Treat of the Week: Wonderful Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies and Ice Cream

One of my favorite of the dozens of kinds of cookies that my mother bakes is her special variation on the classic chocolate chip cookie. Now, in many ways, it seems impossible to improve upon the chocolate chip cookie, but I can attest that it’s been done.

My mother adds dried cherries to the cookie dough, giving each cookie a chewy, cherry spark with every bite. They’re really wonderful and I always look forward to having them.

This batch of cookies came with a special, extra treat—homemade ice cream. Here, we have vanilla, brown sugar, chocolate chunk ice cream, churned to perfection in my mother’s new ice cream maker. The addition of the brown sugar to the vanilla ice cream gives it a Dulce de Leche flavor, and by adding hand-cut chocolate chunks, you get a snap of dark chocolate in every spoonful.  Served with homemade chocolate ganache and fresh raspberries, this ice cream was the perfect companion to those scrumptious cookies.

I’d really recommend the new Cuisinart Ice Cream maker. Using the recipe provided as your base, you can make really, delightful, rich ice cream at home without all of the pain and suffering of having to churn it yourself.

This was a Sunday treat enjoyed by all!