty? It is amazingly tasty too. You’ll just have to try it for yourself!


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Butterscotch Pretzel Treats

November 20, 2012 by 1 Comment

Thanksgiving is in TWO days! This year has just flown by. Have you finished all your big feast shopping? I sure hope so, because the stores are nuts about now. I was in a few stores the other day and just gave up. You know those trips to the store when you have only a couple of items. Then you get in line only to realize that for those 2 items you’ll have to wait in line for 20 minutes. That’s about the time that I start to justify whether or not it’s absolutely necessary that I get those items.

I usually just give up.

I wanted to share with you guys these awesomely yummy treats that I made the other day. When I’m feeling experimental, I pick up things I think might go well together and then kinda throw it together. As you know, sometimes it works well and other times, well, it completely bombs.

I’m human and a novice cook, so what can I say?

So this is why I was so very happy when these tasty Butterscotch Pretzel Treats turned out so yummy! So easy with just 4 simple ingredients and they take literally minutes to make.

They resemble that of rice krispie treats, but I used pretzels instead of the rice krispies. And oh did that make them yummy. I just love the hint of salty that  you get with these sweet treats.

The first thing you want to do is get all of the pretzels out of the bag. The reason that I want to unscore pretzels is because the bag tends to have a ton of salt at the bottom, so don’t just pour the entire bag of pretzels into your ziploc. Use your hand to get them out leaving all the salt at the bottom of the bag.

Use meat mallet or something heavy to break up the pretzels a bit.

It’s really not essential that you make them super small. Just get them fairly broken and be done. Put them in a bowl.

Then it’s time to melt up your marshmallows with a little bit of milk. This may be the longest step in the whole process.

Pour the melted marshmallows in with the pretzels and use your spoon to mix it all up really well. There tends to be pretzel crumbs at the bottom, so make sure to incorporate those too.

Pour it all into a greased 9×13 dish and flatten out. Set that aside while you get the butterscotch going.

Using your preferred method, melt the butterscotch chips until smooth. Some people feel comfortable using the microwave, but I’m not good at that so I always use a make-shift double boiler for this.

Pour the melted chips over the marshmallowey pretzels and place in the refrigerator to set.

Cut into bars and serve! It’s so easy to make these and they are SO good. A nice little change from your everyday rice krispie treats, don’t ya think?

Butterscotch Pretzel Treats
Recipe Type: Dessert, Snack
Author: Pennywise Cook
With only 4 ingredients, these Butterscotch Pretzel Bars and easy AND incredibly yummy!
Ingredients
  • 1 12 oz Package Butterscotch Chips
  • 1 12 oz Package Pretzel Sticks
  • 1 10 oz Package Mini Marshmallows
  • 2 Tbsp Milk
Instructions
  1. Remove the pretzels from their bag and transfer to a large ziploc bag. Make sure to use your hands to remove them and not pour the entire bag in. This will avoid getting all of the salt into your treats.
  2. Using something heavy, break the pretzels inside the ziploc until fairly small. Pour into a mixing bowl.
  3. Place the milk into a large saucepan. Pour in marshmallows and melt over medium heat until smooth.
  4. Pour the marshmallows into the pretzels and combine well. Making sure to get the pretzel crumbs incorporated well. Pour into a greased 9×13 dish and flatten with the back of a wooden spoon.
  5. Meanwhile, melt bag of butterscotch chips in microwave or over a double boiler until smooth. Pour over pretzel mixture and spread completely over top.
  6. Place in refrigerator to set. Cut into bars and serve!

 


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Peanut Butter Brownies

October 15, 2012 by 1 Comment

I’m getting this yummy recipe up a bit late in the day. I apologize for my tardiness! But in my defense, I ran a half marathon this weekend. And when I said I ran, I mean I literally ran the entire time. My goal was to 1) finish and 2) not to walk at all. Needless to say, I was practicing the method of sitting for 24 hours or so after the race. I kid you not, I could barely walk that night! In the picture above, I was excited to put the 13.1 on my van.

It’s recipes like this one that are the reason that I run to begin with…

My daughter asked me the other day why I always make things with peanut butter. It got me thinking about how much I really do make things with peanut butter and she is exactly right. I have a deep love for the stuff.

Exhibit A:

I don’t think that’s too much peanut butter, do you?

I don’t ever think I’ve gotten opposition to making brownies in this house. In fact, every time I make them you can bet that they will be gone within a day. I have nothing at all against chocolate brownies, but my innovative mind was seeking a twist on regular brownies. Of course! What better than peanut butter to spice things up!

These brownies are really easy to make. The kiddos will surely want to help you out in the kitchen with these. And if not, they will definitely enjoy eating them! The batter is thick like you would expect a peanut butter batter to be. And there aren’t a billion ingredients so you won’t be stuck in the kitchen all day whipping them up.

The recipe calls for nuts on the top, but if your family isn’t fond of nuts, simply leave them off. I’ve always been under the impression that my Addie liked nuts. It was only after making these that I learned that she does not, in fact, like nuts. She brushed them off this go round, but I’ll leave them off next time.

I can’t wait to make these again. They really hit the spot when you’re craving that peanut buttery goodness.

Recipe adapted from Family Living: Our Favorite Cookies Cookbook.

Peanut Butter Brownies
Recipe Type: Dessert, Snack, Bar
Author: Adapted from Family Living: Our Favorite Cookies Cookbook
Brownies aren’t always chocolate! Try this peanut butter version for a unique twist.
Ingredients
  • 3/4 c. Creamy Peanut Butter
  • 1/2 c. Butter, softened
  • 1 and 1/2 c. Firmly Packed Brown Sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 2 Egg Whites
  • 2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 1 c. All-purpose Flour
  • 1/2 c. White Whole Wheat Flour
  • 1 and 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
  • 1/8 tsp Salt
  • 1/2 c. Chopped Peanuts (optional)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375°.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, cream the peanut butter with the butter and brown sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth.
  3. In a bowl, mix the flours, baking powder and salt together. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Blend well.
  4. Grease a 9×13 baking dish. Spread batter into pan and sprinkle with peanuts (optional).
  5. Bake for 15- 18 minutes until the edges begin to brown. Cool.
Notes

I used a little white whole wheat flour for my brownies to bump up the nutrition, but it’s perfectly fine to use only all-purpose. You would just use 1 and 1/2 c. total.

Also, feel free to use whatever nuts that you have on-hand. I actually used walnuts because I was out of peanuts. Almonds or cashews would be lovely too.


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Homemade Butterfingers

August 21, 2012 by 7 Comments

We’re now on day number 2 of our CandyBar Week here at Pennywise Cook. It’s great making cakes and cookies and casseroles and all, but there is great satisfaction that comes when you have a batch of homemade candybars laying around. I’ve been using them for more than just eating by themselves. I’ve thrown a few in homemade ice cream a couple of times. They also make great bribery tools for the kids. And the husband…

Today’s homemade candybar is Butterfinger! Oh yeah, that’s right. Peanut Buttery, orange goodness. You might just be surprised by what exactly goes into these.

It’s possible that you may need to have a seat before you continue reading.

Almost everyone that tasted these could not guess what it was that these are made of. But they ALL said they taste exactly like the real thing.

It all starts with the famous fall candy, candy corn. I’m a big fan of it myself, but just like coconut I know there are some who don’t like it. It doesn’t matter. If they like Butterfingers, they will like your candybars even though they contain candy corn. If you’re concerned about whether that will make a difference, just don’t tell them. It can be our little secret.

But you might just be dying to share this 3-INGREDIENT recipe with everyone.

It starts with 1 pound of candy corn getting all smooth and melty in the microwave. I was a little surprised, but this was my first experience melting candy corn. It was fun. I was surprised at how quick it went back to being firm again.

Here’s a view of the melted candy corn awaiting the arrival of peanut butter. That’s the next step once you get it melted. Stir in a 16 oz jar of creamy peanut butter.

Then it’s time to pour it into a square pan to freeze. I used another piece of wax paper to smooth the top out and create a perfect square. I didn’t freeze it with the wax paper on top.

No need to freeze it long. Just let it get firm for about 15 minutes. You’ll find that the candy corn really firms up well.

Cut it into squares. You decide how big. Just eyeball it. I tried to make mine smaller so I could eat more. 🙂

Then it’s all a matter of using two forks to roll the squares through melted chocolate wafers. When I started, mine were really ugly y’all. But as I went on, I got better and they began to look fairly similar to a candybar. I even used my fork to drizzle little lines on the top to mimic the real thing. Not perfect, but I think it was a nice touch.

And they turned out SO good! They taste so incredibly similar that it’s crazy. I was very impressed with them and I know you will be too!

Let me know if you make them!

Recipe adapted from Plain Chicken.

Homemade Butterfingers
Recipe Type: Dessert, Candy, Snacks
Author: Adapted from Plain Chicken
With just 3 simple ingredients, you can create your very own Butterfinger candybars!
Ingredients
  • 1 Pound Candy Corn
  • 16 oz Jar Creamy Peanut Butter
  • 2 Cups Chocolate Wafer Melts
Instructions
  1. Melt candy corn in the microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir then continue microwaving in 15-second increments until melted completely. Stir between each interval.
  2. Stir in the peanut butter until smooth. Pour into a lined or greased 8×8 square baking dish. Freeze for about 10 minutes. Place wax paper onto a cookie sheet.
  3. Cut into small squares. Melt chocolate wafers according to package. Using two fork, roll the square into chocolate coating all sides. Lay on wax paper and allow to firm. Freeze for about 10 minutes once all are coated.

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3-Ingredient Lady Fingers

August 2, 2012 by 1 Comment

Y’all know I’m a big fan of my sweets. Did you see yesterday’s recipe? I especially love recipes that don’t include many ingredients. In most cases that means that it will cost less to make and it will take less time. Cheaper and I can eat it sooner? My kinda recipe.

I can’t take credit for these sweeties today. I found this one inside the Fite for Your Life II cookbook by Janis Forbes Fite, RN. It’s a really good cookbook for low-fat and simple recipes. And she’s from my home town!

These are SO simple and perfect for a brunch, baby shower, or tea. Very light and airy and made out of things you probably have on-hand. It starts with day old white bread. Now I’m not going to lie. My bread wasn’t old. In fact, I bought it the day that I made these. So I just popped them into the toaster for a taddy bit to get them a little “stale”. Worked like a charm, but had me considering the need for a 4-piece toaster. It took a while to toast up all that bread.

So, start by cutting the crust off every piece. This will leave you with a lot of leftover crusts. You can simply eat them as you cut them off as I did. Or consider some of the options below:

  • Pop them into the food processor to make your own bread crumbs.
  • Dip them in melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon and brown sugar, then bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or so. Tasty sweet treat!
  • Use them to make stuffing (or dressing as we call it in the south)
  • Use them to make bread pudding.
  • Freeze for later to make any of the above!

Cut each piece into 3 “fingers”. I used my kitchen shears and that worked really well to get straight pieces. Nobody wants a crooked finger! 😉

Enter, sweetened condensed milk. The fat-free kind that is. Using a pastry brush or whatever kinda brush you’d like, spread a generous amount onto each piece. This is what gives it that yummy sweetness.

Sprinkle on some brown sugah too…

Oh yeah. Pop those loves into the oven and let them get all brown and crusty.

And if you’re like me, you’ll sprinkle on a little powdered sugar just because. They are so good! Maybe not exactly like other Lady Fingers that you’ve had. But hey, with plain old (literally) white bread and a couple other simple ingredients, you just can’t beat it.

3-Ingredient Lady Fingers
Recipe Type: Dessert, Snack
Author: Fite for Your Life II Cookbook- Janis Forbes Fite, RN
Using day old white bread, sweetened condensed milk, and brown sugar you can create Lady Fingers in no time flat.
Ingredients
  • Day Old White Bread
  • Sweetened Condensed Milk (Fat-Free)
  • Brown Sugar
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Trim the crust off bread. Cut each piece into 3 fingers.
  2. Brush each generously with sweetened condensed milk. Sprinkle each with brown sugar.
  3. Bake for 10 minutes or so until golden and bubbly.
Notes

The reason there are no specifics amounts listed on this recipe is because it is completely up to you how many you make. I didn’t use an entire loaf of bread or an entire can of sweetened condensed milk. 1 can will go a very long way. You can probably make 50- 100 with 1 can.

Store in an air-tight container or bag.


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Sugar Cookie Ice Cream Bowls

May 15, 2012 by 2 Comments

I was busy making up cookies for Addie’s 5th birthday last week. Which by the way, I am still in shock that I have a 5 year-old. Doesn’t seem possible that she is already that big. I’m going to try to get over it and not have a mini meltdown. Instead, I’ll just eat a SUGAR COOKIE BOWL full of ice cream! I got the idea from this picture. Pretty self explanatory.

Yeah, it’s quite an epiphany. Eating ice cream out of a cookie? I’m totally down with that. I think the only thing better than that would be eating ice cream out of a brownie. Hmmm, I’m getting ideas….

It’s best to have a good batch of sugar cookie dough to use. I found the BEST recipe last week and it worked like a charm. You simply lay the dough over the muffin tin cups and bake as usual.

You can also cut the dough using the top of a glass to get a perfect circle. Or you can just wing it like I did. I even had to patch a few up. It didn’t matter though because they still baked up fine.

Tah dah! Oh yeah, it’s a bowl that’s a sugar cookie. Incredible isn’t it? This is where you place your ice cream…

Or even fruit if you’re being good….

Sugar Cookie recipe courtesy of Spark People.

Print
Sugar Cookie Ice Cream Bowls

Sugar Cookie Ice Cream Bowls

Eat your ice cream out of a sugar cookie!

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups - granulated sugar
  • 2/3 cup - butter (or shortening - half of each is recommended)
  • 2 whole eggs
  • 2 Tbsp - 2% milk
  • 1 tsp. - vanilla extract
  • 3 1/4 cups - white flour
  • 2 1/2 tsp - baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp - salt

Method

  1. Cream butter and sugar together in a large bowl. Add eggs, extract, and milk and mix well.
  2. Mix dry ingredients with a wire wisk in a medium bowl. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in large bowl. Mix until combined well.
  3. With hands, shape dough into a ball. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.
  4. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
  5. Lightly grease muffin tins. Roll half or 1/3 of the dough at a time on a floured surface. Keep the rest in the fridge.
  6. Roll dough to 1/8-1/4 inch thick.
  7. Flour a glass or cup and cut shapes. Re-roll trimmings and reshape. Place over muffin tin wells making sure to cover the whole thing with no holes.
  8. Bake for 8 min or until light brown.

Notes

You are free to use whatever sugar cookies your prefer, even store bought. I just found this recipe to be really great to molding and rolling.

It's not a bad idea to make your dough the night before and roll it out in the morning. The colder it is, the easier it is to work with.

This works with chocolate chip cookie dough too!

This recipe makes a LOT of dough (like 72 cookies depending on your size) so if you only plan on making a few, half this recipe.

http://www.pennywisecook.com/sugar-cookie-ice-cream-bowls/


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Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip

February 15, 2012 by 5 Comments

How did your Valentine’s Day go? Oh really? Uh-huh. Interesting… Well if you had a less than satisfactory day (or even if you had a great one), you might just want to dig into this little sumthin’ sumthin’ here…

You are about to be amazed. How incredible does THAT look? Couldn’t you just dive right in? Well you really can, because it’s actually healthy. How many times have you been making cookies and stolen a bite or two of the dough? It’s almost humanly impossible for me not to. That’s probably why I don’t make cookies that often. I’d be as big as a house. I digress…

This cookie dough “dip” has a secret and it’s not going to tell anyone. I am- Chickpeas! Yes, that’s right. Those little garbanzos that no one knows what to do with half the time actually add something nutritional and special to this dip. It’s also been called “dessert hummus”, but I’m not too keen on that title. There are a ton of different versions of this dip everywhere right now. They are all very similar either being very smooth or very chunky. With or without sweeteners. With or without oats. It’s all a matter of taste. This recipe is the one that I enjoy the most, but you can feel free to adjust it to your liking.

Everyone always want to know what to dip these in. I’ve used vanilla wafers and graham crackers. And don’t tell anyone (I’m totally going to look like a pig now), but you can also pile some into an ice cream cone and eat it like ice cream. I don’t have ice cream in there with it, but that might be delicious too. I prefer the sugar cones over the others.

It’s fantastic and I can say that on my scouts honor. My husband and I devoured an entire bowl of this the other night. Not needing crackers or cookies to dip in it, it’s lovely right out of the bowl. You will want to make this tonight, I can almost guarantee it. Here’s the recipe, exactly as I made it.

You can find similar recipes for “dessert hummus” at Nourishing Flourising, Chocolate Covered Katie and Food Doodles. All fabulous! This one is kind of a mixture of those.

Print
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip

A dessert hummus recipe that no one will ever guess what's in it! Healthy but equally as delicious.

Ingredients

  • 1 Can Chickpeas, Drained and Rinsed
  • Pinch of Salt
  • 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 1/4 c. Peanut Butter (Natural if preferred although I’ve used Peter Pan Honey Roasted before and Reduced Fat even works!)
  • 1 Tbsp Milk (skim is healthiest!)
  • 2/3 c. Brown Sugar (Even Splenda Brown Sugar works!)
  • 2 Tbsp Oats (optional)
  • 1/3 c. Chocolate Chips

Method

  1. Place all ingredients, except chocolate chips, in food processor and mix until very smooth.
  2. Add in chocolate chips and stir. Serve with graham crackers or devour right out of the bowl.

Notes

I tried using less chocolate chips to be “good” and it’s just not the same. I usually end up adding more than the recipe calls for. 😉 If you don’t prefer the grit of the brown sugar, you can try using 1/4 + 2 Tbsp of maple syrup like Food Doodles does. This makes it very fluffy!

P.S.- you can also use White Northern Beans or Cannelini Beans in place of the Chickpeas if you’re seeking a smoother texture. I just prefer a thicker dip. 🙂 Also, I recommend refrigerating it a bit before eating. It thickens up a bit and tastes better chilled to me.

http://www.pennywisecook.com/to-die-for-cookie-dough-dip-its-healthy-too/


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