Lisa’s first attempt at making ice cream with her new toy worked out really well. She made a honey vanilla-bean ice cream that made us all very happy. This recipe came from… well, the manual for the ice cream maker.

I scream…

Cathy says:

You scream…

Chris says:

We all scream…

Lisa says:

…for ice cream!

(Okay, we really didn’t say that, but this is a week later and I can’t remember what was said, other than…)

Everyone says:

Mmmmm….

(Oh, and….)

Lisa says:

So rich!

Honey Vanilla Ice Cream
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup vanilla soy milk
1/4 cup honey
1 vanilla bean, split
2 egg yolks

Heat the cream, soy milk, vanilla bean, and honey in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan, stirring occasionally until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is hot. Place the egg yolks in a bowl and whisk briefly. Still whisking, slowly pour in about 1/2 cup of the hot liquid. When the mixture is smooth, slowly pour it back into the saucepan, whisking constantly. Cook over medium heat, whisking, until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon, about 6 minutes. Scrape the seeds from the beans into the base. Strain into a bowl and cool.

Use this base in your ice cream maker.

Makes 1 pint

Lisa made us personal-size apple bread pudding in ramekins the night Carrie came over for dinner.  We had a ton of apples from previous CSA shipments, and Lisa has recently been experimenting with Agave Nectar as a sweetner, so this recipe that Cathy found on About.com fit the bill.

Lisa says:

So, this recipe is actually supposed to be pretty healthy. There’s no dairy, and it’s sweetened with agave nectar!

Carrie says:

Wow, this does sound healthy — usually when I make bread pudding there’s a bunch of booze in it.

Chris says:

Ooh, good idea! Put Maker’s Mark in mine!

Carrie says:

It smells *really* good…

Lisa says:

Well, we’ll see how it tastes.

Chris says:

I do like that the top got all carmelized. Looks good — now, let’s eat!

Carrie says:

This is really good, Lisa!

Chris says:

Ooh, yeah, I like it. You can totally taste the almond milk.

Lisa says:

Really? I don’t get that at all.

Chris says:

Yeah, it tastes really nutty.

Lisa says:

Well, there’s also walnuts in there… where are you going?

Chris says:

I’m getting the Maker’s…

Carrie says:

Are you really going to pour… yes you are.

Lisa says:

Wow. Usually you put that in before it cooks.

Chris says:

Whatevs — I heart bourbon!

Apple Bread Pudding
2 cups 1/2 ” whole-grain bread cubes
1/2 cup finely chopped apple pieces
1/8 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup vanilla almond milk
1/6 cup and 1/2 tbsp agave nectar, plus more for drizzling

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly oil 3 6-ounce ramekins. Set aside.
In a medium-sized bowl, combine the bread cubes, apple pieces, walnuts, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt until well mixed. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the almond milk and agave nectar and allow the mixture to stand for 10 minutes.
Split the mixture into the prepared dishes and bake until golden brown, about 15-20 minutes. Broil for a couple minutes to carmelize the tops. Drizzle with syrup, and drink with bourbon, if desired.

3 Servings

We had a Lebanese food fest at our friend Megan’s last night, and one of the items we brought were these delicious Arak cookies, adapted from a butter cookie recipe in Recipes and Remembrances from an Eastern Mediterranean Kitchen. The original uses orange flower water, but I thought they’d be delicious with the anise-flavor of arak. Boy was I right — the flavor level was right on: just a hint of licorice without it being overwhelming.

Lisa says:

These are so addicting…

Thad says:

Mmmmm… very good.

Chris says:

I think they’re awesome — they’d be great with pistachios.

Lisa says:

Then they’d totally be Lebanese…

Abbie says:

These are delicious — and I don’t even like arak!

Megan says:

Yeah, how’d you think to use arak in these? Genius!

Chris says:

I’m trying to make room in my belly for more, but the other 9 courses we had tonight are making that quite difficult…

Arak Cookies
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp arak
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
Almond slivers

In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the butter, sugar, and arak until the mixture is light and fluffy. With a wooden spoon, gradually mix in the flour.
Preheat the oven to 325F. Pinch off walnut-sized pieces of dough and roll them into balls. Arrange the balls 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Gently press to flatten each ball to make round cookies about 1 1/2-inches in diameter and 1/2 inch thick. Sprinkle 3-4 almond slivers (or one pistachio) into the center of each. Bake the cookies at 325F 20 to 25 minutes or until they are firm to the touch. Don’t let them brown!
Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool on the baking sheets 5 minutes; sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

24 Cookies

Lisa’s been spending her free time baking lately, and today she made a huge batch of chocolate-chip cookies that also have chopped walnuts and peanut butter. We really enjoyed the light, chewy texture of these “healthy” cookies.

Chris says:

Yum, these are good! They’re light and chewy like the soft-baked kind — I like the buckwheat.

Lisa says:

A lot of the reviews mentioned they were kind of cakey. And I changed the recipe a bit based on the flour we had on hand, the original didn’t have buckwheat.

Chris says:

Where’d you see the recipe?

Lisa says:

Cooking Light… they call them “Good-For-You” cookies… they’re healthy! Plus I added walnuts and peanut butter to it.

Chris says:

So, you made them… less healthy?

Lisa says:

Yeah, but more delicious. And it’s not like I added 13 sticks of butter or anything.

Chris says:

Is it bad that I just ate 5 of them?

Lisa says:

Someone has to eat them… hey, where’d the cat go?

Hailey says:

(Almost…) Good-For-You Chocolate-Chip Cookies
———————————————–
2 cups unbleached flour
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup reduced-calorie stick margarine, softened
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup applesauce
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg white
3 tbsp smooth peanut butter
2/3 cup reduced-fat semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine first 4 ingredients in a bowl; stir well. Set aside. Combine margarine and sugars in a large bowl; beat at medium speed of a mixer until light and fluffy. Add applesauce, vanilla, egg, egg white, and peanut butter; beat well. Add dry ingredients; beat at low speed until well-blended. Stir in chips and walnuts.

Drop dough by level teaspoons, 1 inch apart, onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes or until almost set. Remove from oven; let stand 2 to 3 minutes or until firm. Remove cookies from pans; let cool on wire racks.

Makes 5 Dozen

I realized late last night that time was running out for Taste & Create VI, and with the rest of our week already planned out and our being out of town this weekend, my options for creating a dish from Kelly’s Sounding My Barbaric Gulp were dwindling. Luckily, she recently featured a recipe that sounded quick, delicious, and utilized ingredients that we (for the most part) already had on hand. I did have to make a substitution: fresh raspberries have been hard to come by recently, so I substituted frozen cranberries that I still had on hand from the last T&C event. Huzzah for that miracle of the modern age, the ice-box.

Lisa says:

How is it that you ended up baking again?

Chris says:

I don’t know — at least this time there aren’t any professional bakers around to taste my wares.

Lisa says:

And it looks like this one only took like an hour…

Chris says:

Yes! Very easy, and I’m happy with the results. I like the tartness of the cranberries against the sweet of the cake.

Lisa says:

I like the sweet of the batter when I lick the bowl.

Cranberry Almond Blondies
————————-
9 tbsp unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pan
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup sliced almonds, (3 ounces), toasted
1/2 cup cranberries, sliced
confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a buttered 8-inch square baking pan with foil, allowing 2 inches to hang over sides. Butter lining (excluding overhang); set pan aside.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl, and set aside.
Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer; cream on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla; beat until combined. Add flour mixture, and beat on low speed, scraping down sides of bowl, until well incorporated. Mix 3/4 cup almonds into batter.
Pour oh-so-thick batter into prepared pan; spread with a rubber spatula. Scatter cranberries and remaining 1/4 cup nuts over batter in pan. Bake until a cake tester inserted into blondies (avoid center and edges) comes out with a few crumbs but is not wet, 55 to 60 minutes. Dust with confectioners’ sugar before cutting into squares.

16 small squares