Ice cream sandwiches

These cookies are great for making ice cream sandwiches. Don't bake them too long or the cookies will be too crisp and won't make a soft sandwich.

2 squares (1 oz) semisweet baking chocolate
½ cup butter, softened
½ cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 ½ cups flour
½ cup dark cocoa powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt

Microwave chocolate on high until melted. Beat butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add egg and vanilla and beat well. Stir in melted chocolate. Sift together flour, cocoa, soda and salt and stir into chocolate mixture. Form into a disc and refrigerate until chilled (2 hours).

Preheat oven to 350. Roll dough out to ⅛" on a Silpat and cut to desired shape. Prick with wooden skewer and bake 8-10 minutes. Cool completely before making sandwiches.

Coconut Key Lime Pie/Tartlets

This recipe works great as a large pie, or as tartlets. I really like the coconut, but you could easily leave it out.

-Stephanie Warner, 2014 Carling Cookbook

Crust:

8 whole graham crackers, broken into 1-inch pieces

5 Tbsp. butter, melted and cooled

3 Tbsp. sugar

Filling:

1 Tbsp. lime zest

⅓ cup fresh squeezed lime juice (about 30 key limes)

2 egg yolks

1 can sweetened condensed milk

⅓ cup sweetened coconut flakes toasted in oven until light brown (or a little more for topping)

Topping:

Heavy whipping cream + sugar

Remaining toasted coconut

To make crust, put broken graham crackers into food processor and process until you get fine, even crumbs, about 30 seconds. Sprinkle butter and sugar with it and pulse until incorporated. Put in a 8 or 9 inch pan depending on your like of thickness (I like it thick!). Bake in oven at 325 for 13-18 minutes until crust is fragrant and beginning to brown. I like to make this the night before for ease.

To make filling: sprinkle ⅓-½ of the ⅓ cup of toasted coconut flakes directly on top of crust. In bowl, combine all the rest of filling ingredients (not coconut) and mix with spoon until it thickens. Pour into crust and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until set (not jiggly). Cool completely, a minimum of 1 hour. Top with freshly whipped cream and the rest of your toasted coconut flakes.

Rolo Cookies

I've had this recipe for a really long time and forgot about it until I saw some Rolos on clearance at the store. This is a good one! 

-Bonnie James/Pillsbury Bake-Off, modified

1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter
2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
2 ½ cups flour
¾ cup cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
48 Rolos


Cream butter and sugar; add vanilla and egg. Combine flour, cocoa, and baking soda separately. Add to sugar mix. Heat oven to 375. Mix remaining nuts and sugar. Shape 1 tbsp dough (I use medium Pampered Chef scoop) around a Rolo. Bake on greased cookie sheet 7-10 min, or until set. Cool 2 min.