Salted-Vanilla-Nutella Ice Cream

We made it to the weekend! Grab arm in arm with the person next to you and sprint across the finish line to that celebratory, Friday-feeling. With summer winding down, I have been pulling out all the stops on the ice cream recipes. After seeing Coffee Chip put so many smiles on the faces of my family, friends, and co-workers, I started playing around with my favorite condiment: Nutella. It was only a matter of time before I turned it into an ice cream. Those who have taste-tested (Hi, Rachel & Kristina!) have loved it so far and I hope you will too!

Salted-Vanilla-Nutella Ice Cream

Pre-freeze ice cream maker bowl at 0 degrees for 24 hours.

Ingredients:

-2 1/2 cups of whole milk

-2 cups of heavy cream

-1 cup of sugar

-1 tbsp. of kosher salt (I use Diamond)

-2 tsp. of vanilla extract

-1/2 cup of Nutella

Method:

1. In a large bowl, combine milk, sugar, salt. Stir (do not whisk) together until sugar and salt are dissolved.

2. Add in cream, vanilla extract, and combine. Cover and chill for 2 hours.

3. Pull out mix, and give it a final stir, taking care not to make it bubbles, as you do not want to add air.

4. Pour into ice cream bowl and make according to your machine’s settings.

5. Slowly drizzle in Nutella directly into ice cream mix with 5 minutes left to go. The Nutella will be resembling the texture of stracciatella. Tip** spray your measuring cup with non-stick spray so it will slide out easier!

6. Put in a freezing container and let harden for 3-4 hours or overnight.

7. Tell yourself that you will not eat the whole thing in one sitting.

8. Forgive yourself for breaking that promise.

GF Blueberry-Banana-Oat Muffins

Perhaps I should start calling these the law firm muffins? While I love the fictional law firms of Cooper-Banks-Mackenzie and Crane, Poole and Schmidt (shout out to you if you got the Father of the Bride 2 and Boston Legal references, respectively), these are my Gluten-Free-Blueberry-Banana-Oat Muffins, LLP. Yes, their title is a mouthful, but so is their flavor and heavenly texture. As the saying goes—if the shoes fits?

I digress.

While I am not 100% gluten-free, recently, I have parked it over to my weekend food consumption list. When I did my MRT testing earlier this summer, wheat came back as a yellow food for me. Meaning it could cause a reaction, so I took it out of my diet for 30 days, and I did notice a difference when I added it back in—sadly, noticed a difference I should say. Your girl still loves her some banana bread though, and I was not about to park banana bread on my weekend only food list. So I went back to my food science/nutrition knowledge from college, determined to give one of my favorite baked goods a makeover. As Galinda says to Elphie in Wicked, “We’re gonna make you pop-u-lar!” For this exercise, me being Galinda and the banana bread being Elphie. If you don’t know what song I’m referring you, please bless your day with this gem.

I’ve been testing out these muffins and recipe on both the gluten-free and gluten-full people in my life. Happily I can report that both populations have asked for second and in some cases a third.

The prosecution rests, your Honor. These muffins are in fact delicious. Recipe is below and can be amended to suit your dietary needs. Want to use coconut oil and sugar instead? Please do! Cut the milk, butter, and egg and make them vegan? Why not! Want to go full freight and use AP flour and white sugar, honey, you have my blessing!

Ingredients:

-2 cups of oat flour (remember you can make your own in a blender!)

-2 1/2 tsp of baking powder

-1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

-1 tsp salt (I use Diamond Kosher)

-3/4 cup of oats

-3 over-ripe bananas, mashed to your liking

-3/4 cup of brown sugar (or get coco-nutty and make it with coconut sugar)

-1 stick of room temp. butter

-1 large egg

-1/4 cup of milk with 1 tbs. of oil (oat flour and oats are thirsty girls—the oil helps keep everything hydrated)

-1 cup of blueberries, dusted in a flour

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a muffin pan or put in muffin liners

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together oat flour, oats, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.

3. In a separate bowl, cream together sugar, and butter. Add in milk, the egg, and then bananas last. Stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients then add in blueberries (Tip** dust your blueberries in a few teaspoons of oat flour before adding them in. This keeps them from sinking to the bottom.

4. Divide batter evenly between prepared cups, a full Tovolo scoop or about 1/3 cup to each. Bake until tops spring back when lightly touched, about 20-25 minutes. Cool in pans 5 minutes, then remove to wire rack to cool completely.

Blueberry and Orange Zest Scones

Intimidated by homemade scones? Don’t be! They are nothing more than a biscuit that made it out the door with lipstick and heels on! Read: a fancy biscuit.

The great thing about these is that you can add whatever flavors you like. Chopped chocolate: you bet, cherries: why not, and cheese and chives: it’s a no-brainer. I used Cara Cara oranges here—which is the Navel’s more sassy/tart sister, and their juice is a little more pink in color, and fresh blueberries.

You can also make them as big or as small as you want! Baby blueberry scones would be perfect for a baby shower, and easier to fit on a cocktail plate.

This recipe allows the use of a stand mixer. If Queen Ina says you can use a stand mixer to make scones, who am I to argue with her? Don’t forget that unlike a biscuit, scones are vain and they want to shine! So the egg wash before baking is essential!

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. Take 1 Cara Cara orange and zest 2 teaspoons worth. Then, juice 4 tablespoons worth of liquid from the orange. For me, this took both halves.

3. Measure out 1 cup of blueberries and place them in a colander.

Tip: Take a spoonful of flour and toss with blueberries; this will keep them from falling to the bottom of the mixing bowl and the baking container, too!

4. In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, put in 4 cups of all-purpose flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, 2 tablespoons of baking powder and 2 teaspoons of salt (this seems like a small amount but you're using salted butter) and mix together on the lowest speed.

5. Once combined, take 3 sticks of cold, salted butter and cut into 1/2 in. pieces. With the mixer still on the stir setting, add the butter to the flour mixture.

6. Let butter break down evenly into flour mixture, into pea sized pieces and the flour should look crumbly.

7. In a 2 cup measuring cup, pour in 1 cup of heavy cream (I never said these were low fat) and add in 4 beaten eggs (extra large), and the orange zest and juice.

8. Add blueberries into flour and then add egg/cream mixture, with the mixer still on the stir speed. Mix to barely combine, mixture should pull away from the sides and wrap around the paddle. There will still be flour in the bottom of the bowl but the egg mixture will be absorbed fully.

9. Take dough and turn it out to a lightly floured surface and knead a few times (don’t forget to flour your hands!) and knead enough to where the dough is no longer sticky.

10. Flour a rolling pin and roll out dough to 1 inch thick.

11. Take a 2 inch biscuit cutter, dip it in flour, and punch out 6 scones.

12. Combine scraps, re-knead and roll out to 1 inch.

13. Punch out 6 scones.

14. Repeat process and punch out as many as can fit on scraps.

15. Place on 2 parchment-lined baking sheets.

16. Combine one egg and a splash of water and brush tops of scones with egg wash. Sprinkle tops with sugar.

17. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

18. Enjoy!

Coffee Chip Ice Cream

If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen a story post of mine a few weeks back where I could not actually stop myself from eating ice cream. This recipe was what yielded the ice cream in question, and yes, I heard that dreaded sound of the spoon scraping the bottom of the tub.

My favorite flavor combination would have to be coffee and chocolate. Nothing else comes close for me. I am curious what is yours? Leave in the comments below! After spending the July 4th week perfecting my peach ice cream, I finally decided I had a delicious and reliable enough base recipe to start making other flavors.

This ice cream is creamy, but not too soft. Sweet, but with plenty of bold flavor to cut through. And the cream eats cleanly—don’t you just hate it when ice cream coats your mouth? I truly believe this is the best ice cream I have ever had or made. My friends, I give you Coffee Chip Ice Cream.

Coffee Chip Ice Cream Recipe:

Pre-freeze ice cream maker bowl at 0 degrees for 24 hours.

Ingredients:

-2 1/2 cups of whole milk

-2 cups of heavy cream

-1 cup of sugar

-2-3 teaspoons of kosher salt, total personal preference here and I’ve used 2.5 teaspoons before

-2 tablespoons of espresso powder

-1 cup of chopped semisweet chocolate chunks

Method:

1. In a large bowl, combine milk, sugar, salt. Stir (do not whisk) together until sugar and salt are dissolved.

2. Add in cream, combine, and espresso powder, a tablespoon at a time, and make sure to stir out clumps. Put in refrigerator to chill for 2 hours.

3. Pull out mix, and give it a final stir, taking care not to make it bubbles, as you do not want to add air.

4. Pour into ice cream bowl and make according to your machines settings.

5. Add in chocolate chunks with 5 minutes to go.

6. Put in a freezing container and let harden for 3-4 hours or overnight.

7. Do not eat all of the ice cream in one sitting.

8. Do as I say, not as I do.

Gluten Free Blueberry Cobbler

Two truths and a lie: I once cast over 500 votes for Kelly Clarkson in finale of season one of American Idol (Kelly, feel free to send a royalty check at any time) using both land lines at my parents house, my mom’s cell phone, and the cell phone I got in 5th grade for “emergencies,” I was once featured on episode of a hunting show filmed on my family’s ranch, and I am gluten free.

What’s that you say? Gluten free is the lie? You are correct! For those curious about the truths: the show is called Brush Country Monsters, the episode is “West Texas Whitetails.” I was also on the opening credits for season one of the show… I digress.

I am not gluten free; however, many people in my life are. Namely, my sister. As someone who views the making and giving food as one of the love languages (sorry, Gary Chapman), the thought of someone having to watch everyone else enjoy a treat that they can’t makes me sad. I wanted to change that and the Good Lord gave us oat flour—His mercies are indeed new every morning.

My friends, I give you Gluten Free Blueberry Cobbler...

Ingredients:

-1 cup of sugar

-1/2 tsp kosher salt

-2 to 3 cups of blueberries, depending on your berry-enthusiasm scale (mine is on the higher end)

-1 cup of oat flour

-1 tbsp of baking powder (these are generally gluten free, but always double check the starches in the ingredients)

-1 tbsp of the juice of an orange

-1 tsp orange zest

-1 cup of milk

-1 tbsp of vegetable oil (or your preference of neutral flavored oil)

-1 stick of butter

Method:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl combine: sugar, salt, oat flour and baking powder and mix together. Add in the milk, oil, orange juice and zest and stir. Why the extra oil? Well, oat flour is a drier flour and it will be receiving moisture from the butter we add in later, but this oil is going to help the batter stay tender while baking.

In a baking dish (mine was 9x13), butter or coat the dish with a nonstick cooking spray. Add in your batter mixture to the baking dish. Then cut a stick of butter into 1/2 tsp size pieces, there are 8 tbs in each stick of butter, so you will have 16 pats of butter. Distribute the butter pats evenly on top of the batter. Then pour your blueberries on top of the batter and butter. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until cooked and golden brown.

Goes perfectly with ice cream and that’s no lie.

Rainbow Rice Krispie Treats

They say if you follow a rainbow and you’ll find a pot of gold. And while Lucky Charms are magic and delicious (has anyone at General Mills ever thought about just selling the marshmallows from Lucky Charms separately? Call me, General Mills.) I personally believe the pot would be filled with these Rainbow Rice Krispy Treats. Why you ask? Because they combine your two favorite Saturday morning cartoon cereals into one with melted marshmallows and butter. So basically this is the stuff of your kindergartener-self dreams, or at least mine, except my hands won’t be covered in dried and peeling Elmers Glue while I eat them. Or maybe they will be, after all, I do work with kiddos all day…

Here is the recipe and it could not be simpler. Have little hands wanting to help in your kitchen? Let them measure out the ingredients and press the mixture into the pan. Have a gluten allergy? Good news! Fruity Pebbles are GF and you can buy Rice Krispies that are GF—easy peasy swaps!

Ingredients:

-5 cups of Fruity Pebbles

-3 cups of Rice Krispies

-4 tbsp of butter

-8 cups of Jet-Puffed marshmallows

-non stick cooking spray

Method:

Combine the Rice Krispies and Fruity Pebbles into a large bowl and stir to make sure there is an even distribution. Set aside. In a large pot, over low heat, melt the butter. Once melted add in your marshmallows, and stir until melted. Tip: To keep the marshmallows from sticking to your mixing utensil, spray with a nonstick cooking spray before stirring. Pour the cereal mixture into the pot, coating the cereals with the melted marshmallows. Pour out the mixture on to a parchment-lined baking sheet, that has been coated in a non-stick spray, and use the pan a guide to make the shape, and press the mixture to be the same depth as the pan. Let set for 10-15 minutes (or as long as you can stand) and then cut into squares with a knife. Fair warning: you will not be able to eat just one. Makes about 20-26 squares, depending the size you choose.