Popsicles and summertime...it really doesn't get any better than that. The memories I have as a little girl with grape and cherry popsicles running down my face in my bathing suit outside with a sprinkler in the yard are some of my favorite summertime memories. And let's be honest here, not much has changed, I'd eat a grape popsicle any day of the week and half the time here in Louisiana I'd like to be running through a sprinkler! The popsicle craze has officially taken over and you can make just about any flavor combination that you want right at home. Flavor combos like my cantaloupe, ginger, and coconut popsicles that are O-M-G good!
Let's talk about sweet corn ice cream and how it might sound strange at first but really it will change your life. So before you tune me out and click away from me, just give it a shot, I promise you are going to love it! The first bite is unexpected in the best way possible and then from there you are hooked. I might have even eaten an ice cream cone at 10am after I made it, but I mean with corn and bacon it can be considered a well balanced meal...right?
If you haven't trusted me yet, today is the day that you start. After all sweet corn is in season and is naturally sweet...so it really only makes sense. And have you had candied bacon before or maybe you have heard it called pig candy? Because whoa, it's like the most amazing sweet and salty combo that there ever could be. So just imagine it with ice cream!
Having a barbeque? Make this ice cream. I couldn't imagine a more perfect end to a summer cookout than eating one of my sweet corn ice cream cones topped with delicious candied bacon.
Have you ever had a cookie with bacon in it? It's been happening for a while now in the cookie world, and this ice cream flavor combination is like that...but maybe better.
And really we all just need an excuse to make more ice cream...so when you buy too much corn on "accident" at the market it's ok because then you HAVE to make this ice cream and no one can judge...not that I would anyway, let's be honest.
Every year Easter time rolls around and every year I find myself with Mini Cadbury Eggs stocked in my freezer. Because that's how I like to eat my chocolate, right out of the freezer. I have no idea what goes into these tiny little pastel candy coated eggs filled with the most delicious milk chocolate, but whatever it is it's addicting and delicious.
I got to thinking since I like my Cadbury eggs out of the freezer, why not make some ice cream and add them to the mix? I also happen to love ice cream sandwiches, so why not sandwich the ice cream right between two double chocolate chip cookies with a little sea salt on top (because we have to balance the sweet right?)
So it happened, Mini Cadbury Egg Vanilla Ice Cream and Double Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches were made!
I mean it really might be my best ice cream sandwich yet! The ice cream is smooth with bits of crunchy mini eggs and then you have the chewy cookie on top and bottom and holy cow...it's out of this world. And listen I am usually a dark chocolate girl any day of the week, but not with Cadbury Mini Eggs...give me the milk chocolate any day.
You like how I tend to use holidays as an excuse for making something not so healthy for me? You are probably starting to realize that every holiday big or small I somehow manage to squeeze a sweet treat in the mix. I like to think that the calories don't do as much damage if you are eating them to celebrate something special.
Why should Easter be any different? These ice cream sandwiches would be the perfect grand finale to your Easter dinner spread guaranteed to please all of your friends and family!
I have to tell you something about me. It's pretty serious...ok maybe not sooo serious, but oh well I'm telling you anyway. One of my favorite combinations in the world is mint and chocolate. My favorite ice cream is mint chocolate chip, and don't even get me started on those Andes mints or thin mint Girl Scout cookies, I could eat my weight in those things. With that being said St. Patrick's day is right around the corner and naturally I have to make something green. My Grandma's Mint Chocolate Brownie Bites are to die for in my book and rank right up there with those other yummy sweet treats I just mentioned! So I made them.
And...let me just go ahead and say that these do not fall into the healthy category (at all), but they ARE cut into bite size pieces. Moderation people...
They are layered with a moist brownie bottom, a minty buttercream center, and finished off with a luscious chocolately glaze. Oh yeah, nothing wrong with any of that if you ask me. What's even better (I know how could they get better) is that you keep them in the fridge so they stay fresh for up to two weeks (I mean honestly they probably won't last that long) or you can freeze them!
Where I live, we have a St. Patty's Day parade on Saturday so I made these brownies for my "green" dessert, and let's be honest it really just gave me an excuse to make them without feeling bad since others would be helping me eat them. :)
Now it's your turn. Make my Grandma's Mint Chocolate Brownie Bites so we can talk about how good they are and I don't have to obsess alone!
So listen, I can resist brownies. I can resist cake. I can resist pie. I can resist all of these if I am being really healthy. But let me tell you what I cannot resist no matter how hard I try...SHORTBREAD COOKIES!!
I become a crazy person around these cookies. I lose all discipline and sanity when these cookies are around. I suddenly forget any goals I had for the week and don't care how many calories these cookies have, I will eat them anyway! Multiples even.
I may or may not have eaten four of them the first day and maybe then again on the second day that these cookies hung around my house. And then I may have had to give the rest to the neighbors because if I didn't get them out of my sight, I was pretty close to pulling a Miranda from Sex and the City when she put the chocolate cake in the trash and then got it back out and ate it anyway! Oh yeah, that is where I was headed...
Why then you might ask would I make these addicting cookies when I knew I was headed into temporary insanity ? Well...that's a good question. One that I asked myself during the whole time I was baking them. I was actually trying to talk myself out of making them even as I was getting the ingredients together.
But...nevertheless I made them and ate them, and you know what? Turns out I don't regret it at all because every slightly sweet, buttery, flaky bite was totally worth it!
What is better than a glass of Egg Nog during the holidays?
Egg Nog ice cream that's what, sandwiched between two chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies. Whoa...prepare to have your mind blown!
It is basically holiday wrapped up into one lip smackin' good ice cream sandwich.
I am a big fan of ice cream being an appropriate dessert all throughout the year. I am the girl who has a scarf and gloves on eating ice cream outside that people look at like she's crazy. This is because ice cream happens to be one of my favorite foods. There is no way I could ever give it up. My father-in-law happens to be the only other person I know who loves it as much as I do. We have formed quite the ice cream bond over the years.
My husband on the other hand prefers cookies. All kinds of cookies (except sugar cookies), which is why ice cream sandwiches make both of us really happy. It's the best of both worlds!
Since egg nog is pretty much an ice cream base in a drink it was the easiest ice cream I have ever made. And the ginger molasses cookies are super easy as well and are the perfect spicy balance to the decadent ice cream. Just build the sandwiches and freeze them individually and they are ready when you are.
