cookie dough ice cream pops

cookie_dough_ice_cream_bar 219 cookie_dough_ice_cream_bar 220 A few weeks ago I had the idea of chocolate dipped cookie dough ice cream in my head and I couldn’t let it go. After the red velvet ice cream turned out so well, I thought I would give it a shot. The hardest part about this recipe was choosing the mold. I initially was going to go low tech and just DIY something, but at the last minute I realized it would be a lot less complicated to use a mold. I settled on these round pop molds. I also went super easy style and used some pre-made vanilla ice cream (soy creamy from Trader Joe’s to be exact). You could totally make your own ice cream for this, it would just be an extra step.

One of my biggest complaints with cookie dough ice cream is that there’s never enough cookie dough so I dig it all out and end up with a container of craggy vanilla. Here you can add as much as you please. Plus, because the cookie dough is vegan, there’s no worries about uncooked eggs.

These are a pretty decadent treat, so I was fine with only having a few, which meant I had leftovers of everything. You could easily make more with this recipe.

Vegan Cookie Dough Ice Cream Bars

non-dairy vanilla ice cream
chocolate chip cookie dough
chocolate dip (recipe below)

Set your ice cream out to soften (but don’t let it melt). Prepare your cookie dough. I recommend using mini-chips if you can, so it’s not super crunchy. In a separate bowl, mix equal parts cookie dough and ice cream. You can mix it as much as you like but make sure you still have some chunks of cookie dough. Fill your popsicle molds and freeze for about 4 hours, or until they are firm enough to remove from the molds.

While the pops are freezing, line a cookie sheet with wax paper. Then prepare the chocolate dip. Full disclosure here, I wasn’t totally satisfied with this chocolate dip. It tasted fine, but didn’t have the crunch I was looking for. Next time I’ll try omitting the soy milk.

Chocolate Dip

1/4 cup soy milk
4 oz chocolate chips
1 Tbs coconut oil

In a small sauce pan, bring the soy milk to a boil. Remove from heat and mix with chocolate chips and coconut oil until melted and smooth. Let cool, but not solidify.

Remove ice cream pops from the molds and dip in chocolate. Place the chocolate dipped ice cream pops on the cookie sheet and freeze for 1/2 and hour to an hour, until the chocolate hardens. Enjoy!

vegan red velvet ice cream

red_velvet_ice_creamI’ve been kicking around ideas for this recipe in my mind for oh, I don’t know, two years now. It’s sort of ridiculous. The curious thing is that when I finally went to procure the ingredients, I found out that Whole Foods had discontinued carrying Mimicream, my go to base for making ice cream. So I came up with a new plan of making my own cashew cream. The end result was a decadent ice cream that’s very similar to a custard and extremely delicious.

RED VELVET ICE CREAM

1 1/4 cup cashews *soaked overnight
water for blending
3/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
1 Tbsp arrowroot or corn starch
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp white vinegar
1/4-1/2 tsp black salt (or sea salt)
red food dye (optional)

Put cashews in a blender and cover with water. Blend until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and blend again until fully incorporated. If the mixture has heated up in the blender, refrigerate until cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s directions. It will be on the softer side, so you can put in a sealed container in the freezer to firm it up more if you like.

If you don’t have an ice cream maker, you can put the mixture in a sealed container in the freezer. Stir the freezing mixture every half hour until frozen.

sharing is caring

thanksgiving potluck-roasted vegetables

There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you. Really.

First, the disclaimer: I don’t often share services or products on this site. This is my space. I don’t offer advertising. I’m making an exception, for some services that have improved my life and that have missions I can get behind. Plus I have discount codes for you (for which I receive a discount as well, just so we’re clear).

1. Farm Fresh to You. I signed up for this CSA box about a year ago. I’m terrible at shopping for vegetables and I almost never buy fruit, so I jumped at the chance to have them delivered to our home. It’s all organic, seasonal and locally grown, and really reasonably priced. We get a box every couple of weeks and every time I open it I feel like I’m doing myself a giant favor. It leads to more creative recipes and obviously healthier eating. Essentially, good habits in a box. Plus my dollars help fund more local, organic farms which is the best way to fight the evils of Monsanto if you ask me.

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spring brunch

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easter_brunch 3 Easter brunch. Not a celebration of a religious holiday in our home, but a little celebration, nonetheless. An excuse to bring out the fancy china and a new bunny table cloth given to us by Shawn’s sister.

We feasted on cheezy broccoli quiche, roasted carrots, fresh berries, red flannel hash, sausage, gravy and molasses cake. We followed up brunch with a few rounds of Carcassonne.

Afterwards, I did a bit more painting to confirm my color choice for the living room. I’m still undecided. The shade I like seems perfect in the evening but possibly too light during the day. I’ll have to think on it some more. Meanwhile, Shawn rearranged some furniture, making our living room feel much more open and streamlined. Now we just need to find a cute bar cart.

Pi Day

cherry pie a la modebanana cream piekey lime piepeanut butter cream pie It’s Pi Day! Let’s make pie. Here are some recipes:

Peanut Butter Cream Pie

Banana Cream Pie

Cherry Pie