No-Machine Mint Ice Cream Sandwiches

Recently, my brother and his fiancee came over for dessert.  To satisfy her notorious chocolate cravings (I've made at least three chocolate cakes for her in the past), I went with this recipe.  The cookie is thick and fudgey, almost brownie-like, and the ice cream doesn't need a churning machine of any kind.  The best part is that the mint ice cream is a variation on vanilla ice cream, and any extract can be substituted into the recipe for innumerable new flavors.  It seemed to taste pretty good; they each had two servings even after we had stuffed ourselves with dinner and beer.

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 ounce white chocolate
1.25 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 teaspoon + 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 tsp + pinch salt
1/4 cup sour cream
green food coloring
1.67 cup sugar (11.67 ounces)
1.5 cups cocoa powder (4.5 ounces)
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour (5 ounces)
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
2 extra large eggs
8 tablespoons unsalted butter

Rugelach

These are definitely my all-time favorite cookies.  They're just perfection--soft, slightly sweet dough curled around a gooey cinnamon raisin filling.  Apricot preserves serve as the binding for the filling, and it forms a thin layer of chewy caramel on the bottoms of the cookies.  Although they take some time to make, after being saturated with typical cookies, these are the best solution.

8 ounces cream cheese

1/2 pound unsalted butter (16 tablespoons)

Pinch of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup sugar + 1 tablespoon

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (10 ounces)

1/4 cup dark brown sugar (1.75 ounces)

1.5 teaspoons ground cinnamon

3/4 cup raisins

1 cup walnuts (4 ounces)

1/2 cup apricot preserves

1 extra large egg

1 tablespoon milk

Rum Raisin Oatmeal Cookies

I add rum to everything: bread pudding, hot apple cider, and my favorite, oatmeal raisin cookies.  These cookies avoid the dry, mealy texture of most unfortunate oatmeal cookies; instead, they're dense, sweet, and crunchy with just a punch of spiced rum flavor.  A friend of mine used this recipe and said her father ate 15 cookies in one day!

1.5 cups walnuts
1.5 cups raisins
1/4 cup spiced rum
1.5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (7.5 ounces)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
16 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/2 pound)
1 cup sugar (7 ounces)
1 cup dark brown sugar (7 ounces)
2 extra large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups old-fashioned oats