Confetti Cookie Dough Ice Cream Sandwiches

This is a sponsored post by Hudsonville, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible!

Summer is all about making memories with the people who matter most. In my family, those happy moments usually involve ice cream. Ice cream is undeniably delicious on its own, but I wanted to create a recipe that was easily shareable and combined some of my favorite flavors from childhood.

This recipe for confetti cookie dough ice cream sandwiches consists of two layers of edible cookie dough sandwiching a layer of creamy Hudsonville ice cream. The edible dough comes together quickly, and I especially love how easy it is to cut and bite into straight out of the freezer. Also, there’s no baking involved, which means you don’t have to heat your house in the middle of summer.

Regular cookie dough isn’t safe to consume raw because it contains uncooked flour and eggs. Both have the potential to cause food poisoning and bacterial infections like salmonella. I did two things to ensure the cookie dough is safe to eat raw: I omitted the eggs, and I heat-treated the flour. The easiest way to heat treat flour is to put it in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave it in 30-second intervals until the temperature reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit. This should take about one to one and a half minutes.

Sprinkles are an important part of the cookie dough—they’re both visually appealing and add great crunch. But not all sprinkles are created equally. The best sprinkles to use are confetti sprinkles. “Jimmy” style sprinkles bleed colors, and I find them to be a little mushy.

Now, let’s talk about the best part of this recipe—the ice cream! When making ice cream desserts, it’s very important to use a high-quality brand because the consistency holds its shape better. That’s why I only use Hudsonville. Hudsonville is a family-owned Midwest company. They make their ice cream with fresh milk and cream from local farms to ensure the ice cream is as creamy as possible.

Both the Superscoop ice cream and the Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream work very well in this ice cream sandwich recipe. Superscoop is made with thick, creamy swirls of Black Cherry, Blue Moon and Vanilla, which makes the colorful confetti cookie dough layers even more fun. And I knew Strawberry Cheesecake's tangy ice cream with tart strawberry swirls would complement the sweet confetti cookie dough perfectly.

The process for making the ice cream sandwiches involves two freezings. The first freezing occurs right after you make the cookie dough. In order to evenly spread the ice cream on the dough, it must be frozen. I divide the cookie dough into two equal parts, press it into two even layers in an 8x8-inch pan lined with parchment paper, and freeze it until firm, or about one hour.

Then I spread the ice cream on one layer of frozen cookie dough before finishing it off with the top layer of dough and returning it to the freezer. I like to allow for at least 4-6 hours of freezing time before cutting and eating the ice cream sandwiches.

One of the best parts about this dessert is how much fun it is to share with others. No matter what your summer plans entail, you'll surely create sweet moments and memories sharing Hudsonville ice cream with family and friends.

Use this Scoop Locator tool to find Superscoop ice cream and Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream near you. You can find them at Walmart, Meijer, and Fresh Thyme stores in the Indianapolis area.

Confetti Cookie Dough Ice Cream Sandwiches

Yield: Makes about 9 ice cream sandwiches

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups (180 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted
• 3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
• 2 Tablespoons milk (cow milk or nondairy milk)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 Tablespoons confetti sprinkles
• 1 1/2 pints (24 ounces) Hudsonville Superscoop or Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream

Directions

1. Place flour in microwave-safe bowl. Heat in microwave in 30-second intervals until temperature reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit. This should take about 90 seconds. Set aside.
2. In large bowl, combine butter and sugar. Stir in milk, vanilla extract, almond extract, and salt.
3. Slowly stir in flour and mix until smooth. Fold in confetti sprinkles.
4. Line 8x8-inch baking pan with parchment paper. Press half the dough into even layer on parchment paper.
5. Top dough with second layer of parchment paper and press remaining dough into even layer.
6. Move baking pan to freezer. Freeze dough for at least 1 hour.
7. Remove pan from freezer and separate layers of cookie dough. Reuse parchment paper to line pan and return one layer of cookie dough to pan.
8. Spread Hudsonville ice cream over cookie dough and place remaining frozen dough layer on top of ice cream.
9. Cover top of cookie dough with parchment paper and return pan to freezer. Freeze for at least 4-6 hours, but preferably overnight.
10. When ready to serve, remove pan from freezer, run knife under hot water, wipe dry, and cut into equal squares. 

Raspberry Sweet Corn Cobbler Cake

This is a sponsored post by Challenge Butter, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible! 

The plethora of produce may be my favorite part of summer, and I'm a big proponent of celebrating that produce in the form of desserts. My father-in-law's raspberry plants, which fruit twice a year and provide us with bowls and bowls of raspberries, inspired the dessert recipe I'm sharing today. You can substitute other berry varieties, if you wish.

Also, I love using corn in desserts as much as possible. I don't think enough people capitalize on its sweet capabilities. So instead of using milk in the dessert batter, I used corn juice. Yes, you read that correctly—corn juice!  The milky, starchy juice from the kernels adds an incredible amount of flavor.

I collect the corn juice by grating ears of fresh sweet corn on a box grater. I usually get about 1/3 cup juice with pulp per ear of corn. The amount you get depends on how fresh and in season the corn is. I use the pulp along with the juice in this recipe. There's no need to strain it. Also, I think it provides good texture.

One last thing--I developed this recipe last week in the middle of a heat wave when our air conditioner was struggling to keep the inside of our 200-year-old house cool. So I baked this recipe on the grill. Baking on the grill isn't much different than baking in the oven. Preheat your grill to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and place your cast-iron skillet over an area of the grill without direct heat. If you've never baked on your grill, you'll want to check it periodically to make sure the temperature remains consistent.

Side note: The first step of this recipe is to melt a stick of butter in the pan. I use Challenge unsalted butter because it's all-natural, made with real milk, and melts evenly.

Raspberry Sweet Corn Cobbler Cake

Yield: Makes about 6 - 8 servings

Time: About 1 hour

Ingredients

For the raspberries

• 16 ounces fresh raspberries (or frozen raspberries, thawed and drained)
• 1 Tablespoon sugar (13 grams)
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest

For the batter

• 1 cup all-purpose flour (125 grams)
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar (132 grams)
• 1/4 cup medium or coarse-ground yellow cornmeal (38 grams)
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3/4 cup (180 milliliters) corn juice from about 3 ears corn 
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) Challenge unsalted butter

Directions

For the raspberries

1. In medium bowl, combine raspberries with sugar and lemon zest. Set aside.

For the batter

1. Preheat grill to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Whisk flour, sugar, cornmeal, lemon zest, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl
3. Use box grater to grate corn over bowl to collect milky juices and pulp; discard corn cobs. Measure out 3/4 cup juice and pour into flour mixture. 
4. Mix just until dry ingredients are moist.
5. Place 10-inch cast-iron skillet on grill. Add butter to skillet and allow to melt.
6. Remove skillet from heat and scrape in batter. Spread into even layer as much as possible. Butter will pool at sides.
7. Spoon raspberries with juices over batter.
8. Bake over indirect heat in covered grill until cake is golden, about 30-40 minutes.
9. Allow cobbler cake to cool for about 15 minutes before serving with ice cream.
10. Store leftovers in airtight container in refrigerator for up to 3 days.