Baked Snowballs

I woke up this morning to find a recipe for Baked Snowballs on my phone that sounded fun and yummy!! And since my Dad and Alan are out of town this week, I immediately decided that Ryan and I would make these tonight after we had dinner {if he was good}, even though it feels more like spring outside right now than winter.

I love finding new and fun things to do and try with my boy!!

We had all the ingredients except for vanilla wafers, chocolate syrup, and maraschino cherries so we stopped by Target this afternoon in between taking dinner to a friend/having a playdate and getting Ryan's haircut. Then we ran by Chick-fil-A to get some grilled chicken nuggets {Ryan lives on chicken nuggets, which is a good thing because he won't eat much else these days} and headed home to eat dinner and enjoy our ice cream treats.

These were quick and easy to make, turned out super cute {although the chocolate syrup ran everywhere}, and were quite tasty too! I am still amazed that they stayed frozen while baking in the hot oven -- pretty cool! Here is the recipe ...

Baked Snowballs
from FamilyFun Magazine

Ingredients:
12 vanilla or chocolate wafer cookies
6 scoops of your favorite ice cream
3 egg whites at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Chocolate syrup, sprinkles, and Maraschino cherries

Instructions:
1. Break each cookie into several small pieces and divide them evenly among six 3-inch ramekins, pressing them into the bottom of each. Fill each ramekin with ice cream, using the back of a spoon to smooth it level at the top. Place the ramekins on a cookie sheet in the freezer while you prepare the snow (meringue).

2. Heat the oven to 500º. Place the egg whites in a medium-size bowl and whip them with an electric beater set at medium-high speed until they resemble soap bubbles. Add the cream of tartar and continue beating until soft peaks form (now it will look like shaving cream). While you continue beating, add the sugar 1 tablespoon at a time and then the vanilla extract. Continue beating until shiny, stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes. Now you have your snow!

3. Remove the ramekins from the freezer and spread the snow meringue over the top of each with a spatula, taking care to completely cover the ice cream. This "blanket of snow" is what insulates the ice cream, keeping it cold in the hot oven. Bake the snowballs on the cookie sheet until the tops are golden brown, about 1 to 3 minutes. Watch them carefully; they brown quickly. Garnish the snowballs with chocolate syrup, sprinkles, and cherries, and serve. Makes 6.

Ryan wasn't thrilled with the "snow" or the cherry or the cookie crumbs, for that matter. Have I mentioned that this boy is ridiculously picky and also very particular about the texture of his foods, which must match up to what he is expecting before even taking a bite. Take ice cream or yogurt for example. In Ryan's opinion, these foods are intended to be smooth; thus, no chunks allowed, or he picks out every.last.one.of.them! So after he attempted a bite of the meringue, I scrapped it all off and he just ate the ice cream minus the cookie chunks :), and thoroughly enjoyed himself all the same!