We had a birthday party earlier this month at the Fortune Favors shop, and we celebrated with these chunky summer treats!
This recipe is loosely based on the "The Spicy Fried Ice Cream" recipe we shared in another post, but combines those flavors into a chewy, crunchy oatmeal-cookie ice cream sandwich that is unbeeeelievable. It's not a difficult recipe, but it is a project! It's a fun one to make with the kids, and it's totally worth it.
It can made gluten-free by subbing out the flour and oats with your favorite gluten-free varieties; and vegan by using vegan butter, an egg substitute, and vegan ice cream. The Spicy pecans are naturally gluten-free and vegan, too!
The crunch mix
This stuff will make your kitchen smell AMAZING.
4 cups corn flakes cereal
3 cups crisped rice cereal
1/2 cup melted butter
2 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Put all the cereal into a large heavy plastic bag and crush the contents with a rolling pin or with your hands until roughly the same consistency; do not crush too much so that it gets too powdery.
Melt the butter in a large frying pan, then add the cereal mix and cinnamon, stir until lightly browned, and remove from heat. Then stir in The Spicy and allow the mixture to cool completely.
Here's the cookie part, a basic oatmeal cookie made extra thin and chewy.
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter, softened slightly
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs plus one egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups rolled old fashioned oats
1 cup quick oats
1 cup finely
chopped The Spicy
Prepare like a normal cookie recipe, mix the butter, sugars, vanilla and eggs in a stand mixer 'til creamy, then gradually add dry ingredients, then oats. Stir in The Spicy pecans.
Line a half-sheet pan with parchment paper and spread cookie dough out uniformly thin across the entire sheet, using clean hands and/or a rolling pin with extra parchment paper to cover. Bake at 350 degrees F for approx 10 minutes or until set; allow it to be lighter than you would a normal cookie; you'll be freezing this, so it's ok if it's slightly underdone. Be sure it's not overdone and remains flexible.
While still warm, spread the crunch mix evenly over the entire surface of this giant sheet cookie! Using a flexible spatula, even out and press into the cookie well so that the mixture will adhere to the cookie.
Allow to cool, then place the entire pan in the freezer for 30-60 minutes. If it's too big for your freezer, carefully measure and cut the big cookie in half and freeze both halves flat.
Prepare additional ingredients:
2 cups dark chocolate chunks, chopped
1 8oz jar of maraschino cherries, drained well and chopped very finely
2 quarts premium vanilla ice cream, softened to scoopable texture
Assembly:
Retrieve the frozen cookie layer and cut in half if you haven't already done so. Prepare a surface with a couple of large sheets of parchment paper. On this, lay the bottom layer crunch-side down and set the other layer aside, crunch side up. Pile about half the ice cream on top roughly and sprinkle chocolate chunks and cherry bits evenly around the entire surface. Add the remaining ice cream quickly and spread to a uniform thickness of your liking, recommend one inch or more. Try to even out the ice cream without leaving gaps or air pockets, then top with the second half of cookie, crunch side up. Press down and square up the two layers and ice cream filling.
Take this giant ice cream and cookie monster, wrap with the parchment it's been sitting on and additional plastic wrap, and return to freezer for as long as you can stand it, at least 4 hours or overnight.
Once it's frozen solid, cut into squares of multiple sizes, share, and enjoy! Recommend wrapping each piece individually with paper or plastic wrap for ease of serving.
Notes: save any leftover crunch topping and serve on ice cream anytime!
