Eggplant Walnut Dip

Roasted eggplant blended with toasted walnuts and tahini for a savory summer appetizer

After all the recipe testing and re-testing for HashtagIceCreamWeek I needed to eat piles and piles of vegetables. I say needed both because my body craved them and because the vegetables from the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share were piling up all over the kitchen!

I decided to tweak a recipe from last summer: Layered Summer Vegetable Appetizer. In that recipe, I'd kinda glossed over the whole eggplant base in favor of the method [to my madness]. Today I want to shine a spotlight on eggplant dip.

Caramel Toffee Apple Parfaits With Cream Cheese Ice Cream (#IceCreamWeek)

Welcome to Day 6, the final day of Ice Cream Week 2014! This year the event is hosted by Kim of Cravings of a Lunatic and Susan of The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen. We have teamed up with 25 amazing bloggers to bring you ice cream treats all week long. I hope you all threw out the scales this week. Better not to look!

I'm happy to have an opportunity to share a parfait with you for #IceCreamWeek. I developed this recipe because while I like the taste of caramel apples, I don't like biting into them. Since my kids were recently in braces I've learned to adapt recipes to suit our needs. This parfait marries a caramel apple with my favorite apple dip (made with cream cheese and toffee bits). I especially like digging into the chunks of caramel-drenched apples and crunchy toffee bits at the bottom of the glass.

When I was a kid, we'd celebrate the last day of school by walking to DQ to get a treat. My favorite was always a Peanut Buster Parfait because I loved those last, ice cream-tinged spoonfuls of fudge and salted Spanish peanuts at the bottom of the glass. Nowadays I cannot finish an entire DQ parfait myself, so I make do at home.

Bonus Kitchen Hack:  you've probably heard the trick of dipping apple slices in lemon juice or salt water to keep the slices from oxidizing and turning brown. I hope to change your habit to using pineapple juice instead. I keep little cans of pineapple juice in my pantry for this purpose. In my experience, apple slices dipped in pineapple juice will keep chilled for up to 3 days without turning. And they taste terrific! Another note--you can easily substitute vanilla ice cream if you don't want to make the cream cheese ice cream.

You will need an immersion blender, an ice cream maker, and a freezer for this recipe.

Caramel Toffee Apple Parfaits with Cream Cheese Ice Cream (makes 8 or more)

2 cups heavy cream

½ cup half & half

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup whipped cream cheese

1 teaspoon vanilla

⅛ teaspoon salt

1 large apple, chopped into bite-sized pieces

6 ounces pineapple juice

1 jar caramel topping (you'll have leftovers, and I'm sure you can find something to do with them)

½ cup toffee bits (I prefer the kind with chocolate, but whatever you can find)

To make the Cream Cheese Ice Cream, combine the cream, half & half, brown sugar, vanilla and salt until smooth. I've used a blender, an immersion blender, and a whisk. I don't like the whisk. Churn in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions, and freeze for an hour until firm. You'll have about a quart of ice cream. In a large bowl or zip top bag, combine the apple chunks and pineapple juice. They can hang out together for a while or just meet briefly before draining.
Your choice.

To assemble the parfaits, spoon a tablespoon of caramel topping into the bottom of a tall glass, add 1 to 2 teaspoons of toffee bits and 1 to 2 tablespoons of apple chunks. Top with a scoop of cream cheese ice cream. Repeat the layers as often as you can to fill up the glass (we use little glasses that hold 2 layers), finishing with caramel, toffee, and apples. 

Be sure to visit all of today's Ice Cream Week Participants:
  Oreo Ice Cream Cake by Cravings of a Lunatic
  Coffee and Donut Sundae by The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen
  Pinot Noir Ice Cream by The Redhead Baker
  Triple Peach Ice Cream by Cookistry
  Root Beer Float by My Catholic Kitchen
  Black Forest Ice Cream Shots by The Life and Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch
  Ice Cream Sundae with Homemade Hot Fudge by Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
  Key Lime Pie Milkshake by Love and Confections
  Caramel Toffee Apple Parfaits by Farm Fresh Feasts
  Orange Creamsicle Float by Noshing with the Nolands
  Gluten Free Baked Alaska by Gluten Free Crumbley
  Toasted Almond and Cherry Ice Cream by The Messy Baker
  Gluten Free Toasted Marshmallow Brownie Batter Ice Cream by Cupcakes & Kale Chips
  Coconut Ice Cream Snowballs by Mother Would Know
  No Churn Low Carb Zesty Citrus Ice Cream by Yours and Mine are Ours
  Pina Colada Ice Cream with Dark Chocolate Magic Shell by Quarter Life (Crisis) Cuisine

We would like to thank you all, our readers, for joining in the indulgence this week. 
Ice cream is always best eaten with friends. 
Kim and Susan would like to thank all the participants and sponsors for joining in the fun. 
It takes a village to make this much ice cream! 

Snickerdoodle Cinnamon Ice Cream Sandwiches (#IceCreamWeek)

Welcome to Day 5 of Ice Cream Week 2014! This year the event is hosted by Kim of Cravings of a Lunatic and Susan of The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen. We have teamed up with 25 amazing bloggers to share some amazing ice cream recipes with you. I hope you belong to a gym. We'll all need it by the end of the week!

Wow. The 5th day in a row I've posted a recipe, much less an out-of-my-blogging-comfort-zone ice cream recipe. If you've been making and eating along with our merry band all week, you probably need a new wardrobe. Like me. Except I've gotten serious about ramping up the mileage for the half marathon I'll be walking in 4 weeks, so I say . . . Bring It On!

One of the awesome things about all this walking is the opportunity to let my mind wander and think up recipes. After I got the idea for Cinnamon Chunk Ice Cream [but before I got around to making it], I was walking while pondering what I could do with such a spicy ice cream. I didn't want to overshadow the cinnamon flavor, but I kinda wanted to have another #IceCreamWeek post. BOOM! [An idea, not a bus, hit me.] Use the cinnamon ice cream as the filling for an ice cream sandwich! And what better cookie to use than Snickerdoodles?

See, walking is good for the mind, the body, and the blog.

While I have tasted each recipe I've made so far, I've also given much of the ice cream away. To me, this is the best of both worlds--I get to make and eat a variety of tasty ice cream treats, and I save money not needing a new wardrobe.

These ice cream sandwiches, for example, went straight to my son's marching band camp. I helped out feeding lunches during the camp and realized that band kids are like locusts. A tray of these ice cream cookie sandwiches vanished in under 3 minutes--and that was with the adults politely getting first crack at them!

full size cookie scoop

I made these Snickerdoodle Cinnamon Ice Cream Sandwiches in 2 sizes. I used my standard cookie scoop* for both the cookies and the ice cream which makes a 2-3 bite sandwich (and about 18 sandwiches per batch). Using half a scoop of each (cookie dough and ice cream) makes about 3 dozen bite-sized ice cream sandwiches.

What's missing? The Cinnamon Chunk Ice Cream, of course! Oh, and butter too.

You will need a mixer, an oven, and a freezer for this recipe.

Snickerdoodle Cinnamon Ice Cream Sandwiches

(cookie recipe from Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook)
½ cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
1½ cups unbleached all purpose flour
cinnamon sugar for rolling: 3 Tablespoons sugar + 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 batch Cinnamon Chunk Ice Cream (you'll have a bowlful left over to find a use for)

I like to mix up my cookie dough (and my pizza dough) a day ahead because I don't do kitchen marathons, only USAF (Half) Marathons, so I won't start off asking you to preheat the oven.

In a large bowl (I use my mixer), have a minion cream the butter and sugar while you measure out the dry ingredients (baking soda through flour). Once the minion has added the egg and vanilla and mixed them thoroughly, dump the dry ingredients in mix until well-blended. Chill for several hours or overnight.

When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix up the cinnamon sugar for rolling in a small bowl [bonus points if it's pretty]. Scoop* cookie dough into the amount you prefer (bite sized or large), roll into a ball, toss with cinnamon sugar, and place on an ungreased or parchment-lined cookie sheet. Bake for 9 (small) to 11 (large) minutes, then cool in the pan 2 minutes and remove to a rack to finish cooling.  

When you're ready to assemble the ice cream sandwiches, use the same amount of ice cream as you did cookie dough. Flip one cookie bottom up, add slightly softened ice cream, and press another cookie right side up on top. Return to the freezer to harden (I use a metal tray) before serving. 

I assume these would keep, wrapped, in the freezer a few days, but I have no experience with that!

*My cookie scoop holds ½ ounce by volume (1 Tablespoon).

Be sure to visit all of today's Ice Cream Week Participants:
  Roasted Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream by Cravings of a Lunatic
  Blackberry Peach Ice Cream by Scoop Adventures
  Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream Sundaes by The Redhead Baker
  Maple Whisky Ice Cream by Cookistry
  Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream by Life Tastes Good
  Pineapple Coconut Ice Cream by My Catholic Kitchen
  Coffee Chip No Churn Ice Cream by The Life and Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch
  Caramel Macchiato No Churn Ice Cream by Renee's Kitchen Adventures
  Double Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches by Crumb
  Lemon Meringue Pie Ice Cream by Love and Confections
  Snickerdoodle Cinnamon Ice Cream Sandwiches by Farm Fresh Feasts
  Gluten Free Ice Cream Sandwiches by Gluten Free Crumbley
  No Churn S'mores Ice Cream by The Spiffy Cookie
  Cocoa Pebbles Ice Cream Cake by Wishes and Dishes
  Mocha Mint Milkshake by The Gunny Sack
  No Churn Low Carb Peanut Butter Coffee Ice Cream by Yours and Mine are Ours