IT’S MY BIRTHDAY MONTH!

That’s right, month.  I was celebrating at 12:01am on April 1 and if I want to be celebrating at 11:59pm on April 30, so be it.  I will be celebrating being older than I look, and looking younger than I am.  I will be celebrating living out loud and quiet nights at home, and enjoying both.  I will celebrate by dancing my heart out and singing really loud; by getting an old tattoo touched up; by jumping out of a plane; by watching, in awe, the turn of events with these daggone NCAA Tourney Basketball games; by taking it up a notch at the gym; by eating anything I want!

So, this month I will be featuring recipes that I love.  Many I grew up with, and others I came across somewhere along the way and have added them to my favorites.  Despite being a baker, my favorite treat ever, in the whole entire history of the universe, is ice cream.  The guy who invented ice cream deserves and award.  Like, maybe the Nobel Peace Prize.  Seriously.  I think if you have people fighting, if you just give them all a scoop they can probably come to peaceful terms.  Ice cream is that magical.

To start off, I’m featuring good ol’ chocolate chip cookies.  I’m pretty sure these are one of the first things I ever baked.  I have no idea where the recipe came from, because after all these years, it is titled “Kristin’s Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies”.  For all I know, it came off the back of a bag of chocolate chips from one of the big-bad chocolate companies.  But, from here until forever, they are simply “Kristin’s Favorite…”.

And, to make things even better, I have turned them into ice cream sandwiches.  Oh yeah, I went there.  It’s my birthday month, I can do that.

Kristin’s Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 c butter, softened
3/4 c sugar
3/4 c brown sugar
1 t vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 1/4 c all-purpose flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
2 c chocolate chips

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.
• In a mixer, cream together butter, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well.
• Add flour mixture, gradually incorporating into butter mixture until well combined.
• Stir in chocolate chips.
• Drop cookie dough onto ungreased cookie sheets.  AS BIG AS YOU WANT!  Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until lightly browned.
• Cool slightly and remove from baking sheet.

But the fun doesn’t stop there.  I had leftover chocolate and caramel sauces from my last blog post on Banana Cream Pie.  Can’t let that go to waste, can we?  So, I took some room-temperature chocolate and spread a nice layer on the back of one cookie.  Freeze for 5 minutes to firm up.  Add a dollop of caramel on the chocolate, again freezing for 5 minutes to firm up.  Next, add a scoop (or two or three) of your favorite ice cream, top with second cookie, and gently press to create a sandwich.

Delish!  Happy Birthday to MEEEE!