Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream
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Another peanut butter and chocolate recipe? Yup, that’s because the next birthday was Joseph’s. Now, one of the very first things I learned about Joseph was his love of chocolate and raspberries together, so the obvious choice would have been the most amazing chocolate raspberry cake ever, but that is one mondo cake and I didn’t want anything that delicious and that big sitting in the kitchen tempting me. Also, his birthday was on a Tuesday and since we’d been busy the weekend before hanging out with my sister and brother-in-law, I hadn’t had any time to get anything ready ahead of time. I needed something that I could come home from work and whip up quickly so we could go out to dinner and enjoy ourselves.
And I know that the traditional thing to do is to bake a cake, but for some reason, ice cream just felt right. Very close behind chocolate and raspberry, Joseph’s next favorite dessert flavor combo is chocolate and peanut butter and when I found this recipe from Recipe Girl (yes, two chocolate peanut butter recipes in a row and they are both from Recipe Girl – totally coincidental!), I knew I had found the perfect recipe.
Unlike most of the ice creams that I usually make, this ice cream is not custard-based (the French style), meaning it doesn’t have eggs. Which means you don’t have to stand over a stove stirring eggs and waiting for the perfect consistency and then cooling the mixture and getting on with making your ice cream. No. All you have to do for this recipe is mix up some milk, cream, sugar, peanut butter, and vanilla, throw it in the ice cream maker, toss in some chopped peanut butter cups, let it harden a little in the freezer, and you’re good to go. It is so EASY.
So I came home from work, whipped up the base, churned the ice cream cream while I cleaned up and wrapped Joseph’s present, finished it off with the peanut butter cups, and I was done and we were off for a lovely dinner out (sushi!). When we got home, the ice cream was waiting in the freezer, so all I had to do was scoop some out and stick a candle in his bowl.
It was really the perfect way to make something that he would love while still getting to hang out with him and celebrate his birthday. I do admit that I still prefer the rich creaminess of custard based ice cream, but if you’re crunched for time and you’re looking for something easy, you really can’t beat this ice cream. Oh, and you know what else? It is phenomenal topped with some hot fudge sauce.
peanut butter cup ice cream
I strongly recommend serving with some hot fudge sauce if you want to really take this ice cream over the top. You can also make the ice cream with mini peanut butter cups instead of cutting up the full-sized ones.
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups smooth peanut butter
- 3/4 cup granulated white sugar
- 1 1/4 cups whole milk
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups chopped chocolate peanut butter cups (10 regular-sized peanut butter cups) or mini peanut butter cups
Directions
- In a medium mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to combine the peanut butter and sugar until smooth. Add the milk and mix on low until the sugar is fully dissolved, at least two minutes. Mix in the heavy cream and vanilla and beat until well combined and smooth.
- Turn on your ice cream machine, pour the base in the freezer bowl, and let mix until thickened, about 25 to 30 minutes. A couple of minutes before you're ready stop the mixing, add in the chopped peanut butter cups. If there's not enough room to add the peanut butter cups, mix the peanut butter cup pieces in the ice cream in in a bowl once the ice cream has churned fully. The ice cream will be a soft-serve consistency. You can eat it right away, or freeze to eat later. If you freeze it for later, it will will get hard, so let it sit out for a few minutes before you try to scoop it.