Kahlua Ice Cream Bars with Kalua Chocolate Chip Bar Cookies

We had a potluck for charity day at work.  The charity is Off the Street Club, a place for kids to play, learn how to use a computer, interact and plainly put- be safe!   It was painful to decide what to make, there are so many good options to make.  I'm not sure how I ended up choosing to make Kahlua ice cream bars, but I'm so glad I did- these are rich, moist, decadent and utterly fantastic!

The chocolate chip bar portion of the ice cream bar is soft and studded with large chucks of chocolate.  I wanted to be sure that they wouldn't freeze solid, so there is a bit of Kahlua in there as well.  It's easy to get pretty heavy handed with the Kahlua too, here's a recount of my experience while I was making the ice cream:

Pour in Kahlua...taste
pour in more Kahlua...taste
pour in more Kahlua...taste
pour glass of Kahlua, drink.

Ha ha!  Alcohol just seems to find it's way into my hand when I'm cooking!  Remember what I always say though - make this to your liking and to your preferences in terms of more or less Kahlua.  But there is nothing like a super happy ice cream to leave you fat and happy!
 

Tips and tricks:  You can pat the cookie dough in a 10"x15" pan or drop them by the spoonfuls for actual cookies, I tested both methods and they each worked just fine. Shape the ice cream into a pan while it's semi soft, and then place it back into the freezer.  Whether you are doing squares for bar cookies or circles for regular cookies, you can cut them or use round biscuit cutters for the mold, it's much easier than trying to scoop the ice cream and smashing it between the cookies.  Also, choose a pan this is 1/2 the size of pan you are using for the bars, since you will double the bars (one for top and one for bottom) you will need less squares of ice cream.  Line the pan with syran wrap, and then top the ice cream with syran. Wrap each tightly with syran wrap and place into freezer.  And of course, the ice cream is superb on it's own!

Kahlua Ice Cream
2 1/2 cups cream
1 3/4 cup half and half
3/4 cup sugar
2 heaping tbls cocoa powder
2 tbls finely ground coffee
2 tsp vanilla
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup Kahlua

Heat the cream, half and half, 1/2 cup sugar, cocoa powder and the coffee beans over medium heat.  Do not boil, stir occasionally.
While the cream is warming, whisk the eggs yolks and remaining sugar until they turn pale a fluffy.
Temper the yolks with the warm cream by adding a little bit of the cream to the yolks, like 1/2 cup at a time, until the yolks are warmed.  Pour into the cream, add the vanilla and continue to cook over  medium heat, stirring until the custard becomes thick and coats the back of the spoon .  Add Kahlua, remove from heat.  Cool in an ice bath.  If you have the time, let the custard mixture sit in the refrigerator over night; otherwise just follow your ice cream machine manufacturers directions.

I placed the ice cream directly from the maker to my syran wrap lined pan, and then froze it (see tips above), making for easy cutting and molding.

Chocolate Chip Kahlua Bar Cookies
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp  vanilla
2 eggs
1/2 cup Kahlua
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups flour
16 oz chocolate chunks or chips

Cream butter, and sugars.  Add vanilla, and each egg, one at a time.  Add Kahlua.  Sift together the salt, baking powder and soda and the flour.  Add to butter mixture.  Add 16 oz of chocolate chunks, mix.  Drop as cookies or use a rubber spatula to mold into the pan.  I used a 10"x15"- this does make a bit of a thick cookie, you could use a full cookie sheet for thinner bars.  Bake 20-30 minutes at 350 degrees, until the top is golden and the middle is set.