Mud Pie Meet Pazookie

When I was young, my favorite dessert to order in restaurants was mud pie. Red Robin's had this version called 'Mile-High Mud Pie' which WAS nearly as tall as a gratte-ciel (oh how I love that French word for sky-scraper nearly as much as the pie!). It was half vanilla, half chocolate ice cream with a chocolate cookie crust and layer, drizzled heavily with chocolate and caramel sauce, loaded with whipped cream, and crowned with a cherry. I was usually generous and shared with my friends, although I could have easily consumed the entire thing in one sitting.

Yeah, I'm lucky I don't weigh 500 pounds because I do LOVE my desserts. Especially ice cream. Maybe I could live on ice cream for a week and see how it goes. A relative of Ryan's did that for a week or so and LOST weight. That's what I'm talking about.

The best mud pie, though, was at Spaghetti Factory. Mocha Almond Fudge ice cream, a Oreo-like cookie crust, a thick, coffee-flavored whipped cream top layer with chocolate shavings and sliced almonds. I would reach a state of near-bliss with every bite. THAT I wasn't too generous with. It was too small for sharing. Yes, I can be selfish at times. We'll just get you your own...won't complain about that, will you?

But I think my mud pie days are numbered. A new favored dessert is in town. I have to put the blame on my sister-in-law for this one. She introduced me to these amazing treats. BJ's Pazookies. A large half-baked cookie piled with a large scoop of vanilla ice cream. The cookies come in several flavors, like white chocolate-macadamia nut and oatmeal raisin, baked in a cast-iron skillet, the ones they use to make their famous deep-dish pizzas.

A now, since your mouth is watering, I'll let you in on a little secret: it isn't necessary to leave the comfort of your own home to savor the flavor of the Pazookie. Ryan and I created our own personal Pazookie in his mother's cast iron skillet one night. It was a bit larger than the one at BJ's, but who's complaining? ;-) We finished nearly every bite. Throwing together a batch of his favorite oatmeal cookie dough, using about 2/3 of the dough, we baked it until it was slightly undercooked, as the skillet continues cooking after it is removed from the oven.

And never fear...we topped it with a generous helping of Breyer's vanilla ice cream. Delightful.