Blue raspberry cotton candy ice cream sandwiches

During the summer I have been doing some kid's cooking classes and the response has been great!! We have made chocolates, cupcakes, ice cream, pies, and plenty of messes. Last week I did an ice cream class and we made ice cream sandwiches. We used the Pillsbury raspberry cookie mix to make our cookies for the sandwiches. You can make giant or bite size cookies, but be warned the smaller the sandwiches the easier they are to just pop in your mouth. Before you know it they will all be gone!!

Since the sad Blue Bell epidemic ice cream is a touchy subject for this ice cream loving Texan, so when it came time to pick a flavor I was extremely surprised by the Great Value cotton candy flavor. I am not a huge fan of cotton candy flavored stuff but this ice cream is awesome. Plus all the pretty colors from the swirled ice cream and the blue cookies made these sandwiches tasty AND adorable.

My four year old little girl had a blast making these so I hope this recipe is one that you can have fun making with your kids!!!

Blue Raspberry Cotton Candy Ice Cream Sandwiches

Ingredients
1 box of Pillsbury blue raspberry premium cookie mix
1/4 cup of flour
1/3 cup melted butter
1 egg
3 Tbs water

Great Value ( or your favorite brand) cotton candy ice cream
Sprinkles (of course)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350
Combine cookie mix, flour, butter, water and egg in a medium bowl. Mix until soft dough is formed. Shape into an even number of balls. Place on an untreated cookie sheet about 2 inches apart then press slightly to flatten cookies.
Bake 7-8 mins then cool for at least 3 minutes on the cookie sheet then move to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Flip half the cookies flat side up and top with cotton candy ice cream. Then place another cookie on top and roll the edges in sprinkles. Freeze in an airtight container until ready to serve.

Cream Cheese Chocolate Cherries

I have not been a very good blogger lol. Between cooking and running a catering and meals to go business, running sprints after my 4 year old daughter, and squeezing in just enough time to shower I haven't had much time to write anything. The summer is always a little slower at work so I have started doing some cooking classes which has allowed me to create and try out new recipes!!!!!

The first class that I did this summer was a Kid's Chocolate Factory class and it was soooo much fun. There was chocolate on the floor, on the walls, on all their faces and probably the ceiling as well! We started off the something easy and stuffed cherries with cream cheese then dipped them in chocolate. These were so good and really fun to do with kids.

Cream cheese stuffed chocolate cherries:

Ingredients 

60 fresh cherries

Filling 

2 oz spreadable cream cheese 

1 1/2 tablespoons powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

3 tablespoon whipped topping or whipped cream 

Chocolate 

10-12 oz good quality milk or dark chocolate

2 tablespoons semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips (optional)

Directions 

Wash and dry cherries. Remove stems and pit cherries. We used a plastic straw to get the seed out then placed the cherries on paper towels to dry.

 

Combine cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla. Gently stir in whipped topping and place mixture in a piping bag with a tip that will fit inside the hole of the pitted cherry.

Dab each cherry dry and fill with cheesecake filling. In a small ziploc bag, melt about 1 oz of chocolate. Pipe a small amount to “seal” the top and bottom of each cherry. Set the cherries on their side on a parchment lined pan. Place in the freezer for about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, place a small amount of the chocolate in a microwave bowl. Microwave at 30% power in 30 second increments until most of the chocolate is melted. (You don’t want to melt it all the way, stirring will melt the remaining pieces).

Dip each cherry into the melted chocolate turning to coat. Allow excess chocolate to drip off and place cherries on a parchment lined pan

 Melt 2 tablespoons semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips in a small ziplock bag for about 20 seconds in the microwave. Snip a tiny piece off the corner and use to pipe a design on your chocolates.

 Cool at room temperature 15 minutes. Refrigerate until serving.