Blueberry Pie Milkshakes {Dairy-Free + Vegan}

We went to Chicago three weeks ago to find a place to live next month. No big deal. While we were there we got to check out Chicago's "Restaurant Row" on Randolph street. It's filled with fancy, world-renowned restaurants, most of which cost a pretty penny. I had to keep reminding myself "we are moving here, there will be plenty of opportunities to eat over the next 5 years". I want wanted to eat everything. So after almost two hours of waiting, we got into The Little Goat, the casual more affordable diner version of the very famous Girl and the Goat. Going there was a decision both our stomachs and wallets appreciated.

Staying true to the diner vibe we split a blueberry pie milkshake. It tasted exactly how it sounds: like some brilliant person had baked up a sweet and gooey blueberry pie with flakey buttery crust and then blended it up inside a milkshake with thick creamy vanilla ice cream. I wasn't even halfway through my first sip before vowing to re-create it at home. And so over 4th of July weekend I did just that - but my version is dairy free. Remember that vanilla bean ice cream when made last week? This is the perfect way to put it to good use. Of course, you could totally sub in real butter, milk and ice cream, but either way the result is creamy, decadent, and tastes just like someone smashed a delicious gooey blueberry pie into a creamy cold milkshake. 

Blueberry Pie Milkshakes {vegan}
Serves 2

For the pie crust: 
4 tablespoons vegan butter (such as Earth Balance), cubed + frozen for 20 minutes  
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoon all purpose flour 
1 teaspoon sugar 
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons ice water 

1 1/2 cups blueberries 
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch 
1 teaspoon vanilla 
1 tablespoon brown sugar 
1 tablespoon bourbon (optional) 
pinch of salt 

6 scoops Dairy-Free Vanilla Bean Ice Cream (or store-bought) 
1 - 1 1/2 cups plant-based milk of your choice 

Make the crust. Whisk together flour, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Using your hands, cut the butter into the flour until the butter chunks are roughly the size of peas. Pour in 1 tablespoon water, mix, pour in the second tablespoon and toss until the dough is shaggy and damp. Squeeze a handful of dough in your hand - if it doesn't form together in a cohesive ball add another teaspoon of water. Bring the dough together into a disc (it will be messy, that's OK), cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. On a floured piece of parchment paper, roll the dough out until it's the thickness of pie crust, keeping the dough on the parchment, transfer it to a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes until just lightly browned around the edges. Remove from the oven and let cool. 

Meanwhile, heat the blueberries, cornstarch, vanilla, brown sugar, bourbon and salt over medium in a small saucepan. Stir as it cooks for 5-7 minutes until thick and bubbly. Remove from heat. Let cool. You can pop it in the fridge to speed up the process. 

Once the crust has cooled, break it into chunks with a fork. Toss blueberry mixture, ice cream, milk, and a little over half the crust into a blender and blend until smooth. Divide among two glasses and top with remaining pie crust and serve. 

Notes: Feel free to sub butter in the pie crust, milk, and regular store-bought vanilla ice cream. 



 

Dairy-Free Vanilla Bean Ice Cream {vegan}

We're no stranger to homemade ice cream. On a scale of not-worth-your-time-buy-store-bought and I'm-never-buying-store-bought-again-where-has-this-homemade-version-been-all-my-life?! homemade ice cream is tipping the scales at the latter. There's just something about simple, real ingredients, no fillers, no preservatives, not chalked full of air, no stabilizers to keep it from melting - just pure real ingredients with a far superior taste and texture.  

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Last summer we made peach bourbon pecan cobbler ice cream and then we celebrated fall with cinnamon apple pie ice cream. We're a house divided between dairy-free ice cream and traditional. I've pretty much perfected the thick creamy consistency without dairy and with so many dairy-free store bought versions tasting just so off, I am such a sucker for a good homemade dairy free ice cream. The secret, like most delicious creamy dairy-free desserts, is in the coconut milk which when combined with coconut cream pretty much gives you the exact consistency of heavy cream without ever having the milk a cow. Other than that, this recipe is pretty straight forward, classic. 

Every now and then I think it's good to get back to the basics. And because there are probably one million vanilla ice cream recipes out there, but only a handful of dairy free ones, I'm throwing my hate into the ring with this recipe. It makes the perfect base for throwing in chocolate cookies for cookies and cream, seasonal fruit, jam, or even specks of melted chocolate. It's a staple for topping over cobblers and pies or just dunking a spoon into when it's super hot out. Oh, and be sure to check back next week because we're doing something super fun with it. 

My husband's been gone back and forth traveling for work since May and just came home, so I'm looking forward to spending the 4th as a pack, just the three of us. We're making Alexandra Cooks' peach pizza, which I've deemed a 4th of july tradition and smitten's zucchini crisps with sangria and this ice cream. Happy 4th! 

Dairy-Free Vanilla Bean Ice Cream 
Makes 1 scant quart (which becomes a full quart with mix-ins) 

1/3 cup cane sugar 
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 egg yolks (room temp) OR 1 tablespoon cornstarch (see notes)  
1 can full fat coconut milk 
1 can coconut cream 
1 vanilla bean 
pinch of salt 

Prepare a double boiler by bringing 1-2 inches of water to a gentle boil in a small sauce pan topped with a heat-proof bowl. Be mindful the water doesn't actually touch the bottom of the bowl. Over medium-low heat, whisk sugars, egg yolks OR cornstarch and 1-2 tablespoons of coconut milk to loosen in the heat proof bowl for about 3 minutes until the mixture thickens and the sugars melt.

Pour in the coconut milk, followed by the coconut cream and whisk. Slice open the vanilla bean and using the backside of a knife, scrape out the insides. Toss this vanilla bean "caviar" along with the vanilla bean pod and a generous pinch of salt into the coconut mixture. Continue to whisk for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Pour the mixture through a fine mesh sieve and discard the remnants. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. 

Pour the cooled mixture into your ice cream maker and follow manufacture's instructions. Once the ice cream comes together it will be the consistency of soft serve. If you like it a bit more firm pop in the freezer before serving. 

Notes: 

Egg yolks v. Cornstarch. Traditionally creamy custard style ice cream is made with egg yolks. Upon researching vegan alternatives I discovered cornstarch acts in a very similar way. I made a batch of each, expecting the egg yolk batch to come out creamier. We did a blind taste test and couldn't tell a difference. So we'll leave the decision up to you! Not into either? You could skip on both, the ice cream will just be more icy less creamy. 

Coconut cream? I buy it from trader joe's and it's only slightly thicker than regular full fat coconut milk. If you can't find it just go with two cans of coconut milk and you'll be fine. Definitely avoid light coconut milk here, we're making ice cream, and it will come out super icy. 

We have this ice cream maker. It's pretty great. 

Strawberry, Basil + Mascarpone Hand Pies

I'm in Chicago this week apartment hunting. We've got five days to find a live-able apartment in a safe neighborhood with the best kitchen a student's budget can buy. I'm praying for a gas range and natural light. No big deal. 

On a more exciting note, I made hand pies! I love hand pies. They are cute, portable, and infinitely less fussy than regular pies. And these hand pies are no exception. They beg to be taken on a picnic somewhere sunny and cool and savored down to the last buttery bite. The flavors epitomize Spring meeting Summer with fresh juicy strawberries, bright green basil, and creamy mascarpone cheese. If you're unfamiliar with mascarpone it's like cream cheese's savory, more sophisticated Italian cousin. The three blend together beautifully in a flakey all-butter crust (my favorite part), providing a bite-sized, adult-version of the strawberry cream cheese pies you probably ate as a kid.

Did I mention they are also super fun to make? They have that charming hand-made, perfectly imperfect look with oozy strawberry juices coming out the sides and fork-crimped natural edges. It's been scientifically proven that it's impossible to be in a bad mood while making and eating hand pies. Don't believe me? Try it. 

Strawberry, Basil + Mascarpone Hand Pies 
adapted from Joy the Baker 
Makes about 13 3.5-inch pies 

For the crust: 
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour 
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter 
2 tablespoons sugar 
1 teaspoon salt 
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon buttermilk (see notes) 

For the mascarpone filling: 
8 oz mascarpone, softened slightly 
1 large egg yolk 
2 tablespoons agave (or sweetener of your choice) 
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 

For the strawberries: 
1 pound strawberries 
1 tablespoon lemon juice 
1 teaspoon lemon zest 
1 tablespoon agave (or sweetener of your choice)
6-8 medium basil leaves, thinly sliced (optional)
a pinch of salt 

1 egg, for egg wash
turbinado sugar, for topping 

Make the dough. Cube the butter into 1/2 inch chunks then pop it in the freezer for 5 minutes. Whisk together flour, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Add the cold butter chunks, and using your hands integrate the butter into the flour until the butter chunks are roughly the size of peas - some larger some smaller. Form a "well" in the middle of the flour/butter mixture and pour in the buttermilk. Using a fork, mix the edges of the flour mixture into the buttermilk. Keep going until everything is wet and just combine. Keep those butter chunks intact. On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough into two disks, wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour and up to 2 days. 

Prep the mascarpone mixture. With a rubber spatula combine all the ingredients until smooth. 

Prep the strawberries. Dice the strawberries, discarding the stem and white insides. In a medium bowl toss the strawberries with lemon juice, zest, agave, basil leaves and salt. 

Assemble the pies. In a small prep bowl whisk the egg. Working with 1 disc of dough at a time, on a floured work surface, roll out the pie crust until it's about 1/8 inch thick. Using a biscuit or pastry cutter, cut out circular disks (I used a 3.5 inch biscuit cutter).

Using a pastry brush, paint a 1-inch border around the edges of the disk with the egg wash. Scoop roughly 1 heaping tablespoon of the mascarpone mixture into the center of the disc followed by roughly the same amount of strawberry mixture. Lightly stretch a second disk then drape it over the strawberries and mascarpone. Using a fork, crimp the edges by pressing the top dough layer into the bottom. It's okay if the strawberry juices and mascarpone seep out the sides a little. Repeat with remaining pies.

Using a knife, cut small holes into the top of each pie for steam to release. Transfer prepared pies to a baking sheet lined with parchment. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and pop the pies in the fridge to cool as the oven heats. Just before putting the pies in the oven, brush the tops with the egg wash and sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Cook for 20-22 minutes until golden brown. 

Repeat with the second batch of dough. You can re-use the scraps, just pop them in the refrigerator for a couple minutes to harden up. You can also brush scraps with egg wash, top with sugar, and bake as pie crust "cookies". 

Notes: 

• About the buttermilk. If you're like me and don't keep buttermilk around you can make your own by mixing 1/2 cup plus 1/2 tablespoon milk (of any kind, I actually used almond) then adding 1/2 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice. Let sit for 5 minutes. It will curdle slightly. Then you're good to go. 
  
  
• The basil is totally optional and you might want to omit it if you have, say, picky kids. But in my humble opinion the basil is what makes these pies. It gives them a bright almost peppery surprise that pairs so well with the fresh strawberries.
  
  
• About re-using dough scrapes - know that the more you work the dough the tougher it will become.