Who doesn't enjoy an ice cream scoop on a warm summer day?? And what could be better than homemade ice cream that's both creamy and packed with flavor? In this article we'll be sharing a simple yet delicious recipe for peanut butter ice cream that's sure to be a hit with your family and friends this recipe is easy to make, requires just a few ingredients and can be customized to suit your taste preferences. So let's get started!
Gather the Ingredients
Making your own peanut butter ice cream is easier than you'd think! Here are the necessary ingredients:
- 2 cups of heavy cream
- 1/2 cup of sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 3/4 cup of creamy peanut butter
- 6 large egg yolks
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
These ingredients may be ordinary, but together they create something extraordinary. The rich cream and sugar will form the custard base for your ice cream. This custard is then flavored with salt and creamy peanut butter, and enhanced with the flavor and texture brought out by the egg yolks and vanilla extract. Now that you have all the ingredients ready, let's move on to making your ice cream!
Making the Ice Cream Base
Great job with prepping the ingredients! It's now time to make the ice cream base.. To start, grab a medium saucepan and combine the milk, cream, granulated sugar and a pinch of kosher salt. Then, place the saucepan over medium heat and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved—about 3-4 minutes. Once that's done, take off the heat and transfer immediately into a medium bowl.
Next, in a separate bowl whisk together egg yolks and cornstarch together until light in color. Then take about ¼ cup of the hot cream mixture from earlier and whisk it into the bowl with egg yolks and cornstarch. Then pour that mixture back into your saucepan with hot cream and whisk constantly over low heat until thickened—this should take around 3-5 minutes.
Once it's thickened, pour your mixture through a mesh strainer into another large bowl or pitcher; this will help remove any bits of cooked eggs. Finally, add in your peanut butter while whisking until fully incorporated. Now you have your creamy peanut butter ice cream base ready to go!
Add the Peanut Butter Flavor
Now it's time to make your ice cream peanut buttery delicious. All you need to do is add 1/4 cup of creamy peanut butter to the mixture, and stir until it's fully incorporated into the ice cream base.
Adding peanut butter at this stage helps ensure that the flavor evenly distributes throughout the ice cream. The longer you mix, the smoother and creamier your peanut butter flavor will become. The same goes for any other mix-ins you want to add, like chocolate chips or chopped peanuts.
Choosing Peanut Butter
When it comes to choosing a peanut butter for your recipe, look no further than creamy varieties. Natural and organic options work just as well as their processed counterparts, and are a great way to make sure that your ice cream is healthy and flavorful.
You can also experiment with different types of nut butters, such as almond or cashew butter — just make sure they're also creamy so that they mix well with the other ingredients.
Freeze the Mixture
Now that your mixture is ready, it's time to freeze it. Keep in mind that freezing the mixture slowly makes for a smoother, creamier ice cream than if you rush the process.
To begin freezing, pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and set the machine to stir. Make sure you check the manufacturer's instructions first, as different ice cream makers will have different directions. Once you turn the machine on, it should stir for about 25 minutes or until the peanut butter ice cream reaches a thick and creamy consistency.
You can also freeze the mixture in an airtight container if you don't have an ice cream maker—all you need to do is stir it with a spoon every 30 minutes for about 2-3 hours until it's reached your desired texture.
So there you go! Now that your creamy peanut butter ice cream is ready, take out your favorite bowl and scoop yourself a generous portion of this delicious treat!
Churning the Ice Cream
Now that you've prepped the ingredients, it's time to put them together! This is where the ice cream machine comes in—take out the chilled bowl from the freezer, and put it in your ice cream maker.
Follow the instructions of your ice cream maker, but generally speaking you should:
Add the mixture to the machine and turn it on
Churn for about 20 minutes. You'll know when it's ready when it looks like a thick gallon of soft-serve ice cream.
Open up the lid and add in your mix-ins—start with ¼ cup of chopped roasted almonds and ¼ cup of crushed pretzels to give it a salty-sweet flavor.
Put on the lid again and churn for another 5 minutes or until everything is well blended together.
Transfer your freshly churned peanut butter ice cream into a container and freeze for at least 4 hours before serving. Enjoy!
Optional Mix-Ins for Adding More Flavor
If you want to take your peanut butter ice cream to the next level, you can add different mix-ins for added flavor and texture. The possibilities are endless when it comes to what you can add, but some popular ideas are:
- Chocolate chips (or chunks)
- Pecans, walnuts or other nuts
- Crushed cookies or Oreos
- Butterscotch chips
- Coconut flakes
- Caramel sauce
When adding mix-ins to your ice cream, make sure not to mix in too much as too much of one flavor can overpower the taste. Depending on what you're adding, you can either add them before freezing or after churning for a more homogeneous effect.
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