I am so, so excited about this post. I’m practically bouncing in my chair with glee writing this because not only have I been waiting months to finally try this idea out, but it turned out to be an amazing success.

There’s no big story as to where I got the inspiration for this dish. I was musing to Rach in late July that I wanted to get an ice cream maker and play with flavors, and I mentioned the idea of a peanut butter ice cream/concord grape sorbet sundae, like “PB & J” – how fun would that be!? And then because for me it’s over-the-top or nothing, I wanted to go a step further and play with the “sandwich” idea even more, came up with this.  Concord grape sorbet sandwiched between peanut butter cookies.  “PB & J” turned up to 11.

This is one of those desserts where I’m clinging onto summer by my fingernails, refusing to let go.  Ice cream and sorbet will soon be replaced with apple tarts and pumpkin breads, so this is my final hurrah.  The tricky thing here is concord grapes are only in season for about a month – during Sept/October, thus me waiting a few months before I was able to make this. I stubbornly wanted only concord grapes since that’s the classic jelly pairing with a PB & J sandwich.  I had to call around a bit before I found a few pints at a Whole Foods nearby and snatched them up tout de suite. The flavor of the sorbet is so intense, so childhood-reminiscent turned grown-up complex it’s perfect for the beginning of fall and that back-to-school feeling in the air.  Sandwiched between sweet, sugary-rich peanut butter cookies… it’s hard to describe just how awesome it tastes.  You’ll have to try it yourself (now! go!) to find out.

Concord Grape Sorbet

Based on Martha Stewart’s recipe

Makes about 2 pints sorbet

Ingredients

• 1 ½ lbs concord grapes, stems removed
• ¼ cup water
• 2/3 cup simple syrup (refresher course here)
• 1 ½ TBL freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions

1. Prepare an ice bath and set aside.
   
2. Combine grapes and the water in a medium saucepan and slightly squish them with the backside of a large spoon to get some juices flowing.
   
3. Cook over medium-high heat until the liquid begins to bubble and grapes start releasing liquid, about 4 minutes. Reduce heat, and simmer until juices are dark purple and grapes begin to break apart, about 3 minutes.
4. Pass mixture through a food mill. If you have a fine sieve or chinois, pass the mixture through that.  If you’re too poor (like me), you can use cheesecloth draped over a strainer.  The point is to keep the pureed pits and skins out, you want pure juice here.  Once you get it into the bowl set in the icebath, stir until completely cool.  Then stir in the lemon juice and simply syrup.
5. Transfer mixture to an ice-cream maker, and freeze according to your manufacturer’s instructions.  Freeze in an airtight container overnight.
   

Honey Peanut Butter Cookies

Based on the recipe from Taste of Home and adjusted for altitude.

I went on the hunt for a soft and chewy cookie here.  Since the cookies would be frozen eventually, I didn’t want a crunchy cookie to start with, and I saw this recipe referenced on several other food blogs, so I gave it a go.  It already got high marks for adding honey to the mix since, well, we previously discussed how honey-roasted peanut butter is my favorite thing, ever.  And now these cookies are amongst that ingredient in the ‘favorites’ list.

Makes about 5 dozen cookies

Ingredients

• ½ cup shortening
• 1 cup creamy plain peanut butter
• 1 cup honey
• 2 extra-large eggs
• 3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup plus 2 TBL sugar
• 1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
• ¾ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• Extra sugar for rolling

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325° F. Line as many cookie sheets as you have with parchment paper.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine shortening, peanut butter, and honey. Add the eggs one at a time and mix well.
3. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
4. With the mixer running on low, slowly add the dry ingredients into the peanut butter mixture.  Mix until just combined.
5. Scoop cookies using a heaping tablespoon or cookie scoop if you have one. Roll into balls and then roll around in more sugar.  I press them down with my hand first and then finish with the classic crisscross fork pattern (We’re keeping it old school here).
6. Bake 10-12 minutes until slightly golden. Cookies should be soft and chewy.  Cool completely on wire racks and store in an airtight container.
7. To assemble sandwiches: Add about 1/2 cup concord grape sorbet between 2 cookies and either eat right away, or freeze in airtight containers.  Let thaw about 15 minutes before devouring.

Note: You’ll have about a dozen cookies leftover if you use all the cookies and all the sorbet to make sandwiches.  The recipes above gave me about 18 sandwiches. Yum.

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