On April 12 I was lucky enough to attend the Pillsbury Bake-Off® Contest in Orlando Florida.  It is truly an amazing event – imagine 100 finalists cooking at 100 ranges all in one big room.  These home cooks worked hard and it made me nervous just to watch them try to win the grand prize of 1 million dollars!  The Pillsbury Bake-Off® is held every two years and this year there was a new twist.  The winner was officially announced on the Oprah Winfrey show on April 14th.  Can you imagine being on Oprah and winning a million dollars?  I would have fainted!

Sue Compton reacts after Oprah Winfrey announces the Delanco, N.J. woman’s recipe for Mini Ice Cream Cookie Cups as the grand prize winner of the 44th Pillsbury Bake-Off® Contest Wed., April 14, live on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” Compton receives a $1 million prize and a GE Profile™ Induction Free-Standing Range and $7,000 worth of GE Profile™ kitchen appliances.

Sue’s recipe is an easy make-ahead recipe that will make a fun and impressive dessert for any spring or summer gathering. 

Mini Ice Cream Cookie Cups
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Start to Finish: 45 minutes

1 package (16 oz) Pillsbury® Ready to Bake!™ refrigerated sugar cookies (24 cookies)
4 teaspoons sugar
1/3 cup Fisher® Chef’s Naturals® Chopped Walnuts, finely chopped
1/2 cup Hershey’s® semi-sweet chocolate baking chips

1/4 cup Smucker’s® Seedless Red Raspberry Jam
1 1/2 cups vanilla bean ice cream, softened
24 fresh raspberries

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 24 mini muffin cups with Crisco® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray. Place 1 cookie dough round in each muffin cup. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.
2. Place 2 teaspoons of the sugar in small bowl. Dip end of wooden spoon handle in sugar; carefully press into center of each cookie to make 1-inch-wide indentation. Cool completely in pan, about 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in small bowl, mix walnuts and remaining 2 teaspoons sugar; set aside. In small microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips uncovered on High 30 to 60 seconds, stirring after 30 seconds, until smooth.
4. Run knife around edges of cups to loosen; gently remove from pan. Dip rim of each cup into melted chocolate, then into walnut mixture. Place walnut side up on cookie sheet with sides.
5. In another small microwavable bowl, microwave jam uncovered on High about 15 seconds until melted. Spoon 1/2 teaspoon jam into each cup. Freeze cups about 5 minutes or until chocolate is set.
6. Spoon ice cream into cups, using small cookie scoop or measuring tablespoon. Top each cup with fresh raspberry; serve immediately.
24 tartlets

We also had a Meijer shopper as a finalist.  Nancy Roth made Raspberry-Chipolte Brownies with Chocolate Ganache and yes, they  are as delicious as they sound.  Try Nancy’s recipe and those from all hundred finalists at bakeoff.com.

Interested in becoming a finalist?  They will start accepting recipes for the next Pillsbury Bake-Off® in just 8 months.  Time to start cooking!