Vanilla Cupcake Ice Cream Sandwiches

Who isn’t a fan of an ice cream sandwich? We love every variation in my house, so, naturally, I had to try this version using vanilla cupcake tops.

This recipe was adapted from Food and Wine, contributed by Candace Nelson. I made the cupcake tops using a muffin top pan to give them more surface area- genius, right?

We gobbled up these all-American treats for dessert during the Super Bowl this year. I filled half with salted caramel gelato and half with vanilla bean ice cream. The vanilla ice cream-filled sandwiches were our favorite.

Yield: Serves 6

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2/3 cup whole milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 stick unsalted butter, 
at room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 pint ice cream, gelato, or sorbet, slightly softened (Pistachio ice cream was recommended; I used salted caramel gelato & vanilla bean ice cream.)

1. Preheat the oven to 325°, preferably on convection. Coat a standard muffin pan or a muffin top pan with cooking oil spray.
2. 
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour with the baking powder and salt.
3. In a small bowl, whisk the milk with the vanilla.
4. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, beat the butter with the sugar 
at medium-high speed, scraping down the bowl once or twice, until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
5. At medium-low speed, beat in the eggs one at a time until incorporated.
6. At low-speed, beat in the dry ingredients and the milk mixture in 3 alternating additions until smooth.
7. Spoon about 1/4 cup of the batter into each prepared cup.
8. Bake the cupcakes for 15 minutes if using a muffin top pan, or about 18 to 25 minutes in a standard pan, until a toothpick inserted in 
the centers comes out clean.
9. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then cool 
completely on a wire rack, about 1 hour.
10. Working with 1 cupcake at a time, carefully slice off the cake top. Reserve 
the cupcake bottom for another use.
11. Arrange the top smooth side down 
on a platter. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes. Freeze the tops for 1 hour.
12. Spread 1/4 cup of the ice cream 
onto each of 6 cupcake tops.
13. Close the sandwiches with the remaining cupcake tops and gently press together. Wrap individually in plastic wrap.
14. Freeze for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Note: The ice cream sandwiches can be wrapped in plastic and frozen for up to 1 week. Let soften at room temperature for 10 minutes before serving.

One Year Ago: Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Two Years Ago: Country Apple Fritter Bread

Three Years Ago: Soft Baked Snickerdoodles

Four Years Ago:

• Tate’s Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Pizzelles
• Pistachio Semifreddo

Five Years Ago:

• Double-Chocolate Brownies
• Cornmeal Cookies
• Busy Day Chocolate Cake

Crumb Cake Muffin Tops

I have another special summer breakfast recipe to share- although I’m sure I’ll be making these year-round. 🙂 I have to make sure that I put my Mother’s Day muffin top pan to good use!

Everyone in my house absolutely loves crumb cake. The genius of making crumb cake in a muffin top form is portion control (which we need!) as well as a reduced baking time. This recipe was slightly adapted from Serious Eats.com; I incorporated whole wheat flour. This recipe would also work in a standard muffin pan, of course. Fabulous!

Yield: 12 muffin tops

For the Cake:

• 1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup milk (I used 1 percent milk)
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda

For the Crumb Topping:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
• 2/3 cup (4 2/3 ounces) packed light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 10 tablespoons (5 ounces) unsalted butter, melted
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting, optional

To Make the Cake:

1. Adjust rack to middle position and preheat oven to 350°F, preferably on convection. Grease muffin top pan with cooking oil spray.
2. Whisk sugar, salt, melted butter, and oil in a large bowl.
3. Whisk in egg, milk, sour cream, and vanilla.
4. Stir flour, baking powder, and baking soda in a small bowl.
5. Whisk into wet mixture until just combined.

To Make the Crumb Topping:

1. Whisk flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl until combined.
2. Add melted butter and vanilla, and toss with fingers until the mixture forms moist crumbs.
3. Spoon 2 tablespoons batter into each cup and spread evenly.
4. Sprinkle with crumb mixture.
5. Bake until light golden and cakes are just firm, about 15 minutes.
6. Let cakes cool in pan 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool.
7. Dust with Confectioners’ sugar, as desired.

One Year Ago:

• Oatmeal Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes
• Tate’s Shortbread

Two Years Ago:

• Selma’s Plum & Cinnamon Cake
• Peach Pie Crumble Bars

Three Years Ago:

• Blueberry Buckle
• Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

Four Years Ago:

• Crumb Cake
• Blackberry Crumb Cake
• Oat Bran Blackberry Muffins

Blueberry Muffin Tops with Streusel Topping

Yes, it’s true… I’m still talking about Mother’s Day. 🙂

One of my special Mother’s Day gifts was a “Muffin-Top” pan. It’s genius. (My daughter only eats the top of her muffins, so this really was a perfect gift!) Needless to say, I already have a couple of muffin-top recipes to share. We enjoyed this version for our Memorial Day breakfast. They were fabulously loaded with fresh blueberries.

This recipe was adapted from Gourmet via Epicurious.com. I lowered the oven temperature, increased the vanilla, and reduced the flour in the topping. Next time I plan to incorporate some whole wheat flour. These muffins could also be made in a standard muffin tin, of course!

An absolute highlight in the original recipe was the informative explanation about the origin of the “Muffin-Top” baking pan. It was described as a TV triumph from a 1990’s Seinfeld episode. Here’s the recap:

“After Elaine exclaims that she only likes the tops of muffins (“The Muffin Tops” first aired on May 8, 1997), her former boss thinks Elaine has hit on a clever marketing idea. But when you only sell the tops, what do you do with the hundreds of muffin ‘stumps’ (bottoms) that are left? Elaine and her gang take to the streets with garbage bags of stumps, trying to pawn them off on anyone and everyone. There are no takers; even the homeless turn them down with disdain. It didn’t take long after the airing of the episode for muffin-top pans to appear on store shelves.”

LOVE it. 🙂

Yield: 12 muffin tops

For the Batter:

• 3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup whole milk
• 1 whole large egg
• 1 large yolk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (can use some white whole wheat flour, if desired)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 2 cups fresh blueberries (12 oz)

For the Topping:

• 3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 1/2 tablespoons sugar

Make the Batter:

1. Put oven rack in the center or upper third of oven and preheat to 350°F, preferably on convection. Generously butter muffin pans. (I used cooking oil spray.)
2. Melt butter in the microwave or in a small saucepan over moderately low heat, then remove from heat. Whisk in milk, then whisk in whole egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined well.
3. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl, then add milk mixture and stir until just combined.
4. Fold in blueberries gently but thoroughly.
5. Divide batter among 12 muffin cups, spreading evenly. (I used a large cookie scoop.)

Make the Topping and Bake the Muffins:

1. Rub together all topping ingredients in a bowl with your fingertips or a pastry blender until crumbly, then sprinkle evenly over batter in cups, about 1 tablespoon per muffin.
2. Bake until golden and crisp and a wooden pick or skewer inserted diagonally into center of a muffin comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes.
3. Cool in pans on a rack 15 minutes, then run a knife around edge of each muffin top and carefully remove from cups. Serve warm or at room temperature.

One Year Ago:

• Whole Grain Blueberry Muffins with Orange Streusel

Two Years Ago:

• Black & White Crème Brûlée
• Vanilla Rose Cake

Three Years Ago:

• Alton Brown’s Berry Muffins

Four Years Ago:

• Cheesecake Brownies
• Banana-Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies