Recipe: Three Ingredient Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream

On a whim yesterday I bought Dark Chocolate Dreams Peanut Butter at the brand new Ocean State Job Lot that opened in town. Well, kind of a whim. I went to OSJL because I remembered sometimes they have some different foods, and I was actually hoping I'd get ice cream inspired. I did. (I also bought my dog a lot of treats -- they have a huge variety! -- but don't worry, that won't go into any ice cream.)

Anyway, I decided to try and alter a recipe we wrote about a while back...but I think this is the second time I had a tough time altering this recipe for other uses (though I have had some success too...)

Despite what I keep thinking, peanut butter and Nutella really don't have similar texture or viscosity.

So the ice cream tastes good (basically, it tastes like a peanut butter cup in ice cream form) and Husband likes the taste and the texture, but I put it in the ice cream maker and it didn't really freeze and it seemed like no air mixed in. The texture before freezing was like a rich, dense gelato and the texture after freezing was like a rich, dense gelato. Which might not be a bad thing.

Once frozen, it was still dense (obviously) but it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Like all ice cream, it would benefit from tempering (sitting at room temperature for a few minutes).

In the meantime, here's how you do it and you can be your own judge. 

Mix one 16 ounce jar of Dark Chocolate Dreams (OK, this is starting out to sound like one of those "Recipes for a Successful Marriage" or something you get as a favor at a wedding), one can of sweetened condensed milk, and 1.5 cups of heavy cream.

Put it in the ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer's directions. Warning: it probably won't "freeze" too much.

Next time (if there is a next time) maybe more cream would make it better for freezing?

[Scoopalicious is celebrating National Ice Cream month with a Post-A-Day throughout the month of July!]

Happy National Peanut Butter Day!

Just in the nick of time to wish you all a Happy National Peanut Butter Day! If you didn't get your PB fill today there is always tomorrow! Here are some of our favorites plus an awesome recipe we found on Annie's Eats.

Ben & Jerry's Peanut Butter Tracks

Breyers Blasts! Reeses Peanut Butter Cup

Turkey Hill's Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup

RECIPE: Annie's Eats Peanut Butter Ice Cream

Sundae Sunday

I have to admit, when I make my ice cream, I usually don't put all the fixin's on it, because I like it it in its pure form. But sometimes a sundae is just the right treat.

There's a sundae that I share a passion for with my mom and my cousin Dan. It's a Friendly's creation. The problem is (or is it?) that they only sell it in their five scoop sundae, which is usually a bit too much for me. It's the Reese's^® Pieces^® Sundae which they describe on their site as "... vanilla ice cream, peanut butter and marshmallow toppings, hot fudge, a mound of whipped topping and a cherry. Topped off with delicious Reese's^® Pieces^® ." Ordering it smaller isn't that easy. Dan and I have been twice and the first time they left off the marshmallow! This didn't make us too happy -- while we still enjoyed the marshmallowless creation, we did agree that it was all the ingredients together that made this one so wonderful. In the picture at left, Dan is clearly enjoying every last drop of the marshmallowless sundae so it can't be too bad. Or maybe Dan just sees the world through rose colored glasses...

What's your favorite sundae?

Side note from the trip: We went to the Meadow Glen Mall for our first Reese's^® Pieces^® Sundae trip. The Friendly's is tucked away among the shops so you have to go through the mall to get there. On our way out, we passed a Mini Melts machine. We didn't get any while we were there (too full on sundae) but they looked a lot like Dippin' Dots. I'll have to go and try them out some time soon so I can report back!

[Scoopalicious is celebrating National Ice Cream month with a Post-A-Day throughout the month of July!]

A Childhood Favorite...Peanut Butter & Fluff

Its been awhile and thankfully Bethany has graciously picked up my slack but I am back in ice cream business. It's birthday party week at the Snyder household so a what great excuse to make it an ice cream party. I have been busily cramming to get in as many flavors as possible for Saturday's festivities(and figuring out how to get a princess theme mixed in!). Since the main guests are a bunch of three years old it is only appropriate to serve Peanut Butter & Fluff.

In my favorite(& only) ice cream cookbook I found a fantastic recipe for the peanut butter base. After some research I chose creamy Jif as my peanut butter additive, as others said this gave the best results. It is extremely rich, creamy, and literally tastes like a jar of peanut butter. I do expect it to be too much for some but I give it the thumbs up. I'll let you know what everyone thinks after the party. Hey, the worst thing that could happen is that noone eats it and I have lots of leftovers...yum!

My first challenge in finalizing my ice cream...how does one get a jar of thick and gooey marshmallow to swirl? I was in Whole Foods and highly doubted they carried "Fluff" and luckily found the cutest tub of marshmallow. The brand is Tiny Trapeze Confections, creator of fantastic natural candy and marshmallows, and just the design of the tub alone made me want to buy it (side note I just found out they are in Hyde Park MA...right in our back yard). Once I could get myself to break it open I took Bethany's advice and added a couple tablespoons of milk to thin and voila...marshmallow swirl.

Now my second challenge, how do I get the marshmallow to be perfectly swirled in my ice cream? Well I really wasn't all that successful on this so I think practice will make perfect on this one. I have a KitchenAid ice cream attachment and its contruction does not allow ease of swirling, my biggest complaint. So I tried swirling by hand and gots lots of puddles and strings but although it might not be perfectly swirled I have a feeling it is going to be a hit.

So one day and counting for the verdict and I'll be sure to fill you in on the feedback. Other flavors on the menu...Oreo Cookie, Peanut Butter Cup(I doubled the base and it made tons), Peanut Butter & Fluff, Triple Chocolate, Confetti Cake Batter, Coffee, Mint Chocolate Chip, and I am hoping I can fit in one more kid-friendly flavor and of course all the fixins will be had too.

Oh and I found these cute little dishes to give as favors. Happy 3rd Birthday Holly!