Salted Caramel Ice Cream

My daughter and I planned to make caramel cookies and cream ice cream after enjoying the flavor at Storm Bros. Ice Cream Factory in Annapolis, Maryland this spring.

I started (and finished!) my caramel ice cream recipe search with Jeni Britton. One of my favorite homemade ice creams is Jeni Britton’s Vanilla Bean– I make it at least once a summer. President Biden is also big fan of her ice cream. She has a new flavor, White House Chocolate Chip, inspired by his favorite order. 🙂

The secret to her fabulously creamy ice cream is the inclusion of corn starch and cream cheese in the base. “Salty Caramel” is one of the most popular flavors in their stores. The caramel is made using a dry-burn technique. The resulting caramel flavor is rich and sophisticated.

This recipe was adapted from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer, via BonAppetit.com, contributed by Julia Bainbridge. I modified the technique. We first used the ice cream as filling in snickerdoodle ice cream sandwiches. Yum! The leftover ice cream was served with crushed Oreos as a topping instead of being mixed in. Perfect- beyond creamy too.

Yield: about 1 quart

• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1. Mix about 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry.
2. Using a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese and salt in a medium bowl until smooth. (I used a stainless steel bowl.)
3. Mix the cream with the corn syrup in a measuring cup with a spout.
4. Fill a large bowl with ice and water. (I used a giant glass bowl. It is important that the bowl with the cream cheese can easily fit into the bowl of ice water.)
5. Heat the sugar in a 4-quart saucepan over medium heat until it is melted and golden amber in color. **Note: This is a dry-burn technique- be cautious. Caramelizing the sugar this way is faster but you have to watch it very closely and be ready to incorporate the cream.** See below.
   • The Dry-Burn Caramelization Technique:
   • Stand over the pan of sugar with a heatproof spatula ready. Do not touch the sugar until there is a full layer of melted and browning liquid sugar on the bottom of the pan with a smaller layer of unmelted white sugar on the top.
   • When the edges of the melted sugar begin to darken, use the spatula to bring it into the center to help melt the unmelted sugar.
   • Continue stirring and pushing the sugar around until it is all melted and evenly amber in color- like an old penny.
   • When little bubbles begin to explode with dark smoke, give the sugar another moment and then remove from the heat.
6. Immediately after removing from the heat, and, stirring constantly, slowly add a bit (about 1/4 cup) of the cream and corn syrup mixture to the caramel: It will fizzle, pop, and spurt. Stir until well combined, then add a little more and stir. Keep adding the cream a little at a time until all of it is incorporated.
7. Return the pan to medium-high heat and add the milk. Bring to a rolling boil and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat.
8. Gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry.
9. Bring back to a boil over medium-high and cook, stirring with a heatproof spatula, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat.
10. Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese until smooth. (I used a hand-held mixer.)
11. Add the vanilla and whisk.
12. Place the bowl in the ice bath, making sure that the ice water doesn’t come in contact with the ice cream base.
13. Let stand, stirring occasionally and adding more ice as necessary, until cold, about 30 minutes.
14. Using a fine mesh sieve, strain mixture into a frozen ice cream machine canister. Churn until thick and creamy. (I churned mine for 25 minutes.)
15. Pack the ice cream into a storage container, press a sheet of parchment or plastic wrap directly against the surface, and seal with an airtight lid. (I used a glass loaf pan.)
16. Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer until firm, at least 4 hours. (I froze the ice cream a day in advance.)

Pumpkin Muffins with Cinnamon-Sugar Topping

I do have a favorite pumpkin loaf but I can’t resist trying another recipe- especially if it involves cinnamon-sugar. 🙂 This one incorporated lovely spices as well.

This recipe was adapted from Smitten Kitchen.com. I increased the amount of cinnamon-sugar topping and baked the batter as muffins rather than a loaf. I love the portion control of a muffin.

Makes: 18 standard muffins or 1 large 9×5-inch loaf

For the Batter:

• 1 15-ounce can (1 3/4 cups) pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) vegetable or another neutral cooking oil or melted butter (115 grams)
• 3 large eggs
• 1 2/3 (330 grams) cups granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon fine sea or table salt
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• heaped 1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
• heaped 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• two pinches of ground cloves
• 2 1/4 cups (295 grams) all-purpose flour

For the Cinnamon-Sugar Topping:

• 2 tablespoons (24 grams) granulated sugar (use 1 T for a loaf)
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (use 1 tsp for a loaf)

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F, preferably on convection.
2. Butter 18 muffins wells or a 6-cup loaf pan or coat it with nonstick spray. (I used 8 outer wells in one pan and 10 in another.)
3. In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin, butter or oil, eggs and sugar until smooth.
4. Sprinkle baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinanmon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves over batter and whisk until well-combined.
5. Add flour and stir with a spoon or rubber spatula, just until mixed.
6. Using a 3 tablespoon scoop, ration the batter into prepared muffin wells, or scrape into a loaf pan, and smooth the top(s).
7. In a small dish, whisk or stir sugar and cinnamon together. Sprinkle over top of batter. (I sprinkled 1/2 teaspoon over each muffin top.)
8. Bake muffins for 15 to 17 minutes, and a loaf for 55 to 75 minutes, or until a tester poked into all parts of cake (both the top and center will want to hide pockets of uncooked batter) come out batter-free, rotating the pans once during the baking time for even coloring. (I rotated the oven racks between the two muffin pans as well.
9. Cool in the pan(s) for 10 minutes and then remove, or cool completely in the pan(s). The latter provides the advantage of letting more of the loose cinnamon sugar on top adhere before being knocked off. 

Note: The muffins (or loaf) keep well at room temperature. The original recipe recommends covering the cut edge of the loaf with a piece of foil or plastic and leaving the top exposed to best keep the lid crisp as long as possible.

After-School Specials

After making the amazing Donut Loaf from this special book, I had to try a cookie. My husband picked this cookie which is a chocolate chip, oatmeal, and snickerdoodle cookie “rolled into one recipe.” Each flavor was distinct! They were definitely a crowd-pleaser.

This recipe was adapted from Midwest Made: Big, Bold Baking from the Heartland by Shauna Sever. I weighed the dry ingredients, used semi-sweet chocolate chips, scooped the cookie dough prior to refrigerating, and modified the baking time.

By keeping the cold (pre-scooped) dough tightly wrapped in the refrigerator and baking the cookies in small batches just prior to serving, we ate them warm from the oven every time. Despite the title, I served them after-dinner instead of after-school. 😉 Great!

Yield: about 40 cookies

For the Dough:

• 225g (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 300g (1 1/2 cups) granulated sugar
• 57g (1/4 cup) firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 250g (2 1/2 cups) old-fashioned rolled oats
• 256g (2 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour, weighed or spooned and leveled
• 2 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp baking soda, sifted
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 1/2 tsp flaky sea salt such as Fleur de Sel or Maldon
• 256g (1 1/2 cups) semi-sweet or bittersweet (60% cacao) chocolate chips

For the Coating:

• 100g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp fine sea salt

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute.
2. Add the granulated and brown sugar and vanilla and beat on medium-high speed until aerated and noticeably fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.
3. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, giving each about 30 seconds of beating time to incorporate fully.
4. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and fine and flaky salt.
5. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly stir in the dry ingredients.
6. Stir in the chocolate chips.
7. Line a cookie sheet with plastic wrap or parchment paper. Using a large cookie scoop, form the dough into 2-tablespoon balls and place on the prepared cookie sheet.
8. Cover the cookie sheet tightly with plastic wrap; place in the refrigerator for 1 hour or up to 2 days.
9. Position 2 oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat it to 350 degrees, preferably on convection. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
10. In a bowl, whisk together the sugar, cinnamon, and salt to make the coating.
11. One at a time, form the refrigerated scoops of dough into balls and roll in the cinnamon sugar coating.
12. Evenly space the dough balls about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. (I placed 8 cookies per sheet.)
13. Bake until golden and puffed, about 12 to 14 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through the baking time.
14. Let the cookies cool on the sheets for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Note: Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.