MAKE IT CUTE

Adriana’s chocolate-chip cookies are always a hit, but she tweaks every batch she bakes. Her best rendition yet substitutes crystallized ginger for chocolate chips. Add a scoop of her pumpkin orange ice cream for the perf ice cream sammie!

Pumpkin orange ice cream
Makes about 1 quart
 

Ingredients
1 ½ cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup pumpkin puree
5 egg yolks
Zest of half an orange
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2/3 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
 

Directions
Heat the milk, salt, orange zest and sugar in a medium saucepan until steam is visible. Pour the cream into a large bowl and whisk in the pumpkin puree and ground cinnamon. Set a mesh strainer on top of the bowl.
 
In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks together. Gradually pour the milk into the eggs yolks, constantly whisking to prevent the eggs from cooking. Once the yolks are warmed, scrape the mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat until it has thickened enough to coat the back of the spatula.
 
Strain the custard into the heavy cream and pumpkin and let cool. Chill the mixture overnight, then churn in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions.
 
Ginger malt cookies
Makes about 20 5-inch cookies
 
Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup malt powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup cool (not room temp, not cold) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup tightly packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
2/3 cup crystallized ginger chunks, cut into ¼ inch pieces
 

Directions
Sift together the flour, baking soda, malt powder, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.
 
Using a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugars on low speed until it is smooth and lump free, about 3 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle.
 
Add the vanilla and eggs, beating on low speed after each addition. Do not overbeat. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle.
 
Add the flour mixture on low speed. Beat until just incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the crystallized ginger and mix in with a wooden spoon. Refrigerate dough for at least an hour.
 
Preheat oven to 350. Adjust racks to lower and upper thirds of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Spoon the dough using a cookie scooper 2 inches apart onto the prepared baking sheets.
 
Bake for 11 to 13 minutes, or until cracks have formed and the edges are golden brown, but the center is still soft and almost underdone-looking. Turn the sheets front to back and switch racks halfway through.

Set out the pumpkin ice cream 30 minutes prior to assembling the sandwiches to allow the ice cream to soften. To assemble the ice cream sandwiches, place one scoop of softened ice cream onto a cookie; press down gently with another cookie and return to freezer to harden. 
 

by Adriana Smith, the Bittersweet Baker | 2/1/2016