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!]

Free Ice Cream week a success..for me at least!

Unfortunately here in New England Free Ice Cream week was sort of a wash out, rather damp and cold, but for me any weather calls for ice cream...seriously there is no excuse. Luckily I only live near one of the three ice cream chains offering free ice cream days but the temptation was definitely there to go out of the way to hit another, the good old Ben and Jerry's. But as the crazy cost of gas skyrockets, and with a car that only takes premium, to get there was more than a cone would have cost had it not been free so I nixed that option.

So anyways, I used my three year old as a good excuse to take advantage of Baskin Robbins 31 cent scoop day and we were off. Interestingly the store near me is actually at a rest stop/visitors center (that and a Dunkin Donuts....another great reason to go there) but its accessible from a fantastic bike path not far from my house. But again, the weather was damp and cold, so we took the lazy man's route and drove....so pathetic! We've been there numerous times and its somewhat new but never many people. Seriously we get there and families were all abuzz. Amazing what 31 cent scoops will do. I could have easily just sat, watched, and listened to the discussions around me. It really is more of a sociology experiment if you ask me. So on to the ice cream. Me, I went for the Chocolate Peanut Butter...super creamy chocolate ice cream with smooth, thick bands of peanut butter ribbon throughout. I give it 5 stars for its creaminess, texture, and flavor. My daughter wanted the yellow one (why do kids choose by color?) which was a basic vanilla, not so exciting, but the fun part for her was that for the first time she enjoyed it on a cone. I was very scared about the mess but she downed the scoop so it never had time to melt! But the kicker was that the scoop was 31 cents and if you wanted the cone it was an additional 40 cents! Guess they have to make there money one way but sort of false advertising to me.

Well I made my money back because as I waited in line I noticed others having quarts packed....seriously is it that good of a bargain? Well I was easily persuaded by those around me and was sold. I walked away with two pints which they counted as 5 scoops each. Where do you get a pint of premium ice cream for $1.55. Wow, what a deal. I was very tempted earlier by York Peppermint Patty, vanilla with tons of mini peppermint patties and bands of dark mint chocolate ribboned throughout, so that called my name and then I had to bring some home for Scott and he loves oreo cookie . So one cone, one dish, and 2 pints later, oh and for a whopping $4.12 we had a superduper ice cream night!

Free Ice Cream Week Observations
Baskin Robbins 31 cent Scoop Day
-a cone was not included in the 31 cents scoop deal
-10 scoops per person
-you could fill a pint or quart with 31 cent scoops (which I joyfully skipped away with!)

Ben and Jerry's Free Scoop Day
-Free scoop was limited to six certain flavors
(which I believe is new because I have been in the past and its any flavor but a friend went and was disapponted to find out that you could only choose certain kinds. I'll have to find out what those were. I would be interested to know if they were based on favorites or possibly cost. If Cake Batter is an option I am there next year!)

Did you take advantage of Free Ice Cream week? We'd love to hear from you!

Stay tuned for my version of an Ice Cream Cupcake and we can't wait to see what you all come up with! (see previous post for details)