Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream

Growing up, I had just about every summer job you can imagine.

I always babysat, but I got my first 'real' job at 14, the summer before I went into high school.  I worked in the gift shop of a local aquarium on the boardwalk.

From there, I went on to work as a chambermaid in a bed & breakfast, an assistant manager of a frozen yogurt stand, a counselor at a day camp, a typist at a newspaper, an inventory-taker (!), and even a telemarketer (!!).  I also worked in a tanning salon, and the nursery of a gym where parents would drop off their kids while they worked out.

But one of my personal favorite employers was a Ben & Jerry's ice cream shop I worked at during college.

First of all, I got a really cool bulging forearm muscle from scooping hard ice cream.  And secondly, I got to eat delicious ice cream every day, which is basically a dream come true.

To be honest, I took advantage of that perk much more at the frozen yogurt place than Ben & Jerry's (let's not lie, a cup of ice cream on a daily basis would be a little much).  But I did treat myself at least once a week.

And I probably tried 75% of the flavors there, but I always came back to Oatmeal Cookie Chunk.

Ummm... whoa.  Cinnamon sweet cream base with chunks of oatmeal cookies and fudge.  What could be bad about that?

So when I realized that July is National Ice Cream month, I decided I needed to try & replicate my old favorite.

But I wanted it to be completely homemade and I didn't feel like first whipping up a batch of oatmeal cookies just to crumble up for ice cream. So I devised a sort of crispy, sugary oatmeal crumble instead.

And while it's not a dead ringer... it's pretty freaking close.

Not to mention pretty freaking delicious.

And the cool part about it is it's an eggless ice cream! I've never made one of those before, but it came out really well.

Which reminds me- don't be tempted to replace the corn syrup, that's part of what keeps it scoopable (if you're like me & try to avoid the stuff whenever possible, this might make you feel better).

Either way... I think my former employer would approve.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream

Oatmeal Crumble

• ½ C. old fashioned oats
• 2 T. butter
• 2 T. brown sugar
• 1 T. granulated sugar
• 1/2 t. ground cinnamon
• pinch salt

Cinnamon Ice Cream

• 2 C. lowfat milk
• 1 T. plus 1 t. cornstarch
• 2 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1 C. heavy cream
• 1/2 C sugar
• 2 T light corn syrup
• ½ t. cinnamon
• 1 t. vanilla
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 C. chocolate chunks

Make the oatmeal crumble: Preheat oven 350 degrees and grease a baking sheet.

In a medium skillet, heat the butter over medium-low until melted. Remove from heat and stir in the oatmeal, sugar, cinnamon, and salt.

Spread oat mixture on prepared baking sheet and cook for 8 minutes, stirring halfway through baking.  Empty oats back into skillet to cool.

Make the ice cream:  Measure out the 2 C. milk then take 2 T. of it and mix with the cornstarch in a small bowl. In a large bowl, whisk the cream cheese until smooth.  Prepare an ice bath in a container big enough for the bowl with the cream cheese to fit in it.  (An ice bath is just cold water with ice).

In a large saucepan, combine the remaining milk with the heavy cream, sugar, corn syrup and cinnamon over medium heat. Whisking occasionally, bring the milk mixture to a boil, then reduce heat slightly and simmer, about 2 minutes. Off the heat, gradually whisk in the cornstarch mixture.  Return to a boil (watch carefully so it does not boil over) and whisk over medium heat until the mixture is slightly thickened, about 1 minute.

Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese until smooth. Whisk in the salt and vanilla. Set the bowl in the ice water bath and let stand, stirring occasionally, until room temperature (about 30 minutes).  Then refrigerate mixture until chilled, about 2 hours.

Freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. With ice cream maker still on, add chocolate chunks & about 2/3 of the oatmeal, and mix to evenly distribute.  Pack the ice cream into a plastic container, and press a sheet of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the ice cream. Close with an airtight lid, and freeze the ice cream until firm, about 4 hours.  Use remaining 1/3 of oatmeal for sprinkling on served ice cream, if desired.

Ice Cream recipe adapted from Jeni Britton Bauer on Food & Wine; flavor inspired by Ben & Jerry's

Nutella Caramel Corn

So I don't know if anyone else has noticed this trend, but I feel like recipes using Nutella have been EVERYWHERE recently.

For anyone that doesn't know what that is - Nutella is a hazelnut & chocolate spread that's smooth, like creamy peanut butter.  It's sort of like a spreadable Ferrero Rocher candy. 

In other words- incredibly delicious.

I've been dying to get in on the Nutella action for a while now - I had a little bit left in the cabinet from some recipe I made months ago.  But I wanted to make something I haven't seen yet & nothing has really come to me.

Until now.

This week I had a serious hankering for popcorn... which, actually, happens on almost a daily basis... but this time I wanted caramel corn specifically.

Then I got to thinking - what if I made a Nutella caramel corn?  That could be awesome.

And... it is.

I only had a half of a cup of Nutella left, though, so be aware that caramel corn made from the recipe below only has a hint of the chocolate hazelnut.  Mr. V really liked it, and he said he could tell that it was not regular caramel corn - but he was not able to pick out the Nutella flavor specifically.

I think if you wanted a stronger flavor, you could probably increase the amount to 2/3 or even 3/4 of a cup and still have a caramel with the right consistency.

But hey - "experimenting" will just give you a good reason to eat a bunch of caramel corn.

What could be wrong with that?

Nutella Caramel Corn

• 4 quarts plain popped popcorn*
• 6 T. butter
• 1/2 C. light corn syrup
• 1/2 C. brown sugar
• 1/2 C. Nutella spread (see note above)
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/4 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. vanilla

Place popcorn in large roasting pan and preheat oven 250 degrees.  (I covered my pan in foil first to minimize cleanup).

In medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter, corn syrup, brown sugar, Nutella, and salt, stirring to blend.  Bring to a boil, then boil five minutes while stirring constantly.  You will see large bubbles in the mixture.

Remove saucepan from heat, then stir in baking soda and vanilla until combined.  Mixture will become light and foamy.  Pour over popcorn, and mix with a spatula to coat.  You will be cooking & stirring the popcorn a few more times, so don't be too concerned with covering all the corn fully at this point.

Bake 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.  Line your countertop with a few sheets of waxed paper and dump corn out onto paper.  Being careful not to burn your fingers, separate the pieces as desired.  Store in an airtight container.

*Note: 2/3 C. of unpopped popcorn should yield 4 quarts of popcorn for you.  You could also use microwave popcorn, but just make sure you get one that's plain NOT buttered.

Original Recipe

Caramel Apples

This is going to have to be another short post because the power cord on my computer broke again (this time not my fault - just faulty design!)  So I am on borrowed time here until the new power cord I ordered arrives in the mail.

Luckily this one has a 2-year warranty because I can't believe the piece of crap I bought 3 months ago is already broken!!

Grr.

Something to look forward to when I get full power - Mr. Vittles and I celebrated our first anniversary and I made a double-crust apple pie from scratch!

I'm not sure which event was more monumental ... I guess I have a few business days to ponder that ;)

In the meantime, enjoy this recipe for caramel apples in time for Halloween!

Caramel Apples

• 1/2 C. brown sugar
• 1/4 C. light corn syrup
• 2 T. butter
• 1/2 C. sweetened condensed milk
• 1/4 t. vanilla extract
• 3 popsicle or craft sticks
• 3 medium tart apples, washed & dried

Line a baking sheet with waxed paper and spray with nonstick spray (or butter it).  Stick popsicle sticks halfway into tops of apples by stem.

In saucepan, combine syrup, sugar, and butter.  Stir well.  Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.  Slowly stir in milk (so as not to stop the boiling) and continue to stir constantly until mixture reaches 235 degrees (soft ball stage) on a candy thermometer.

Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.  Allow caramel to cool about 5-7 minutes, stirring constantly.

Dip apples one at a time, tipping saucepan on it's side if necessary, and set coated apples on prepared waxed paper. Allow to cool or refrigerate to set.  Serve within a day or refrigerate up to 3 days to keep fresh.


Recipe from Justapinch.com by Wendy Rusch

Caramel Corn

You know what they say... when the hubby's away, the wife will play :)

Ok wait.  Not like that. 

It's all very innocent.

I'm just eating my weight in popcorn, watching bad reality tv, and going to Target at 9PM.

And... dancing around the house in my pj's and doing laundry at midnight and writing blog posts at 2AM.

Mr. Vittles is at a bachelor party tonight in Atlantic City, so he's probably getting into waaay more trouble than I am.

I'm sure it involves lots and lots of alcohol.

Although tonight is actually just the pre-party festivities, so maybe it's a bit more low-key?

...

Nah.

But more importantly - this caramel corn is amazing.  I mean, I could seriously eat this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. 

Is popcorn a food group?

Well, at least it's a whole grain.

...covered in buttery, sugary goodness.

Which reminds me - what you definitely don't want covered in buttery, sugary goodness is your finger.

Ouch.

Or as my dad used to say, "Ooch McGooch."

?? 

Me, I always manage to burn the #%$* out of my hand at least once with anything involving hot caramel.

And while its sooo worth it in the end, it totally sucks every time.

So let that be a warning to you.  Just "go easy" with the molten sugar, ok?  For Pappy V's sake and mine. 

Now.  Back to the Real Housewives :)

Caramel Corn

• 3 quarts plain popped popcorn (1/2 C. unpopped kernels)
• 1 C. brown sugar
• 1/4 C. light corn syrup
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/2 C. butter (1 stick)
• 1/4 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. vanilla extract
• 1 C. dry roasted peanuts (optional)

Preheat oven 250 degrees and place popped popcorn into 2 shallow greased baking pans (I usually line a roasting pan with foil becuase it can get rather messy).  Add peanuts to popcorn, if using.

In a saucepan over medium heat, melt brown sugar, corn syrup, butter and salt in saucepan and stir occasionally until mixture starts to boil.  Boil 5 minutes while stirring constantly.

Remove from heat, and stir in baking soda and vanilla (mixture will be light and foamy).  Immediately pour over popcorn and stir to coat.  Note: at this point, there is no need to go crazy making sure all the corn is covered - the baking process should take care of that.

Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes to evenly coat the corn.  Line the countertop with waxed paper, dump out corn, and break any clumps into pieces to separate.  Allow to cool completely, then store in airtight containers or resealable bags.

Recipe barely adapted from Allrecipes.com