I for Ice cream sandwiches

these were an all day kind of treat. first I had to make the cookies, let them cool completely then put the ice cream between them and freeze till solid, after that I had to dip them in chocolate then refreeze. but they were worth the wait!
I used strawberry Ice cream as I felt it would go well with the chocolate dip, and the nut cookies. the cookies are meant to be peanut butter but as I can not eat peanuts I made them almond butter, which turned out really well.


I was nervous about using almond butter as I wasn’t sure if the consistency would be correct being that peanuts and almonds have a different oil ratio but it seems to have worked just fine.


my sister told me they had the same consistency as peanut butter cookies. they were chewy and firm at the same time. they were a easy mix all in one bowl cookie dough. I actually think I would like to make the cookies on their own they were that good.


the ice cream though did take it to the next level and the chocolate dip elevated it even that much more. the ice cream had to thaw a bit before putting it carefully between the two cookies. I did put a bit more ice cream between the cookies then the recipe called for, since I had bought a 1.5qt container rather then the pint they called for. and the amount they called for seemed a bit on the skimpy side.


I just really like the simplicity of the breyers ingredients, and that it didn’t take away from the cookies but rather complimented it.
I am sure these would taste good with pretty much any ice cream, the cookies are just that versatile.
the chocolate dip was a simple melting of chocolate chips and shortening on the stove top. they everything was re-frozen and enjoyed as a delicious treat.

I kind of wish I had an ice cream maker because I think it would be awesome to make these completely from scratch but i think it would be a bit frivolous to buy such a thing simply to make one recipe and they take up so much room. if I was a huge ice cream freak it would be something to consider but yeah it would be basically for this recipe so no I will not purchase one, and really the bought ice cream was pretty tasty in the sandwiches


would I make these again? I sure would. I do believe they would be the perfect thing on a hot summer day.

H for Honey bee cookies

I think we used to make these when I was a child, but we altered the recipe so it was made with all honey instead of the mix of brown sugar and honey called for in this recipe.



with the mix of sugar and honey it definitely tasted different but it tasted really good. the texture of these is just like a gooey chocolate chip cookie only with a much different taste. they taste just like honey! the texture was pretty much amazing and I will one day make these again. I would though change one thing. the recipe had me drop the cookies by rounded teaspoon which made for a rather small cookie, so next time I make them I will use a rounded tablespoon. and for a really daring move I want to try adding some chocolate cover ginger bits because oh my god, that just sounds so yum!



not only do these cookies have the consistency of chocolate chip cookies they are also just as easy to make. and easy is a good thing in my opinion


the more recipes I make from this book the more I like it, which means I should probably hunt down a copy for myself incase my sister ever decides she really would like this book back.

G for Giant gingerbread kids

I’m not sure if we ever made this recipe before. I think we had, but I cannot remember exactly. I do know that we made gingerbread people in the past though so there is a good chance we have used this recipe.


it was an easy enough recipe to make, basically just mix it all together. one thing it said to do that I don’t remember ever doing was roll the dough out on a kitchen towel, at first I was like “What?” but I went ahead and did it because it told me too, I found that it really did make it easier to lift the cookies off the counter.


I wasn’t a huge fan of my cookie cutter, the arms were too thin so they kept breaking off and I would have to push it back together with hopes that it wouldn’t separate while cooking. I tried using a knife to gently ease it out and while it worked most of the time I still lost a few arms. I really miss our gingerbread cookie cutter I had as a kid with its fat arms and legs that never broke off. it may have looked more simple but its was actually a cuter cookie with less problems then my more modern cookie cutter.


the recipe called for the cookies to be decorated with raisons or currents, even though in the picture in the book it appears to decorated with chocolate candies. so I went with the directions using raisons.
the funny thing is the raisons were so large they took up most of the poor ginger kids face, I tried to so through and pick out the smallest raisons before deciding to simply cut the raisons in half. which worked much better.
my cookie cutter must be smaller then what they called for because it made several more cookies then they said but that was okay. they said it would make 11 cookies with a 5” cutter I have no idea what size mine is its bigger then they rest of my cutters though so I thought it would make about a dozen it made 16.


the flavor was nice when they were warm but even better when cooled they had a good ginger flavor and I liked the amount of molasses in them.
my decorating skills leave a bit to be desired but I figure it doesn’t really matter what they look like as long as they taste good. which they did and they only got better as the days went on. at least until day 3 then they were all gone, but I bet they would have tasted good up to a week later.

F for Fudge Brownies

these were actually really good! not that I doubted it for a second that they wouldn’t be. but this is one of the recipes I had not made before.

my niece was over and all for helping me make this latest recipe. its always a lot of fun to make things with another person. we have a pretty good system for baking together since we have been doing it for quite a few years now.
this recipe was a slightly more complicated brownie recipe then I usually make. it had us melt chocolate chips into butter. they said to do it in a pan on the stove top, but I know Chocolate can be a bit on the persnickety side when it comes to melting. I didn’t want to over melt it and have the chocolate get that strange grainy bits in it so I took the liberty of using the double boiler method which is a slower but more precise method.
my niece really liked this way of doing it. I let her do the stirring while the chips melted.


when they finished I again made her wait till they cooled a bit, though not as long as when we made the Chocolate chip cookies. because warm Brownies are pretty much awesome.
they turned out to be very rich and extremely chocolately.


and for a final touch of course we had to add the ice cream. which just about put it into desert overload. I mean overload in a good way of course..

E for elaphant ears!

my mom used to make these for us all the time when we were kids, only she didn’t quite follow the directions, she got as far as the rolling into a log then she would slice them up into probably a dozen pieces and bake them into the small cookies.
now I will point out that I did mess up a bit on these, but I really didn’t feel like re-doing them over a simple mistake. I forgot to sprinkle them with cinnamon and sugar before putting them in the oven. they probably would have had a slightly more finished look if I had done that but all in all they were still good and I am counting them as the E.
and yes I realize my finished product is not exactly beautiful, but they did taste good and that for me is all that mattered.



I never really understood why they were called Elephant ears till I read the recipe as an adult.
this recipe only makes four biscuit like cookies. after the slicing the roll into four equal parts your supposed to flatten them into six inch circles. these are supposed to be large cookies, not small which is why they call them elephant ears, because they are big and round like an elephants ear.


I kind of get why my mom skipped the flattening part. it tells you to do it with your hands and its not exactly easy, it takes a lot of time, its messy., and breaks apart. other people may be better at this then I am, but alas I am not very good at flattening. the flattening also doesn’t change the flavor much from the slicing my mother did, so if you just wanted the flavor and didn’t care about them being small then by all means I suggest making smaller cookies. however the whole point of them being called Elephant ears is they are large! and come on what could be better then an extra large cookie especially if its the size of your head.

D for delicious drumsticks

lets just start off with I am not a fan of dark meat, I just care for the flavor or the texture so really to rate this recipe I am not a good choice. I knew this was not something I was going to be a fan of and I was right.
when got to this recipe I was glad to see one of the stores had drum sticks on sale. knowing that I wasn’t going to really like this recipe I didn't want to put a lot of money into it. so I off I go to the store buy the drum sticks come home, a ten minute drive, open the drum sticks and am met by a revolting smell, that had me jumping back gagging. the meat was spoiled. not exactly the best way to start a recipe I was already not looking forward too. needless to say I did not use that meat. I brought back to the store. after that I didn’t think I could stomach being around drumsticks for a while so I put off making these for a few weeks.
good news is the next meat I bought was good, and I was able to move forward with the recipe.
this was fairly easy to make, you basically just dip the chicken in melted butter then roll it in the flour mixture then bake.
the coating crisps up in the oven and you have a nice lightly breaded fried chicken effect.
for being something I don’t like it was pretty good I do believe it would have been a bit better if it had more spices in it, such as garlic and onion. but the paprika did do a nice job in adding some flavor.
its probably not something I would make again though I might use it as a base recipe for chicken tenders.