Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookie Peach Ice Cream Sandwiches

Photo by Becky Rosenthal

This, to me, has been the Summer of Peaches. So, when my dear friend, Becky, suggested we make ice cream sandwiches together, I was all, "Yes! Peach ice cream! Butterscotch cookies!" Becky has excellent taste and she was all for not only letting me come over to bake them with her, but even making the delicious peach ice cream ahead of time so that it would be ready when I got there (and assembled the sandwiches, and took the photos, and edited them, and sent them to me . . .).

Becky is super generous like that. If you don't know her (though so many of you Salt Lakers probably do), you should. She does events and shares her love of food and Salt Lake with as many people as she can.

And I'm lucky enough to get to bake delicious things with her--though not as often as I'd like, and not often enough to keep up with the many many wonderful recipes she and I scheme up together.

These cookie-ice cream sandwiches are some of our best work yet. The cookies are rich and caramel-y, which compliments the sweet-tartness of the peach ice cream so well. Seriously, they are so good. Go make them. Now.

Campfire S'mores Ice Cream

Since my generous mother bought me an ice cream maker a couple of months ago, the gentle whir of churning cream has been a great comfort to me. There's something soothing about it, a white noise of sorts. I am a big fan of white noise. And a big fan of very cold desserts in very (oh-my-gosh-it-is-so-) hot months. I have been making ice cream so often, it is hard to believe that this is my first ice cream post.

Remember my last post where I told you guys to save those buckwheat graham crackers? Well, I hope you ate them and made a new batch because my slacker pace of posting may have led to some staling. Either whip up a new batch or go to the store and buy some (there is no shame in this), because you'll want to experience all of this campfire s'mores flavor (there is marshmallow fluff and smoked salt in this stuff, people!) in a delicious ice cream. No fire needed.

Chocolate Coconut French Macarons

I've long since had a fond affection for Almond Joy candy bars. I rank the almond-coconut-chocolate combination right up there with peanut butter and jelly. I generally don't let myself buy candy bars anymore because I will eat them all embarrassingly quickly. So, instead of the store-bought, who-knows-what-they're-filled-with candy bars, I decided to incorporate these lovely flavors into sweet, airy French macaron cookies that I could share . . . not hoard all for myself.

Vanilla Almond Coconut Cake

I've had quite the hankering lately for coconut cake. As soon as I decided I was going to make one, they started popping up everywhere--on the covers of magazines, and on a few of my favorite food blogs (I particularly liked this one from Completely Delicious and this one from Willow Bird Baking). Feeling a bit discouraged, I decided to make one anyway. It was perfectly lovely, but nothing special and, therefore, not good enough. I waited.

I waited for inspiration for something that would stand out and, lucky for me, I woke up one morning with a fantastic idea: vanilla almond coconut cake (sometimes I dream in recipes). And let me tell you, it was well worth the wait.

With a nutty flavor and texture, flecks of real vanilla bean, a thick coconut pudding filling, and the best cream cheese frosting you will ever taste, this cake is a real winner. Maybe even better than the ones on the covers of those magazines ;)

Nutella Chocolate Chip Pie

Last month, my home community had a "childhood favorites" potluck. The house was filled with mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese with cut-up hot dogs, and Nutella.

Now, I never liked Nutella as a child. We were strictly a peanut butter family, but this "weird" brown spread showed up at friends' houses after school. I thought it was gross.

Thankfully, as I grew up, I came around to this delicious hazelnut chocolate spread. And, even though I didn't like it as a kid, I still deemed a Nutella dessert appropriate for the theme "childhood favorites." I am certain I was the anomaly.

So, here we have Nutella Chocolate Chip Pie. This cream cheese-based pie has a buttery chocolate chip cookie and hazelnut crust and is topped with fresh whipped cream. It's good. It's really good. And I'd like to think that even my 8-year-old self wouldn't have been able to resist it.

Buckwheat Pancakes (for real maple syrup lovers only)

A couple of months ago, I took a last minute trip home to New York. The weekend was full but we managed to find time on a dreary Sunday morning to go on a road-trip for pancakes . . . an hour-long road-trip.

Now, if you think it sounds absurd to drive an hour for some pancakes, you are not alone. This is what I thought as we drove through the smallest, most desolate towns you can imagine. But people don't drive an hour and wait hours more in line for just any pancakes with just any syrup.

We New Yorkers take our syrup seriously. Vermont gets all of the credit for real maple syrup, but, in my totally-biased opinion, New York maple syrup is even better. Since you can't get in in Utah, my wonderful mother regularly mails me bottles of it to adorn my homemade pancakes and waffles.

Browned Butter Vanilla Bean Cake with Butterscotch Frosting

This cake is so good that I can't even talk about it.

OK, I'll talk about it so that you guys can feel the same way about it that I do.

You see that box of butterscotch chips in the picture below here? That box, full of 30 pounds of butterscotch chips, was given to me a few months back by my boss, who accidentally ordered much MUCH more than we needed at the bakery. In that time, I've been thinking of creative ways to use them. It takes a lot of brainstorming to use up 30 pounds of butterscotch chips. And, to be quite honest, nothing I've made has impressed me much . . . until now.