Invisible Cookie Dough Ice Pops, and The Cookie Dough Lover’s Cookbook

In high school, my friends and I were those girls who bought the packages of Break-and-Bake cookie dough…with no intention of actually making cookies. As far as we were concerned, those babies were snack-ready, and the perfect accompaniment to movies like Chocolat andBenny and Joon(we had a little bit of a Johnny Depp thing, back in the day).

I’d like to tell you that as I’ve matured, my palate has as well…but that’s really not true. I mean, unless I get points for preferring cookie dough that’s made from scratch to the kind in the tube. Because that distinction I will get behind 100 percent. There’s nothing like the taste of creamed butter, brown and white sugar, aromatic vanilla, and crunchy chocolate chips. And while I’d like to avoid getting salmonella as best I can, I’ve been known to taste my fair share of egg-included cookie dough, consequences be damned.

So how ecstatic was I when I heard that Lindsay of Love and Olive Oil was publishing The Cookie Dough Lover’s Cookbook?! Pages upon pages of recipes dedicated to those of us who are in cookies mostly (I can’t say solely–you know how much I love a freshly baked cookie) for the dough.

If you’re one of those crazy skeptics who’s saying, “How could you possibly fill a whole book with recipes about cookie dough?”,  never you fear. Lindsay divides the cookbook into sugar-laden sections like “Cakes, Custards, and Pies”; “Indulgent Breakfasts”; and “Fun Snacks and Party Fare.” And don’t even get me started on the absolutely mouth-watering photography. Be warned, and don’t drool on the pretty pages.

The Cookie Dough Lover’s Cookbook comes out really soon–June 5!–but you can still preorder your copy on Amazon now if you want to make sure  you have first crack at the cookie dough mania.

It’s been oppressively humid in New York City these past few days, so it didn’t take much flipping through these pages before I settled on Invisible Cookie Dough Ice Pops. And it’s incredible–there’s no butter or eggs or flour in these, but on first bite, the taste of an icy, refreshing cookie dough is uncanny. Break out those popsicle molds! Summer is here with a vengeance and these pops are decidedly oven-free.

Invisible Cookie Dough Ice Pops
From The Cookie Dough Lover’s Cookbook, by Lindsay of Love and Olive Oil

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups skim milk
• 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp semisweet chocolate chips, chopped (I didn’t have minis on hand)

1. In a microwave-safe bowl, heat milk for 30 seconds or until warm to the touch.
2. Add brown sugar and salt, then stir until dissolved. Add vanilla.
3. Place 1/2 tbsp of chocolate chips in the bottom of each ice pop mold. Top with milk mixture, distributing evenly among the molds.
4. Insert sticks and place molds in freezer until solid, at least three hours.
5. To release pops, run molds under warm water for 20-30 seconds–the pops should then slide right out.

Disclosure: Quirk Books provided me with a copy of The Cookie Dough Lover’s Cookbook to review. All opinions (and inordinate love of cookie dough) are my own.

Nom!