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Month: March 2016

Crispy Butter Pecan Cookies

10 Comments / Cookies
Crispy Butter Pecan Cookies Recipe by The wood and spoon blog by kate wood. These are tiny, mini buttery butter pecan cookies that require just a few minutes to make. These crisp cookies are almost like famous amos cookies and are inspired by Gmomma's cookies. Tiny chopped pecans, sugar, and flour are among the few ingredients here. Find the how to for these small cookies on thewoodandspoon.com

I’ve reached the point of my pregnancy where I think my husband is becoming a bit concerned. Just the other day, he looked at me and said, “Why don’t you go take a shower… or cry… or do whatever you need to do. I’ll take care of Aimee for the rest of the night.” Catching my reflection in the mirror validated his voiced concerns- I looked greasy, tired, and a few minutes shy of a breakdown. So I got in the shower to a soak a bit, and in those minutes of quiet, I dreamed up today’s recipe: crispy butter pecan cookies.

Crispy Butter Pecan Cookies

Now, please don’t mistake my momentary exhaustion for a lack of gratitude. Even on the longest days and most sleepless of nights, I wouldn’t trade the hand I’ve been dealt for anything. It’s in those darkest hours of the night, sitting in the rocking chair in the corner of the nursery, when my big girl is sleeping soundly in my lap and I can feel the rolling movements of my baby boy underneath my skin, that the weight of God’s blessing in my life is almost more than I can bear. There is nothing I could ever do in my lifetime to earn this honor. This duty of motherhood, the title and tasks I wear some days as if it were a dried up milk stain on a favorite silk blouse, is a badge of undeserved love stamped on my life. It’s evidence of one million things I have to give thanks for. Someone, please, in a few months from now when I sit in that same nursery sleeplessly nursing, changing, and consoling the new baby we’re waiting for, remind me that this is a gifted treasure, not a burden to bear.

On that note, remind me also of these crispy butter pecan cookies.

Crispy Butter Pecan Cookies

There’s a lot to love about these little buddies- they’re buttery, crisp, and perfect with a cup of coffee- but they also contain only 5 ingredients and take only 20 minutes to make. If that doesn’t sound perfect for a busy mom’s schedule, I don’t know what does. The inspiration for these cookies came from my hometown hero, GMommas Cookies. OK, so I know I’ve already mentioned them more than a few times like here and here. But why mess with a good thing? These petite, bite-sized cookies are crisp all the way through and have a pronounced, real butter flavor that I have yet to find in many other recipes. Plus, as the cookies bake, the pecans become toasty and nutty and all together decadent.

Yeah, I know. Your mouth is watering. So do yourself a favor and next time you have a spare 20 minutes, grab a glass of milk and a handful of these crispy butter pecan cookies.

On second thought, grab two handfuls. You’re welcome.

Crispy Butter Pecan Cookies

 

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Crispy Butter Pecan Cookies

Crispy Butter Pecan Cookies Recipe by The wood and spoon blog by kate wood. These are tiny, mini buttery butter pecan cookies that require just a few minutes to make. These crisp cookies are almost like famous amos cookies and are inspired by Gmomma's cookies. Tiny chopped pecans, sugar, and flour are among the few ingredients here. Find the how to for these small cookies on thewoodandspoon.com

★★★★★

4.5 from 2 reviews

These crispy butter pecan cookies are delicate, nutty, butter-packed, bite-sized morsels of nutty deliciousness. You cannot eat just one.

  • Author: Kate Wood
  • Prep Time: 5
  • Cook Time: 20
  • Total Time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 72 1x
Scale

Ingredients

  • 1 stick of butter, room temperature, but not too soft
  • 2/3 cup confectioners sugar
  • 2/3 cup flour
  • 3/4 cup of finely chopped pecans
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Using a hand mixer, cream together the butter and confectioners sugar until smooth.
  3. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, chopped peans, and salt.
  4. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed butter and mix just until combined.
  5. On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, scoop out 1 teaspoon balls of dough. For uniform cookies, gently and quickly roll each mound of dough into a ball.
  6. Bake 13-18 minutes, or until cookies are fragrant, barely set, and browning on the bottom. Allow to cool to room temperature on a cooling rack.

Notes

  • These cookies are mini! So while one batch makes 72, trust me- you’ll be glad you have extras.

Lemon Almond Tart

4 Comments / Pies
lemon almond tart recipe by the wood and spoon blog by kate wood. This is a simple almond meal flour crust, crunchy and golden, filled with a creamy custard like lemon filling. This is a take on the classic french tarte au citron. Make ahead and store in the fridge. Find the recipe for this summer fruit favorite on thewoodandspoon.com

“If at first you don’t succeed: try, try again.” I’m not sure where that quote originated, but whoever it came from clearly has never tried to create the perfect lemon tart. I can almost see those people pointing and probably laughing at me as I taste tested another round of lemon tarts with utter disappointment. Well, this time, I get the last laugh, because I am happy to report that after many tries, I nailed it. Today, I get to share with you the recipe for the best, most perfect lemon almond tart – a light and nutty almond crust  filled with a creamy, tart lemon filling. (Drool)

lemon almond tart

This all started with a giant bag of lemons and an afternoon peruse through Thomas Keller’s “Bouchon” cookbook. I ran across his recipe for lemon tart (or as Keller and the French call it, “Tart au Citron”), and I thought it may be worth a stab. I had all of the needed ingredients, with exception of those needed for the pine nut crust, but thanks to a lone wolf bag of almond meal left in the netherparts of my pantry, I decided to proceed.

Attempt number one was eggy- and so, so tart. Everything Thomas Keller does is is perfect, so I confess that my lack of skills and palate were likely to blame. Unfortunately, as my husband pushed the tart around on his plate, I knew it wasn’t a winner. 

Attempt number two yielded a perfect almond crust but with a filling that was still kind of eggy. I researched and discovered a few things about cooking with lemon and eggs (see notes!), so  attempt number three left me with a perfectly tart/sweet lemon filling. Unfortunately, I torched the shell this time around and failed to cook the filling for quite long enough so it still wasn’t right. #humblingkitchenmoments

lemon almond tart

Attempt number four, as baby bear would say, was juuusssst right. Lemony, sweet, and with an incredibly creamy mouth feel, this was a tart sexy enough to call it by its French name. This was a tarte au citron.

I often receive complements from friends and family about how lovely all my food looks from the 2×4” screen of an iPhone, but what most people don’t know is that behind every photo is usually a failed attempt, a frosting that’s too stiff, a curdled filling, a sink full of dishes, or a scorched mess on the bottom of my oven. Those things aren’t as fun to write about or as pretty to photograph, but they’re apart of the process. If this is ringing any bells right now, take heart, because redemption is almost always just around the corner. This week, we’re calling redemption lemon almond tart.

Lemon Almond Tart

Read through the recipe, and the notes in particular, prior to getting started. There’s no need for y’all to make the mistakes I’ve already trudged through. I like my lemon tart the exact way I take my ice cream sundaes- with a giant dollop of whipped cream. If you’re anything like me, you’ll want to be sure to whip some of that up as well.

 

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Lemon Almond Tart

lemon almond tart recipe by the wood and spoon blog by kate wood. This is a simple almond meal flour crust, crunchy and golden, filled with a creamy custard like lemon filling. This is a take on the classic french tarte au citron. Make ahead and store in the fridge. Find the recipe for this summer fruit favorite on thewoodandspoon.com

A light and nutty almond crust filled with a creamy, tart lemon filling. I prefer this tart served with a generous dollop of sweetened whipped cream and lemon almond crumbs.

  • Author: Kate Wood
  • Prep Time: 45
  • Cook Time: 45
  • Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Scale

Ingredients

For the crust

  • 4 ounces (About 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon) of almond meal
  • 7.5 ounces (About 1-1/2 cups) flour
  • 3 ounces (6 tablespoons) of sugar
  • 1 stick (4 ounces) butter, room temperature
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

For the filling

  • 1 teaspoon butter, softened
  • 2 tablespoons of flour
  • 2 whole eggs, cold
  • 2 egg yolks, cold
  • 1 cup of sugar
  • 1/3 cup lemon juice (juice of about 2–1/2 lemons)
  • 2 teaspoons of packed lemon zest
  • 10 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

For the lemon crumbs (if desired)

  • About 1 cup of reserved, uncooked almond crust crumbs
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 1 tablespoon of sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon of melted butter

Instructions

To prepare the crust

  1. In a bowl, combine almond meal, flour, and sugar. Using a pastry cutter or the back of a large fork, cut in the stick of butter until dough is uniformly pea-sized crumbles.
  2. Lightly whisk the egg and extracts together in a separate bowl, and, using the pastry cutter again, combine the wet and dry ingredients. Only manipulate the dough as much as you have to to make it uniform. Overworking your dough will cause it to toughen when baked.
  3. Place dough in the refrigerator for about ten minutes while you prepare your tart pan. Dough can also be left covered in the fridge at this point for up to one day.

When ready to prepare the tart

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Using your hands, butter a 9″ tart pan with a removable bottom with 1 teaspoon of softened butter. Lightly dust the bottom and sides of pan with flour.
  2. Using your fingers, press the almond meal crust into the bottom and sides of the tart pan. You will likely use all but 3/4-1 cup of the dough. Trim any excess off the top.
  3. Bake crust for 20-25 minutes, rotating halfway through, until edges are almost turning golden and the center crust is set. Allow to cool while you prepare your filling. Alternatively, the crust can be made one day in advance and set aside covered.
  4. Bring a small-medium saucepan filled with an inch of water to a simmer over medium-low heat.
  5. In a bowl just barely larger than the saucepan, whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, and sugar.
  6. Once water is boiling, place the bowl of eggs on top of the saucepan and whisk until mixture becomes paler and slightly thickened, about 2 minutes.
  7. Add the lemon juice and zest, continuing to whisk all the while. Occasionally turn your bowl to ensure you don’t cook the eggs. Continue whisking consistently until mixture is thickened, about the consistency of a very loose pudding. Your whisk should be leaving a momentary trail behind it as it moves through the bowl and the mixture should generously coat the back of a spoon. The entire cooking process will have taken about 10-12 minutes.
  8. Turn the heat off, but with the pan still on the burner, add the cold butter, 1/2 tablespoon at a time, whisking until piece is combined before adding another piece. Stir in the vanilla.
  9. Pour your filling into the tart crust. Place a piece of saran wrap directly on top of the filling and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Tart is complete at this point, but lemon crumbs can be added as a garnish if desired.

To prepare lemon crumbs

  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. In a bowl, combine about 3/4 cup of reserved, uncooked almond tart crumbs with lemon zest and sugar. Drizzle in the melted butter and stir until small clumps form.
  3. Spread out on a sheet pan and break up larger clumps to smaller, pea-sized pieces. Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until golden, shaking pan intermittently. Allow to cool. Sprinkle on top of tart or on top of each piece along with a generous dollop of sweetened whipped cream.

Notes

  • Crust dough will be crumbly, but be sure to cover the sides and bottom of your pan thoroughly and evenly. It may crack in the oven, but that’s ok.
  • When zesting your lemons, avoid the pith (the white part below the yellow exterior of the lemon). Zesting the whites can cause your tart to taste bitter.
  • Cooking time of the filling may differ depending on the type of saucepan you’re using and how large your bowl is on top of the pan. If your bowl is too large, it will take longer to cook the eggs.
  • Cooking your filling in some materials can cause your tart to taste metallic or eggy. After trial and error myself, I recommend using a glass bowl and a silicone whisk.
  • If you prefer a much more tart filling, add another packed teaspoon of zest to the filling.
  • If you like to serve your tart with whipped cream (don’t we all?), whip 1 cup of cold, heavy whipping cream until frothy, then slowly add 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar. When nearly to stiff peaks, add 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Yum!

Recipe Adapted From: Thomas Keller

Easter Cake

7 Comments / Cakes, Tutorials
easter cake Recipe by The Wood and Spoon Blog by Kate Wood. This is a how to on making a layer cake covered in robin egg blue frosting and speckled to look like an egg. This tutorial is adapted from the cake blog. Step by step how to and photos for this easter / good friday / spring time cake on thewoodandspoon.com

Easter Cake TutorialAbout one year ago, almost to the day, I made the decision to be more intentional on social media as a means of determining if blogging and putting myself out there on the interwebz was something I was ready to do. About two weeks into this experiment, I made an Easter cake, speckled to look like a robin’s egg, topped with little nests of swirled chocolate buttercream, and studded with leftover jelly beans from Aimee’s first Easter basket. (Shameless shout out to other moms who buy candy “for their kids” that just so happens to be their own favorite varieties and wind up hiding in the secret, “mom’s only” corner of the pantry. I feel you.) The cake was adorable and because I was pretty excited about it, I posted a photo on Instagram. Imagine my surprise when, hours later, Food and Wine magazine re-posted the photo. MY photo. I found myself victory dancing in the living room, high-fiving my husband, and with a new batch of Insta-followers. To me, that Easter cake was a moment of much needed confirmation that I was to continue forward.

easter cake

Since then, I’ve had a lot of people ask how to make that humble little cake, so in honor of Easter, you’re going to get a fancy little tutorial today. This Easter cake is fairly simple and is a perfect excuse to get messy in the kitchen. If you have kiddos, or if you just share my affinity for pretending to be artsy in the kitchen while simultaneously stuffing your face with Easter candy, this cake is for you! Little ones can help with the speckling and will love the opportunity to sneak a jelly bean or a lick of the frosting bowl. Be warned that this process can get a little messy, so be sure to protect your work space with newspaper, wax paper, or old t-shirts of your husband’s that you secretly want to make disappear. 

easter cake

This Easter cake is one I plan to make for years to come and seems like a brilliant tradition to start with my family in the kitchen. My babies aren’t even old enough to say the words “Easter Cake”, but I’m eager to make memories with them on special holidays. If you have any traditions or recipes you like to share with your family during this holiday, I’d love to hear about it below in the comments section!

Happy Easter and Happy Baking!
easter cake

To make the Easter cake, you’ll need:

  • One baked cake (I used a 2 layer, six inch cake in a lemon poppyseed flavor which will be coming to the blog soon. You can try this recipe if you’re looking for a no-fail cake recipe)
  • 3 cups of frosting, divided
  • Light blue gel food coloring
  • 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder, divided
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons of vanilla
  • M&M’S Eggs, Jelly Beans, Cadbury Mini Eggs, or any other bean/egg shaped candy
 

Tools you’ll need:

  • News or wax paper to cover your work space
  • A clean, unused paint brush or a natural bristle pastry brush
  • Piping bag fitted with a 1M tip
 easter cake

Directions:

  • Set aside 1 cup of frosting.
  • In a bowl, add a small drop of light blue food coloring to the remaining two cups of frosting. A little goes a long way, so add slowly. Once your frosting it too dark, there’s no going back! Also, keep in mind that the frosting will darken as it sets.
  • Fill and frost your cake. I like to smooth my cakes with an off-set spatula like this , but a butter knife will do the trick!
  • In a small bowl, mix together 1 tablespoon of the cocoa powder and the vanilla extract until a thin, watery slurry comes together.
  • Set your unfrosted cake on a clean, covered work surface. Do no speckle close to anything you can’t easily wipe down with a wet rag- things are about to get messy!
  • Hold your paint brush or natural bristle pastry brush at the base of the bristles. Squeeze, applying a small amount of pressure with your fingers to fan the brush slightly. Dip the tips of the brush in the cocoa/vanilla “paint” and find a spare corner of your covered work space to practice your splatter. While continuing to fan your brush with one hand, use the fingers of your other hand to lightly pull back the bristles and release. This will be a slingshot type of movement and will result in a splatter effect on your work surface. Once you’re confident with your speckling skills, move on to the cake! I start with the sides of the cake and finish with the top.
  • Mix your remaining cup of frosting with the remaining tablespoon of cocoa powder. Add a small amount of water, if needed, until frosting is piping consistency. In my experience, a medium consistency frosting works best here and can best be described as frosting that, when peaked, will droop slightly without collapsing back into the blow.
  • Fill piping bag with this frosting and pipe away! I did simple swirls but you can get as fancy as you’d like.
  • Top each swirl with one piece of candy.

easter cake

 

Technique adapted from The Cake Blog

Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

4 Comments / Bread
Whole wheat sandwich bread recipe by the wood and spoon blog by kate wood. This is a fluffy, healthy, 100% whole wheat sandwich bread that is fluffy and mild tasting. This is a homemade bread good for kids to eat. Makes great toast and sandwiches. Made soft with vital wheat germ. Naturally sweetened with honey. Find the recipe on thewoodandspoon.com

Everyone has their things.

Growing up, my mom was a stickler for writing thank you notes.

If someone gave you a birthday present, you wrote a thank you. If someone gave you graduation money, you wrote a thank you. Heck, if someone gave you a piece of gum or shared a glass of water, that was probably worth a note too.

My dad had his things as well. He believed in waking with the sun. Sleeping in, according to him, was a waste of perfectly good morning hours and an obvious sign of laziness.  So on Saturday mornings around 6:30 a.m., he would call up the stairs, “Good morning, Kate,” and I was expected to be downstairs ASAP. This was incredibly painful for 14 year old me as I had probably stayed up till 2 am watching reruns of “Saved By The Bell” or “TRL” (I see you, Carson Daly).

photo of whole wheat sandwich bread

I remember, at the time, hating these things my parents believed in. I would complain about having to awkwardly write a long, drawn out note instead of just calling to say thank you like all my other friends did. After all, I had a super fancy, brand new Nokia phone, and it was good for things other than playing Snake… maybe, I think.

Similarly, I was always the weirdo kid awake at 7 a.m. at slumber parties and church lock-ins, laying in my sleeping bag for hours, pretending to still be asleep and not the girl whose stomach was growling in protest from the delayed breakfast hour.

I never really got my parents. Now, so much makes sense.

My abhorrence for thank you notes has been replaced with a deep spirit of gratitude. Scouring TJ Maxx for discount stationary or spending $5 on a fancy letter-pressed card  is totally acceptable to me because there’s something  so romantic and sincere about putting pen to paper.  In the same way, I am now a tried and true morning girl. A creature of habit, my recipe for a perfect morning (every morning) is 10 ounces of coffee, 1 tablespoon of almond coffee creamer, and a few moments of quiet before the baby wakes up and the opening credits of a busy day starts rolling.

Thank you notes and early mornings fit me like a glove. They’re familiar and feel good to my soul. They’re my bread and butter.

whole wheat sandwich bread

On that note, I have a recipe for you. This is my go-to recipe for whole wheat sandwich bread. It’s excellent toasted with peanut butter and honey, and equally delicious with thick slices of tomato, cheese, and basil sandwiched in between. It’s 100% fluffy, moist, and (hooray!) whole wheat.  If you’ve never made bread before, this is a great recipe to start with as no bread machine or stand mixer with dough hook is required.

Read the instructions carefully before starting and make sure you set aside enough time for the proper rise. If you don’t let you bread rise enough prior to baking, you won’t get the height and fluff we’re looking for here. And let’s be honest- bread without fluff? Why bother? 

Watch this quick tutorial for a how-to on shaping sandwich bread loaves if you need the run down.

 

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Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

Whole wheat sandwich bread recipe by the wood and spoon blog by kate wood. This is a fluffy, healthy, 100% whole wheat sandwich bread that is fluffy and mild tasting. This is a homemade bread good for kids to eat. Makes great toast and sandwiches. Made soft with vital wheat germ. Naturally sweetened with honey. Find the recipe on thewoodandspoon.com

100% whole wheat sandwich bread that is super simple, slightly sweet, and totally delicious.

  • Author: Kate Wood
  • Prep Time: 90
  • Cook Time: 45
  • Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
  • Yield: 2 1x
Scale

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (240 mL) warm water
  • 2 teaspoons (10 gm) active dy yeast
  • 1–1/4 cup (300 mL) milk (I use 2%), room temperature
  • 2 tablespoons (30 mL) honey
  • 2 tablespoons (30 mL) light oil (canola, vegetable, or extra light olive oil)
  • 5 cups (600 gm) of whole wheat flour
  • 2 tablespoons (20 gm) of vital wheat gluten
  • 1 tablespoon (20 gm) salt

Instructions

  1. In a large bowl, sprinkle yeast over the water and allow to dissolve, about 5 minutes.
  2. Stir in the milk, honey and oil. Add 2 cups of the flour, salt, and gluten, stirring just until combined. Add the remaining flour and stir until dough is a fairly uniform, shaggy dough.
  3. Allow the dough to rest 30 minutes.
  4. In a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment (or by hand, if preferred) knead dough until dough is smooth and only slightly tacky, about 7-8 minutes. If dough is too sticky, add up to 1/2 cup of additional whole wheat flour.
  5. Spray a large bowl lightly with baking spray and place dough inside, covering tightly with a sheet of Saran wrap. Allow to rest in a warm spot for about 1-1/2 hours, or until dough has risen and is approximately double in size.
  6. Once risen, remove dough from bowl and separate in to two equal pieces, handling the dough as little as possible. Gently form the dough balls in to small loaf shapes.
  7. Place dough in to two separate loaf pans (8.5″ X 4.5″ X 2.75″) that have been lightly sprayed with cooking spray. Cover with Saran wrap and allow to rise again for about 45 minutes, or until the dough has just barely risen over the top of the pan. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
  8. Once risen, place loaves in the oven and immediately decrease the heat to 375 degrees. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until loaves have browned and sound hollow when tapped on the top.
  9. Allow to cool in pan for ten minutes and then remove to finish cooling on a cooling rack.

Notes

  • It is vital that bread rises well prior to being baked. If your bread is not rising well, place loaves in a slightly warmer spot in your kitchen. I let my bread rise next to a warm oven.
  • Allow bread to cool completely prior to slicing.
  • Bread will keep on the counter for several days but will keep best in the refrigerator for up to 6-7 days. There’s no preservatives in this stuff so it won’t last as long as your supermarket bread- eat fast!
  • Wrapped securely in aluminum foil, bread will keep in a freezer for up to four months.

No-Churn Mocha Brownie Fudge Ice Cream

10 Comments / Frozen Desserts
no-churn mocha brownie fudge ice cream recipe by the wood and spoon blog by kate wood. This is a simple ice cream that requires no maker or machine. It's whipped cream and sweetened condensed milk, flavored with brownie mix (i like ghiradelli) and filling with dark hot fudge sauce and bits of brownie pieces. A pinch of espresso powder helps to bring out the coffee flavor in this chocolate lover dream ice cream. Find the recipe for this creamy summertime favorite, best no churn ice cream on thewoodandspoon.com
Pickles and ice cream- the stereotypical pregnancy craving foods. I will validate 50% of this theory because ice cream has definitely been on my radar lately. In fact, if I had to sum up my pregnancy cravings in one food, it just might be today’s recipe: no-churn mocha fudge brownie ice cream. Yeah, I know, it’s a mouthful. But so is this ice cream, so you’re gonna want to stick around for this one.

At the time of writing this, I am 26 weeks pregnant and just days away from entering my third trimester. According to the pregnancy app on my phone, the baby that I’m currently growing is approximately the size of a green onion. Let’s pause here for a minute, because I really need someone to explain this to me. I have a masters degree in science and I still don’t understand how a baby that small can make me feel about the size of a small tug boat. How can a green onion cause even small features like my nose and chin to feel bloated? And what about all this heartburn? Does requiring an Alka-Seltzer after eating nothing more than a slice of toast sound like the mischievous workings of a green onion? I don’t think so. Whoever is coming up with these food/baby comparisons (and I’m thinking it’s gotta be a man) should consider modifying this method of measurement and stick with something that is a little more gentle on a mama’s heart. I don’t want to look at the scale and see that I’ve gained X number of pounds, only to be told that my baby is the size of an avocado pit. That is just rude. 

no-churn mocha brownie fudge ice cream

But let’s not talk about that. Let’s talk about ice cream.
I’m a huge fan of making ice cream the old fashioned way but sometimes you just ain’t got time for that. This no-churn ice cream recipe comes together pretty quickly, requires zero stovetop cooking, and BONUS:
BROWNIES.
I decided to take easy street on this recipe by using Ghiradelli box brownies, but you could certainly make yours from scratch if you’d like and we will all pat you on the back for being an overachiever.
 
We start the ice cream making process by baking up a small pan of good ‘ole boxed brownies with the chic addition of a little bit of espresso, just because. Incidentally, if your toddler eats half of the brownies before you even get started- don’t worry. There will be plenty.
no-churn mocha brownie fudge ice cream
Once the brownies are cooled and diced, we whip up the rest of the ingredients. Here’s where you will win for being an overachiever: use homemade whipped cream. It’s better that way.  no-churn mocha brownie fudge ice cream
Add some reserved brownie mix, a bit of Kahlua (because we’re all grown ups here), some hot fudge, and POOF- ice cream.
The hardest part of this process is not actually making the ice cream… it’s waiting for your ice cream to set up in the freezer. You can do like I did and set aside the unfrozen leftovers in the fridge to feed your man friend for dessert. My husband, always the sophisticated palate, said the unfrozen mocha ice cream was “the best thing I’d ever made.” Really? The best thing I’ve ever made is unfrozen ice cream with boxed brownies chopped up in it? [Shakes head]
no-churn mocha brownie fudge ice cream
The terrific thing about this method of ice cream making is that it’s super adaptable to a number of flavors, and start to finish, this process can take less than an hour. Magic. So give no-churn mocha brownie fudge ice cream a try. I hear green onions really dig ice cream so if you need me, I’ll be camped out by the freezer. You know, for the baby.
no-churn mocha brownie fudge ice cream

 

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No-Churn Mocha Brownie Fudge Ice Cream

no-chno-churn mocha brownie fudge ice cream recipe by the wood and spoon blog by kate wood. This is a simple ice cream that requires no maker or machine. It's whipped cream and sweetened condensed milk, flavored with brownie mix (i like ghiradelli) and filling with dark hot fudge sauce and bits of brownie pieces. A pinch of espresso powder helps to bring out the coffee flavor in this chocolate lover dream ice cream. Find the recipe for this creamy summertime favorite, best no churn ice cream on thewoodandspoon.comurn mocha brownie fudge ice cream

No-churn mocha brownie fudge ice cream: rich, smooth, no-churn mocha ice cream laced with fudge and brownie pieces.

  • Author: Kate Wood
  • Prep Time: 30
  • Total Time: 30
Scale

Ingredients

For the brownie pieces

  • 1 (20 ounce) box of dark chocolate brownie mix, divided
  • 2 teaspoons instant espresso
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 1 egg

For the ice cream

  • 1 can sweetened condensed milk
  • 2 tablespoons of coffee liqueur
  • 2 cups heavy whipping cream
  • 1/4 cup hot fudge sauce, melted and cooled slightly

Instructions

To prepare the brownies

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly spray an 8″ metal baking pan with cooking spray.
  2. Measure out 1-1/4 cups of brownie mix, sifting out any chocolate chips, and set aside. This will be used later in ice cream.
  3. In a bowl, stir together oil, water, and egg until combined. Add the instant espresso and remaining brownie mix, stirring to combine. Pour into the prepared pan and bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the edges are barely set and the center still looks barely underbaked. Brownies will continue to cook once taken out of oven. Set aside to cool.

To prepare the ice cream

  1. Cut brownies into 1/2″ squares. Set in freezer while preparing other ingredients to keep cool.
  2. In a medium sized bowl, stir together sweetened condensed milk, coffee liqueur and 1-1/4 cups of the reserved brownie mix.
  3. In a separate bowl, whip the cold, heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form.
  4. Gently fold 1/3 of the whipped cream into the sweetened condensed milk mixture. Once combined, fold in the remaining whipped cream. Fold in 1-1/2 cups of the brownie pieces until well combined.
  5. Spoon the brownie ice cream mixture into a standard loaf pan until about 1/3 of the way filled. Drizzle in a bit of hot fudge and drop in a few brownies pieces as well. Repeat this process until the loaf pan is filled.
  6. Allow to set up in a freezer for at least 6 hours.

Notes

  • For a stronger brownie flavor, you can use all of the reserved 1-1/2 cups of brownie mix in the ice cream.
  • The addition of the coffee liquor helps to keep the ice cream smooth and from freezing too hard. If you don’t care for the taste, try adding another type of liquor in its place. If you’d prefer not to use alcohol, be sure to set the ice cream out a couple minutes prior to eating to maintain good scoopability.
  • If you do a really good job about folding your ice cream together gently, you will likely have a cup of the mixture that will not fit in the loaf pan. Feel free to set this aside or freeze in another container.
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