Peanut Butter Ice Cream

Believe it or not, I hated peanut butter as a kid. Reese’s cups made me cringe.  And then somewhere along the way, the heavens opened and I saw the light.  Peanut Butter Ice Cream is all that is divinely decadent about this lovely condiment (or food group, depending on your level of dedication).  If you don’t puree the ice cream base the entire way, you end up with nice, big chunks of peanut butter loveliness throughout.  Using fat free half and half makes it a little less guilty– but no less divine.  You won’t even miss the extra calories.  🙂

What are we waiting for?  Let’s do this!

Peanut Butter Ice Cream

(very lightly adapted from David Lebovitz’ The Perfect Scoop)

Ingredients:

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

Heaping 3/4 cup sugar

2 2/3 cup fat free half and half creamer

Pinch salt

1/4 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together in a blender and process in ice cream maker as per manufacturer instructions.

So easy. SOOOOOO delicious!  You’ll be eating divine Peanut Butter Ice Cream in no time! 🙂

 

Peanut butter is at once wholesome and high end.  It can be just as comfortable in a decadent chocolate silk pie with peanut butter mousse as it is gracing a humble peanut butter and jelly sandwich for your first grader’s lunchbox.  It dresses up and down very well.  And if I do say so myself, this gorgeous handmade ceramic dish from VIB Ceramics makes the decadent smear even more beautiful. 🙂  I mean, seriously.  That Greek blue looks like it should belong to a goddess. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.

A few months ago I treated myself to an ice cream machine.  I researched many models– between the “freeze the bowl in the freezer and have to move it every time you are digging around for frozen peas” variety, to the classic “add rock salt and ice and try not to get this mixture into your custard, and prepare to have the best biceps in town” kind.  But I went for the compressor variety– and trust me, I read hundreds (truly HUNDREDS) of reviews before getting this one.  And I think it’s the most fun “I don’t need this at all. It’s totally frivolous and makes me happy every single time I see it” kitchen gadget I’ve had in years.  Treat yourself to ice cream without all the preservatives.  You can make low fat, low sugar varieties, gelatos, sorbets, granitas, sherbets . . . you can (shhhh!) even turn protein shakes into ice cream.  You’re oh so welcome.

There are a million ice cream recipes out there, just the same as there are many different ice cream makers out there.

But if you can only have one of each, I say go with the best.

Best ice cream maker (in my humble opinion): Cuisinart ICE-100 Compressor Ice Cream and Gelato Maker

Best ice cream book, bar none: The Perfect Scoop, by David Lebovitz.

Life is too short to have anything but the best when it comes to ice cream. Just my two cents.

So take these recipe ingredients.  Mix them together. You can mix them using a food processor, a blender, a mixer . . . even a whisk if you don’t have any power tools.  This is seriously one of the easiest recipes ever– and perfect for kids to help with.  Mix, chill, churn.  If you don’t puree the mixture completely, then your ice cream will have nice ripples of peanut butter throughout.  Mmmmmmmm!  You can even stir in some Reese’s Pieces or chopped peanuts in at the end, if you want some serious peanut butter punch.  The author stirs in grape jelly at the end for ripples of peanut butter and jelly ice cream, but personally I think the PB base is so good that it doesn’t even need any add ins.  It’s perfect on its own.

Place into your ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer directions (in mine this takes about 30 minutes if I have chilled the liquid, or 40 if I just go right after mixing my ingredients– which are still fairly cold since your half and half was already in the fridge).

It’s delicious.  It’s easy.  Let the kids help measure and stir– they will be proud, and you will be happy too.

Peanut Butter Paradise? You’d better believe it.

You did it. And I’m just so proud of you.

 

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