Baked Churro Dulce de Leche Ice Cream Sandwiches

If you clicked over here because of the title of this post, you can stop rubbing your eyes. You read that correctly!

Most of the time, my recipe ideas come while I'm doing something else -- laundry, vacuuming, changing a diaper {I promise I won't tell you if that's the case...}. But sometimes when I'm having a hard time coming up with something new, I'll start playing word associations until inspiration strikes.

Cinco de Mayo... Mexico.

Mexico... cinnamon.

Cinnamon... churros.

Churros... fried.

Fried... tight jeans. {Sad face.}

Tight jeans... bake instead.

Baking... hot.

Heat... Ice Cream.

Ice Cream... Sandwich.

DONE.

And so, ta-da!

Baked Churro Dulce de Leche Ice Cream Sandwiches. You're welcome.

With Cinco de Mayo coming up {and the weather being pretty hot and steamy where I live}, this just evolved naturally. As will your trip to the grocery store to get the ingredients...

Lightened up cinnamon sugar churros are baked to form the base of these creative ice cream sandwiches. Though I originally intended to make my own dulce de leche ice cream, I wound up picking up a store bought version as a short cut. {Thank you, Häagen-Dazs!} Because you won't want to delay getting these in your mouth.



Baked Churro Dulce de Leche Ice Cream Sandwiches
Churros barely adapted from SprinkleBakes

1 cup water
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup unsalted butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Store bought Dulce de Leche Ice Cream

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare 2 baking sheets by lining with parchment paper. Set aside.

2. In a small saucepan, combine water, brown sugar, salt and butter and bring to a boil until butter is melted.

3. Remove from heat and add in the flour, stirring vigorously with a wooden or silicone spoon until it is fully incorporated. You should end up with a thick paste-like dough that pulls away from the sides.

4. Place the dough into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and allow to cool for a minute or two. Mix in the vanilla extract. Crack in eggs one at a time, until they are fully incorporated and the batter is smooth {about 2 minutes}.*

5. Scoop mixture into a piping bag fitted with a large open star tip. Pipe a swirl or pinwheel shape -- I made mine about 2 1/2 inches in diameter -- leaving a few inches of room between each churro. Continue until you use up all of the dough. Remember, they'll be sandwiches so try to make them roughly the same size so they have a matching pair.

6. Bake for about 12-14 minutes or until puffed and brown. The insides should be moist but not completely doughy. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together the sugar and cinnamon and set aside.

7. When the churros are fully baked, immediately toss them into the cinnamon sugar to coat.* Remove them and place onto cooled baking pan until ready to create sandwiches.

8. When the churros are cooled, take a scoop of dulce de leche ice cream and place it on one churro base. Top with another churro to create a sandwich and press lightly to adhere. Serve immediately or keep frozen until ready to serve.

Notes:
*You can pipe the dough right away, but I found that letting it sit for about 20-30 minutes allows it to firm up a bit and produces a nicer "swirl".

*If your cinnamon sugar is not sticking the the churro, spray the churro lightly with cooking spray {I just use my Misto} before tossing in the cinnamon sugar mixture.

Peanut Butter & Dulce de Leche Frozen Yogurt

The end of summer can be bittersweet. It means back to school for the kiddos {and even more heart breakingly, for the teachers!}, fading suntans, and swapping sundresses & sandals for long sleeves & ballet flats.

Around here, though, it doesn't mean too much of an immediate change in temperature. If we're lucky, we'll go from scorching heat to sweltering humidity. We rely more on visual cues for the signal that Fall is upon us: Store aisles filled with Halloween and Thanksgiving decorations, college football ruling the airwaves on Saturday mornings, and shelves lined with canned pumpkin at the grocery store {which excites me beyond reason}.

While the rest of the country transitions from Snow Cones to stews, those of us living closer to the equator reap the benefits of prolonged summer temps for a little bit longer.

I'll take 97 degrees year round if it means more scoops of this.

Peanut Butter flavored frozen yogurt with a Dulce de Leche ribbon running through it. Five ingredients. Ridiculously creamy.  So easy, it's dangerous.

{As a side note, I accidentally at this for breakfast yesterday as I was waiting for it to thaw out a little so I could scoop out a nice, picture-worthy serving. Oops.}

What do you say we whip up another batch of this fro-yo and put off turning the page on the calendar... just for a little while.


Peanut Butter & Dulce de Leche Frozen Yogurt

1 cup heavy cream + 1 tablespoon
1/2 cup reduced fat peanut butter {smooth}
1 16 oz. tub non-fat vanilla Greek yogurt {I used Chobani brand}
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup dulce de leche {homemade or store bought}

In a small pot, bring 1 cup of heavy cream and 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter to a simmer over medium heat, whisking often until completely smooth. Remove from heat and chill mixture for 30 minutes.

{Alternatively, you can create an ice bath by pouring the cream mixture into a small bowl, nesting that bowl over a larger bowl filled with ice and a bit of cold water, and whisking constantly until cooled down.}

Once cool, stir in yogurt and vanilla extract. Mix well.

Pour yogurt mixture into the bowl of an ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer's directions.

Meanwhile, in a small microwave safe container, heat dulce de leche {15-20 seconds at a time} until it reaches drizzling consistency. If it is too thick, add about a tablespoon of heavy cream to thin out.

When yogurt is frozen, scoop about half into a freezer safe container. Drizzle dulce de leche over top and swirl into yogurt using a butter knife or offset spatula. Top with remaining yogurt and smooth out the top.

Freeze for 2-4 hours to achieve a more solid scooping consistency.