Really Cheesy Crackers

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These crackers are so cheesy that if they were orange and shaped like squares, you’d think you were eating Cheez-Its. Surprisingly, it is really easy to make crackers from scratch as long as you have a food processor. It was fun, and I will definitely make more with different flavors and shapes. This batch of crackers has a mix of cheddar and gruyère cheeses with a hint of red pepper flakes. They are a little too cheesy to snack on alone, but they are perfect as a palate cleanser between sips of wine. Cheese and crackers all in one bite!

To make about 50 of these crackers, grate 1/2 pound of a sharp cheddar, a gruyère, or a cheddar-gruyère melange.

Put the cheese into a food processor along with 1 stick of room temperature butter (1/2 cup), 1 egg, 1 teaspoon of dijon mustard, and 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes. Run the food processor until these ingredients are smooth.

Next, add 1 1/4 cups of flour to the food processor, and run it until the dough comes together into a ball. Remove the dough from the food processor, and shape it into a long log that is 2 inches thick.  Surprisingly, the dough isn’t very sticky and holds together well. Wrap the log in plastic wrap, and put it in the fridge for about 4 hours or until it is very firm. Alternatively, you could make the dough the day before a party, leave it in the fridge overnight, and bake the crackers the next day.

Once firm, take the log of cracker dough out of the fridge and remove the plastic wrap. Preheat your oven to 350ºF. Using a sharp knife, slice the log into rounds that are 1/8 of an inch thick. Try to keep the slices uniform so that the crackers bake evenly. Place the slices on an ungreased baking sheet about 1/2 inch apart from each other.

Bake the crackers for 7 minutes, and then rotate the pan. Bake them for another 7 minutes or until they begin to brown around their edges. Let the crackers cool and crisp before eating. Happy munching at your next cocktail hour!

This recipe is adapted from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food magazine.

Shopping list:

  • Cheese, cheddar or gruyère- 1/2 pound
  • Butter- 1 stick
  • Egg- 1
  • Dijon mustard- 1 teaspoon
  • Red pepper flakes- 1 teaspoon
  • Flour- 1 1/2 cups
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Chocolate Peanut Butter Birthday Ice Cream

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I’m sure I know what you’re thinking: NOT ANOTHER ICE CREAM! But another ice cream is here.  I just can’t help myself. Ice cream is so fun to make and it’s so fun to eat. I love trying out new flavors, and each one is better than the last. I made this ice cream as a special request for my wonderful friend’s birthday (the friend who makes these!), and it is delicious. The chocolate ice cream is rich and delicious on its own, but the swirled ribbons of peanut butter make it truly decadent. Eat with a side of banana 🙂

To make this ice cream, start by making the chocolate base. Mix 1.5 cups of milk (I used skim, but whole milk would be richer) and 5 ounces of chopped dark chocolate. Stir constantly until the milk begins to steam but does not boil. Remove the mixture from the heat.

In a side bowl, whisk together 5 egg yolks, 1 cup of sugar, and a pinch of salt. Slowly ladle in some of the chocolate milk, whisking constantly so the yolks warm up. Then, add all of the yolk mixture into the pot of chocolate milk. Over medium heat, constantly stir the chocolate milk until it starts steaming again until it thickens into a custard. Don’t let it boil.

Pour 1.5 cups of heavy cream into a side bowl, and then stir in the chocolate custard mixture. Add in 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. It’s time to chill the chocolate ice cream base. I like to put an ice pack in a plastic bag and submerge it in the mixture for faster chilling. Put the bowl in the fridge until it is completely cold.

Churn the ice cream according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. If you want to add peanut butter swirls to your ice cream, drizzle in about 4 tablespoons of peanut butter right before you turn the ice cream maker off. I used all natural peanut butter, which has a looser consistency. If your peanut butter can’t be drizzled, try whisking it in a pot over low heat until it loosens up. Freeze the ice cream in a container until it’s solid. Then, eat it up. This one is hard to resist!

The recipe for chocolate ice cream was adapted from Williams Sonoma.

Shopping list:

  • Milk- 1.5 cups
  • Heavy cream- 1.5 cups
  • Dark chocolate- 5 ounces
  • Eggs- 5 yolks
  • Sugar- 1 cup
  • Salt- pinch
  • Vanilla extract- 1 teaspoon
  • Peanut butter- 4 tablespoons
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Coffee Heath Bar Crunch Ice Cream

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Ben and Jerry’s Coffee Heath Bar Crunch ice cream is one of my favorites. I can eat so much of it that the caffeine keeps me up at night. This imitation is delicious. The coffee flavor is slightly more subtle, but not in a bad way. Aside from that, the only difference is that I sit on the sofa eating it out of a plastic quart container instead of a paper Ben and Jerry’s pint container. Stella snagged a drop of this ice cream that fell on the floor, and she went wild. It’s that good.

To make the coffee ice cream, heat 1.5 cups of milk (I used skim), 1/2 cup of cream, 3/4 cup of sugar, 1.5 cups of whole coffee beans, and a pinch of salt over medium heat in a pot. Stir it around until the milk begins to steam, and then remove it from the heat. Cover the pot, and let the beans steep at room temperature for 1 hour.

Once the coffee beans have steeped, remove the lid from the pot, and return the pot to the stove. Heat the milk mixture again until it steams, and then remove it from the heat. In a bowl, whisk 5 egg yolks together.

Slowly whisk a few ladles of the hot milk mixture into the egg yolks to temper them. This step heats the yolks gradually to prevent them from scrambling when they are added to the hot milk.

Pour all of the egg yolk mixture into the milk mixture. Turn the heat on low, and stir the mixture constantly until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. It may take anywhere from 5-10 minutes to reach this stage. Remove the pot from the heat.

Pour 1 cup of cream into a bowl. Set a strainer over the bowl, and pour the hot milk mixture through it to filter out the coffee beans. Press down on the coffee beans so that all of the good flavor gets into the ice cream base. Remove the strainer, and stir 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract and 1/2 teaspoon of instant coffee into the milk. Put the coffee mixture into the fridge to chill. To speed up the chilling process, I put an ice pack into a plastic bag and put it into the bowl.

While the mixture chills, crush up 4 Heath Bars. I used a meat mallet to smash them while they were still in their wrappers. Try to keep the chunks on the larger side. Put the Heath Bars into the freezer so that they are cold when you add them into the ice cream.

When the ice cream mixture is cold, churn it in your ice cream maker according to its instructions. When the ice cream is completely ready, mix in the chunks of Heath Bar by hand. If the ice cream hasn’t frozen enough in the ice cream maker, then the Heath Bar pieces may settle to the bottom of your container later. Transfer the ice cream to a container, and freeze it until it has hardened.

This ice cream is great in a cone or a bowl, but it’s best straight out of the container. I won’t even judge you if you don’t use a spoon. Well, maybe.

This recipe for coffee ice cream was adapted from David Lebovitz’s, The Perfect Scoop.

Shopping list:

  • Milk- 1.5 cups
  • Cream- 1.5 cups
  • Sugar- 3/4 cup
  • Whole coffee beans- 1.5 cups
  • Egg yolks- 5
  • Salt- pinch
  • Vanilla extract- 1/2 teaspoon
  • Instant coffee- 1/2 teaspoon
  • Heath Bars- 4 1.4 oz. bars
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