Celebration Ice Cream Cake

After spending the past week being treated to some southern(ish) hospitality, CHEAP eats, and delightful spring weather, I have returned to the east coast and my dear blog. While away, I didn't remain entirely out of the kitchen. In fact, one of the top orders of business on my Oklahoma agenda was making a birthday cake for TF. (Yes, I'm still in birthday mode almost a month after the fact). This year has definitely set the record for longest amount of time for which a birthday can be celebrated. Our birthdays are within a week of each other, so we both got to enjoy some delayed, but wonderful, homemade treats during my visit. 

I'd been scouting recipes for weeks in preparation and was both nervous and excited to see how my chosen recipe would turn out. I've never in my life made an ice cream cake (and for years was quite frankly perplexed as to how they even made them). After building up my confidence the last couple of months, I decided I was ready to plunge into the frozen tundra of ice cream cakes...partially at least. As it was, I ended up starting in the shallow end this time instead of plunging head on into the deep waters of ice cream cake crafting. Enter: chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream bars. 

As soon as I saw this recipe I was sold. When it comes to desserts, chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream tops TF's list of favs. As noted by the blogger that brought this wonderful recipe into my life, TF and I often complain that the cookie dough pieces in chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream are often few and far between, and this is frustrating to say the least. This delightful find eliminates that worry and allows for undisturbed and blissfully proportional ice cream and cookie dough indulgence. 

My only disappointment is that the melted chocolate began to harden before I finished my decorating, so some of the M&Ms were forced to rest on top of the chocolate rather than being held in place

Ingredients

[Original recipe found here]

• 1 batch prepared chocolate chip cookie dough [I ended up doubling because the pan I was using was a little larger and 1 batch wasn't enough to cover the bottom]
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
• 2 tablespoons milk (I used skim)
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips [I remain partial to Ghirardelli] 
• 3 cups vanilla bean ice cream
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips [for a fun twist, I used Ghirardelli dark chips for this portion]

Preparation

1. Set ice cream out to allow it to become slightly melted while preparing the cookie dough, this will make it easier to spread out later
2. Mix cookie dough ingredients together and line bottom of pan evenly. [Original recipe called for a 9x9 pan, I used a large spring form pan]
3. Spread vanilla ice cream over cookie dough layer, cover and freeze for an hour
4. Once ice cream is frozen, place chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl
5. Melt chocolate in microwave in 30-second increments, stirring in-between
6. When chocolate is melted, spread evenly over ice cream layer [decorate quickly if you dare], cover and re-freeze for an hour or until ready to serve
7. Cut into bars and enjoy!

Best cookie dough to ice cream ratio that's ever graced my pallet 

Beating me to the punch, TF greeted me with homemade birthday cookies

And capping off the visit/extended birthday celebration--birthday ice cream from my beloved Braum's