Friday, February 27, 2015

Month-of-Desserts: Mini Oatmeal Cranberry-Pecan Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches


Back in the day, when we were both working outside the home (because of course there is always work inside the home!), DH packed his own lunch. THE.SAME.LUNCH.EVERY.DAY.

That is beyond boring to me, but he said he liked it because he didn’t have to think about it. Lunch prep had become automatic after decades of doing it. Okay, I get that, but I love the range of tastes and textures too much to enjoy the same lunch every day. He bought healthful cookies, even, that were a small size so he could eat three of them. EVERY.DAY.THE.SAME.COOKIE.

When I transitioned from my paying job to the job of occasionally-paying full-time writer, I offered to make him a new cookie, a better-for-him cookie than the ones he purchased which were full of unpronounceables.

This cookie is the result. I’ve been making it for him a long time now. He can’t even stand cookies from the store anymore. Wahoo!

I use a 1” cookie scoop so that I can give him the little cookies he likes so much. This recipe as written makes just about 7 dozen cookies. I just drop the balls on the cookie sheet so little cookie mounds form, not flat cookies. There are always some ready in the freezer when his cookie jar gets empty.

So what the heck does that have to do with today’s recipe? Wellllll…we like ice cream sandwiches for the occasional dessert and his cookies make perfect little ice cream sandwiches.

I flattened this small cookie sheet of twelve 1” balls of cookie dough so I could make six mini-ice cream sandwiches. They look bigger than they are because you don’t have perspective. Trust me. Two bites and they’re gone.

I filled each cookie half with 4 teaspoons of my homemade ice cream, wrapped most of them tightly (well, he had to test one), and popped them into the freezer for a future dessert.

So having given the directions for making your mini ice cream sandwiches, here are the two recipes for the components.  

David’s Oatmeal Cranberry-Pecan Cookies (about 7 dozen)   


1½ cups butter, softened                          
¾ c packed brown sugar                                   
½ c granulated sugar                                   
2 large eggs                                                     
3 teaspoons vanilla extract                                            
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1¾ cups flour
2½ cups Old-Fashion oats
6 ounce package dried cranberries
1 cup pecans, toasted and chopped

Heat oven to 375°.

Beat butter and sugars in a bowl with mixer on med speed until fluffy.

Beat in eggs, vanilla, baking soda, and salt until blended.

With mixer on low speed, beat in flour and oats a small amount at a time to blend.

When well-blended, stir in cranberries and nuts.

Drop 1” balls of dough about 2” apart on ungreased baking sheet.

Bake 10-12 minutes until golden brown. Cool 1 min on cookie sheet, then put on cookie rack to finish cooling.

Easiest-Ever Vanilla Ice Cream (makes a little more than one quart)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups heavy whipping cream
3 teaspoons best quality vanilla (I use vanilla paste)

Whisk together the three ingredients until thoroughly blended.

Pour into your ice cream maker and process for 20-30 minutes. The ice cream will easily come off the sides when done and probably will be slightly above the freezer bowl.

Store in an airtight container in the freezer. This is a very creamy ice cream.

NOTE: I have a whole passle of variations for this ice cream basic. Chocolate. Dulce de Leche with Pecans. Chocolate Chip and Walnuts. Candy Bar Ice Cream. Play with it!


DH’s RATING: 10 Tongues Up
Honestly, this man cannot follow rules. He says it’s because he gets to rate each component, the cookie and the ice cream. And he loves each of them. Sigh!

6 comments:

  1. I am gonna try this. I like to keep oatmeal cookies around here. My grandkids that only eat unhealthy junk love my oatmeal cookies I usually use raisins. I am trying this one tonight I actually have a bag of cranberry

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, Cathy, for trying this even though you have a great recipe already. Please let me know what you think. I haven't used raisins in years. We just love the cranberry flavor.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This dish look yummy.thanks for sharing this link.I think I might have do it even today.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks so much, Rose Mary! My family certainly thinks so! I hope to see you again here. And I hope you went looking through the various old posts to find more you enjoy.

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