Vanilla Bean Cookies & Cream Ice Cream Cake (Dairy Free)

With all this weather we’ve been having, I can understand if it’s hard for you to imagine eating an ice cream cake. I’ve spent most of my life in some Midwestern state and I’ve seen my fair share of cold snaps and blustery streaks, but this is too much. That and Seattle spoiled me rotten with it's perpetually 45 degree winter days. While I'm naturally inclined to exaggerate, I don’t think it would be unreasonable to claim that it didn’t get above 10 degrees for a month straight. Or when it got right up to 10 degrees, it felt like a heat wave and I was itching to get off the treadmill and into the slush.

I don’t know how much more of this I can take! Yet oddly enough, an ice cream cake in the middle of the worst of it was just the thing I needed. And exactly what one Marybeth Falish wanted.

The girl I mention above? It’s my pleasure to call her both a good friend and co-worker. When the personal life gets messy or the work gets tough, she’s there for me on both fronts. Days where I think I just can’t make it through another excel document, she’s there to help me and then engage in a little bit of girl talk. Moral of the story: I am so incredibly grateful to work with such a wonderful woman and call her my friend.

Naturally, I made a cake for her birthday. In early January. When the temperatures refused to crack zero degrees. And what did she request? An ice cream cake. An unexpected bonus to making an ice cream cake in January is that my little ice cream machine performed much better in a chilly kitchen than its usual setting - a torturous 95 degree day. 

Armed only with the direction to include ice cream and those “little black flecks” (vanilla beans), I went to work crafting a cake for MBF’s 24th birthday bash. Goat butter is still in nonexistent supply, so I knew I had to go vegan for my cake base (plus eggs). Earth Balance buttercream is not too pleasant, leading me to try making coconut whipped cream for the first time. Topping the experiment off, I had never made an ice cream cake before!

With the photos as evidence, the cake turned out surprisingly well and was the delicious hit of the night! 

Vanilla Bean Cake

Adapted from: More from Magnolia

Ingredients:

• 2 ¾ cups All Purpose Flour
• 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) Earth Balance butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup almond milk
• 2 vanilla beans, cut in half and seeds scraped out

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease/flour cake tins.
2. In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream (preferably with an electric mixer) the Earth Balance until smooth and light yellow in color.  Gradually beat in the sugar until fluffy, approximately 3 minutes.  Add in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. Add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla.  This is key: after each addition, make sure to beat enough to incorporate the ingredients, but do not overbeat.  (This will create gluten and you will have a rough and dry cake)
5. Fill the prepared cake tins.
6. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until a cake tester is inserted into the center of the cake and comes out clean.

Vanilla Bean Cookies & Cream Ice Cream

Adapted from Healthy Food for Living 

Ingredients:

• 2 (14 oz) cans full-fat coconut milk
• 1/2 cup unrefined granulated sugar, such as evaporated cane juice
• 1 Tbsp vanilla bean paste
• 20 all-natural cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookies (I used Newman’s Own)

Directions:

1. Refrigerate the cans of coconut milk for 1 hour (no longer). Chilling the coconut milk will cause the coconut cream to rise to the top of the can and slightly solidify. Carefully scrape out the coconut cream and milk from both cans into a large mixing bowl. Add in the sugar and vanilla bean paste. Hand-whisk lightly to break up the solidified cream, and then whip with an electric mixer for about 10-20 seconds, or until smooth and thick - don’t whip for any longer than a minute.
2. Pour mixture into your ice cream machine and churn according to manufacturer's instructions, gradually adding in the chopped/crushed cookies during the last 5 minutes.
3. Transfer mixture to a freezer-safe air-tight container and freeze until desired consistency is reached (at least a few hours).

Coconut Whipped Cream

1. Buy a can of full fat coconut milk. Thai coconut milk is fattier and works the best.
2. Place it in the fridge overnight.
3. Open the can without shaking it or turning upside down.
4. Carefully spoon out the top layer of opaque white stuff that has gathered at the top of the can. Spoon into a mixing bowl. You will be left with about 1/2 cup of white syrup-y looking translucent liquid. Leave this in the can.
5. Add 2-3 Tbsp of powdered confectioners sugar to the coconut cream.
6. Using an electric mixer, whip the coconut milk froth until creamy. Start on low and move to a higher speed, move the beater in an up and down motion to infuse the mixture with as much air as possible.
7. Use to frost the cake!

Homemade Biscoff Cookies

First and foremost I dedicate this blog post to my sister, Caroline. When texting with her earlier tonight I (essentially) asked "should I blog about cookies or salad?" and she (essentially) said "you loon, if you don't blog about cookies I will hunt you down until you do." That may or may not have been how it went down but go with me here. It's kinda snowy and I've come down will a spell of cabin fever.

The snow tried to trap me in another day but too bad I had already planned to do some baking. One of my favorite things in the world is Biscoff cookies, also known as Delta airplane cookies. When Trader Joe's introduced their version of the traditional European coffee dunking cookie, I bought that up with such a fervor that you'd think it was the Seattle Witch Trials. Seriously. But sadly, as it goes anything I love at Trader Joe's, it seems to have been discontinued after the holidays ended. Nothing can keep me away from Biscoffs for long though. Ask any flight attendant, I am that obnoxious flyer who asks for two, sometimes three, cookies. Luckily for the flight attendants and grocery store workers of the world, I figured out how to make them on my own.

And you know what? They tasted eerily similar. I even ran out of cinnamon, first time this has ever happened, and the taste was still on par. If it hadn't been for the "storm of the decade," I would have been more apt to run over to the stores to pick up some more cinnamon. The best part of this recipe though is the texture. It has the same crisp as the original and dips in your morning coffee just the same. Even this morning when 'A' and I were drinking coffee, I forced myself to dip a few in and I felt like I was back in Paris. Or on a redeye back to Detroit. I'm not picky.

The snow is hopefully finally melting, the ice fading away and I will slowly lose the excuse to drink hot chocolate at all points of the day. I will also maybe be able to drive my car again, a girl can dream.

Biscoff Cookies 

Adapted from Dorie Greenspan from Around My French Table

Ingredients:

• 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 7 tablespoons Earth Balance, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 (packed) cup light brown sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature

Directions:

1. Whisk the flour, salt, baking soda, and spices together in a bowl.
2. Working in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a bowl with a hand mixer, beat the Earth Balance at medium speed until creamy. Add the sugars and beat until well blended, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and continue to beat until it, too, is blended into the butter and sugars. With the mixer on the lowest speed, add the dry ingredients in 3 additions, mixing only until the flour disappears into the soft dough. If there is any flour left at the bottom of them bowl, work it in with your hands or a spatula.
3. Divide the dough in half. Working with 1 piece of dough at a time, roll the dough between two sheets of parchment paper until you have a rough rectangle that’s about ¼ inch thick. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours or up to 3 days.
4. When you’re ready to bake, center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
5. Using a sharp knife, cut into 1"x3" rectangles. Collect the scraps and set them aside to combine with the scraps from the second piece of dough.
6. Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes, or until they are lightly golden and brown around the edges.  Allow the cookies to rest on the baking sheet for a couple of minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.
7. Repeat with the second round of dough, making certain the baking sheet is cool before you put the cutouts on it. To use the scraps, press them together, roll them into a circle, and chill them before cutting and baking. 

Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

 
Imagine a Thin Mint... you know, the best Girl Scout Cookie in existence.  Well, that's kind of what the chocolate part of this cookie tasted like.  And that's a good thing for people that you will be giving these cookies to, but for me it has turned into a dangerous addiction.  This was the largest batch of all the cookies that I made, so I put a few in a Tupperware for myself.  However, I cannot just have one!  I keep on going back for just one more... and then another... and you can see where this is going.  I will deffinately be making these again when it gets closer to Christmas.  Even though these cookies take a little longer to make due to all the refrigerating/freezing time, it's great if you'll be making one or  two types of cookies because when these are in the fridge, you can whip up a batch of Russian Snowballs.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 3/4 teaspoon pure peppermint extract
• 8 large candy canes or 30 peppermint candies, crushed
• 2 pounds white chocolate, coarsely chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325˚F.  Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a bowl.  Beat butter and sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed for 1 minutes.  Reduce speed to medium-low, and add the egg, then the yolk, beating well after each addition.  Beat in peppermint extract.  Slowly add flour mixture, and beat until just incorporated.  Shape dough into 2 disks, wrap each in plastic, and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.
2. Roll out 1 disk of dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness.  Using a 1 1/2-inch round cutter, cut out circles and place 1-inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets.  Freeze cookies until firm, about 15 minutes.  Repeat with remaining disk.
3. Bake until cookies are dry to the touch, about 12 minutes.  Transfer cookies to wire racks and let cool. (Undecorated cookies will keep, covered, for up to 3 days.)
4. Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of gently simmering water.  Remove from heat.  Dip tops of cookies into melted chocolate, and sprinkle with crushed candy pieces.

Red Velvet Shortbread Cookies

Yet another one of the cookies I made at 505.  I haven't had too much success making shortbread in the past... actually - I think the first (and last time) I made it was winter of 2007.  There was a recipe in this cookbook Alex bought me and all we had was a roasting pan to make shortbread in.  Alas - it didn't work.  Even though I should have realized roasting pan does NOT equal good shortbread - I was afraid of making it again.  Also, now that I have a food processor shortbread is a lot easier to make.

I cooked the shortbread for a little bit shorter than the recommended cooking time because I was soo afraid of them burning (ironically, a few of them still did)... but dear god, are these cookies good.  The buttery texture of the shortbread with the crunch of the white chocolate... Mmm.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/3 cup sugar

• 2 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

• 1/4 tsp. salt

• 1/2 cup butter, cut up

• 1 Tbsp. red food coloring

• 3 ounces white chocolate (with cocoa butter), coarsely chopped

• 1 1/2 tsp. shortening
• festive sprinkles

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In a food processor, combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt. Cover and process with on/off turns until combined. Add butter and red food coloring. Process with on/off turns until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Then continue to process until mixture begins to clump together.
2. Scoop dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly until nearly smooth. Roll or pat dough to a 1/2-inch thickness. Using a floured 1-1/2-inch round cutter, cut out dough. Place cutouts 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Press scraps together and reroll.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until centers are set. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; let cool.
4. In a heavy small saucepan, melt white chocolate and shortening over low heat, stirring constantly. Place cookie in chocolate with fork, flip over, and remove with a fork and tap off excess on the side of the bowl. If desired, sprinkle with festive sprinkles, nonpareils or chopped pistachios. Let stand on waxed paper until set.

Thumbprint Cookies

First post of September and first post for the school year! I just moved into my new house... so I haven't been able to do much cooking. I made my soft pretzels for the neighbors and my housemates two nights ago and the night before that I made double chocolate chip cookies (sadly, I don't think I'll be posting the recipe anytime soon. It's my recipe and it's pretty much under lock and key. But if you specifically approach me, I'll maybe share the recipe with you). Last night I made Thumbprint Cookies for the first Les Voyageurs potluck tonight! I had a bunch of apricot jam I needed to use up - so this was a perfect solution. I also have a lot of molasses to use up - so I may be making gingerbread muffins sometime soon.... There is a whole bunch of thumbprint cookie recipes, so I combined yummy traits from all of them to create this recipe.

Now that the school year is beginning, I won't be able to post as many recipes. I'll try and get two up a week.

Thumbprint Cookies

Ingredients:

• Any sort of Jam (I used apricot and strawberry)
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 12 tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 3 oz (6 tbsp) cream cheese, softened
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and preheat oven to 350F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Fill a pastry bag with the jam. Whisk the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder together in a medium bowl.
2. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3-6 minutes. Beat in the cream cheese, egg, and vanilla one at a time until combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down the bowl and beater(s) as necessary.
3. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture until combined, about 30 seconds.
4. Working with heaping teaspoon of dough, roll the dough into balls and lay them on the prepared baking sheets, spaced about 1 1/2 inches apart. Make an indentation in the center of each cookie with your thumb. If you find your thumb sticking to the cookies, wet it a bit with water.
5. Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, until they are just beginning to set and are lightly browned around the edges, about 10 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven and, working quickly, gently reshape the indentation with the bottom of a teaspoon measure. Prepare the pastry bag and carefully fill each indentation with about 1/2 tsp of the jam. Put the cookies back in the oven and continue to bake until lightly golden, 12-14 minutes.
6. Let the cookies cool on baking sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely, about 30 minutes, before serving.

GingerSNAP!

I have so many [and by 'so many' I mean 3] new recipes to post! But now, a public service announcement: Rae has had her last day at the Bivouac. She is moving to China and will be dearly missed. After quizzing her about her favorite baked goods, I decided to make (and bring in to the Biv) some gingersnaps. I must say - using fresh ginger (instead of ground ginger) really made a difference in the SNAP that the cookie had. In fact, there was a man-hunt at the Biv to find the cookies when we thought they were lost! And if this doesn't sing the praise of my gingersnaps - I don't know what else does!

On a side note, please check out my cousin Audrey's blog, she is The Pastry Flower! She just started her food blog and I think you will enjoy checking out her stuff. ALSO, please check out Nicole's blog, Sloe Gin Fizz, she is both my friend and co-worker. I can't believe it took me so long to find out she had this amazing blog! Not only does she have fantastic recipes - she has an adorable Etsy shop!

PS: I might like to add that this is my first posted recipe with ginger in it....and I am The Ginger Cook!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp fresh ginger
• 1 tsp freshly ground cloves
• Pinch of salt
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 3/4 cup canola oil
• 1 large egg
• Sugar for rolling (I like evaporated cane juice or raw sugar)

Directions:

1. Peel ginger root and grate. Grind up with fresh whole cloves.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, spices, and salt in a medium bowl. In another bowl, combine together the brown sugar, molasses, canola oil, and egg until smooth. Mix the flour mixture into the brown mixture, stirring until dough comes together. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill for 20 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop up bits of dough by the heaping teaspoonful and roll into balls between your palms, about the size of a quarter. Roll the balls in sugar and place on the baking sheets 2 inches apart. Bake for 9 minutes.
4. Leave on the baking sheet several minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Double Butterscotch Feature!

Ah... it's Art Fair again. And Bivouac at the Art Fair is a very very special time of year. As I did two summers ago, I brought it baked treats for all my co-workers every day that I worked. And as Wednesday was the first day of art fair, I brought in TWO treats; more specifically, butterscotch treats. If anyone was wondering (but I bet you weren't) the reason for the double butterscotch is because my dear friend, and co-worker, loves anything butterscotch in it. Alas, almost every time I bake it never has butterscotch in it. This time I had Kirk in mind as I made two butterscotch treats: Marshmallow Blondies and Triple Chip Cookies. While I did some inventing on the cookies, I got the blondie recipe from this blogger.

First Up: Marshmallow Blondies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butterscotch chips
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups mini marshmallows
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chunks

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13 x 9 baking dish.
2. In a sauce pan over medium heat, melt the butterscotch chips and butter, stirring constantly until smooth. As soon as the they butter and chips are melted remove from heat and transfer the contents of the pan to a mixing bowl (Be sure not to over heat the butter and butterscotch chips or they will separate and appear curdled.)
3. Cool the mixture to room temperature. Using an electric mixer, beat the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, vanilla, and eggs into the butter and butterscotch mixture.
4. Mix in the chocolate chunks and marshmallows. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared ban. Bake for 30 minutes. The center will feel a little soft, but will firm while cooling.
5. Cool completely before cutting.

Second Up: Triple Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp cornstarch (SECRET INGREDIENT!)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 oz dark chocolate chips
• 3 oz white chocolate chips
• 4 oz butterscotch chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Using a fork, beat together the butter and the sugars until smooth and fluffy.
3. Add in the egg and beat until well combined. Add vanilla (and again) beat until well combined.
4. Sift together flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl. Slowly stir into wet mixture.
5. Stir in chocolate chunks.
6. Drop by tablespoons onto a greased baking lined with parchment paper and bake for 8-10 minutes, until golden brown around the edges.
7. ENJOY!

I'm Back! Time to start cooking (Snickerdoodles!)!

Hello all! I am back from Europe and ready to start experimenting and cooking again! While Europe was amazing, what I found to be truly amazing was the depth of culinary skill in all the places that we visited. No matter where we ate, the food was so much different (and interesting) than most things I've tasted before. One of my goals for the rest of the summer is to try and replicate some of the things I've tasted: Dutch pancakes/waffles, hot pepper infused olive oil, many types of pasta and pizza, desserts (mainly sorbetto), and so much more! For those of you who work at the Bivouac/live with me/are in close proximity to me will most likely be subjected to tasting my experimentations. So consider yourself forewarned!

Now onto a recipe! This past Thursday I made dinner for my dad and sister; making risotto for the first time and a new, fluffier, snickerdoodle for dessert. For now, I will post the recipe for the snickerdoodle, I'll try and get around to posting the recipe for Asparagus Parmesan Risotto later today or tomorrow.

Light and Fluffy Snickerdoodle Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2¾ cups flour
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1½ cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoon cinnamon

Directions:

1. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or a baking mat and put in refrigerator to chill.

2. Whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

3. Cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, it should have a very light and fluffy texture (think mousse, kinda). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition (just when you think you've beaten the eggs well enough, beat some more). Beat in the vanilla.

4. Gradually stir in the flour mixture, slowly beating just until the flour is blended.

5. Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes (it will make forming the dough much easier).

6. In the meantime, mix together the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.

7. Heat the over to 350 degrees. Scoop 1-inch balls of dough and roll in the cinnamon and sugar mixture to coat.

8. Place on chilled cookie sheet about 2 inches apart and bake for 10 minutes.

9. Chill the dough and cookie sheets between batches.

10. Let cookies set on baking sheet for 2-3 minutes and then remove to a cooling rack. And if you're super daring - eat one fresh out of the oven (it'll be hard to stop yourself) or grab some nutella, make a snickerdoodle/nutella sandwich, and prepare yourself for heart attack.

"Bowl o' Oatmeal Cookies" Experimentation

Today is one of my days off and I felt like experimenting. No, no... not with the chemicals of science, but the chemicals of COOKING! (However, if you talk to Alton Brown, science is cooking and cooking is science). Now, I was having a hankering for peanut butter cookies, but I didn't want just plain peanut butter cookies. I wanted them to have some spice, some crunch... just a little more flavor. Hence, I thought of what I usually have in my oatmeal when I make it for breakfast: Cinnamon and Peanut Butter. Thus, the birth of "Bowl o' Oatmeal Cookies"

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 cups natural peanut butter
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups AP flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats

Directions:

1. Preheat Oven to 350 degrees
2. In a large bowl, cream together butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Once light and fluffy, cream in the peanut butter, cinnamon, and vanilla until smooth.
3. Beat in the eggs one at a time until well blended.
4. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in the oats until just combines. Make teaspoon-sizes balls and drop onto an un-greased cookie sheet. Flatten lightly with a fork.
5. Bake for 13 and a half minutes in the oven, or until just light brown.

UPDATE:

After testing out these cookies on my daring Bivouac co-workers, they made a few suggestions that I think I will try out the next time I make these. One - mashed bananas in the batter. Two, chocolate chips? (I kinda like how these cookies aren't ovely sweet, so I may pass on this one). Three, a little less starch.