Some days I am just ON. Everything I touch turns to gold. Or at least everything I touch in the kitchen. This was one of those days.

Thank goodness for those days because some days I am just OFF. Everything I touch turns to poop. No really, I have made some real douzies.

But then I make these cookies. And this ice cream. And it’s like all my past failures are forgotten.

You know you’ve made an amazing recipe when everyone; boys, girls, kids, adults, dogs, cats, EVERYONE, moans and sighs while they eat it. Um ya, this is ‘moan worthy.’

The best part about the ice cream: you don’t need an ice cream maker.

Did you hear that?

My new favorite ice cream, in the whole world, DOESN’T require an ice cream maker. Like I said, gold, this is pure gold.

We turned these into ice cream sandwiches. Now you might be thinking: that’s a lot of flavors going on. chocolate, hazelnut, coffee, caramel. And ya, it is. But once you have a bite of the ice cream sandwich you’ll feel like they are meant to go, like peanut butter and jelly, or macaroni and cheese. A match made in heaven.

We gobbled this up so fast I didn’t get a chance to take pictures of the final ice cream sandwich. Oh well, next time, because there WILL be a next time!

Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies

Makes 3-4 dozen cookies (depending on the size, obviously)

1 1/4 cups white sugar
2 sticks unsalted butter
3 egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup coco powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon of salt
2 cups chopped hazelnuts (I toasted mine first, it’s just a taste preference)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silpat mat.

Cream together butter and sugar until it is nice and creamy. Mix in 1 egg yolk at a time and vanilla extract. Add flour, baking soda, cocoa powder, cream of tarter, and salt until cookie dough is completely mixed.
*Be sure to scrape down the bowl to be sure everything is mixed.

Using a medium scoop, scoop dough and plop it into a pile of chopped hazelnuts.

Quickly roll it around to coat the entire ball and put it in the cookie sheet.

Bake for 12-14 minutes until the cookie has flattened.
*Don’t over bake or they will get crunchy.

Remove from oven and allow cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes. Then finish cooling on a wire rack. They will store in an air tight container for up to 4 days.

I love these cookies because they are perfectly crispy on the outside, soft in the center and they hold up to dunking in milk OR using for an ice cream sandwich.

Caramel Latte Ice Cream
1/2 cup left over strong coffee, cooled (I added extra instant coffee to mine to get it REALLY strong)
2 cups heavy cream
1 can (14 oz) fat free Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
caramel

Caramel Swirl
14 caramel square candies
4 tbsp heavy cream

Melt caramels and heavy cream on a bowl in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds until completely melted.

Instructions
In a stand mixer whisk the coffee, cream, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla extract until light and fluffy (about 7-10 minutes)

Pour 1/4 of the ice cream into an 8 cup plastic storage container, drizzle 1/4 of the caramel over the ice cream. Continue layering with ice cream and caramel until you finish with a swirl of caramel on the top.

Cover and freeze for at least 6 hours or until firm.

Ice Cream description: You’d think it would be really hard since it’s not made with a custard base. Wrong. It’s PERFECT. It easily scoops out. You can run your ice cream scoop right through it, no problem. It isn’t runny or too melty either. It makes the perfect ‘filling’ for your ice cream sandwich, firm enough, but soft enough. I know, really good description, right? Just make it and see for yourself…