Peanut Butter Ice Cream is an old-fashioned flavor. However, making ice cream at home during the summer is an old-fashioned past-time. A peanut butter flavored ice cream makes sense!
Old-Fashioned and Delicious
I would highly recommend buying a modernized ice cream freezer. I remember the old, electric ice cream churn that my grandmother used. She would spend the entire afternoon loading it up with rock salt and ice. Of course, the result was worth the effort.
These days you can buy ice cream makers that don’t require ice nor salt, such a convenience when you live out in the country like we do.
There is a booklet of recipes that comes with the ice cream freezers. I noticed that many of the recipes are not cooked like my custard based Peanut Butter Ice Cream recipe. I have tried uncooked ice cream recipes, without much success. Cooking a French style custard for a ice cream always has a smoother, richer texture, in my opinion. The ice crystals seem less noticeable. However, for convenience sake, I might try an uncooked recipe again in the future.
Smooth, nutty texture
But for the this recipe, I wanted as rich and smooth of a texture as possible, so I cooked it. Also, be warned that natural peanut butter is not recommended for this recipe. Use a conventional type of peanut butter, the type that includes a vegetable shortening on their ingredient list. Those types of peanut butter will not separate and will contribute to that smooth riche texture we are going for.
Also, try pairing this recipe with Chocolate Shell Topping and a few chopped roasted peanuts for an excellent sundae. If your ice cream is well made, however, it doesn’t need a lot of fanfare. A single scoop of home-made Peanut Butter Ice Cream is all you need to have a wonderful summer ice cream memory.
Peanut Butter Ice Cream is rich, delicious and nutty
- Prep Time: 9 hrs 20 minutes
- Total Time: 24 hours
- Yield: 12 servings 1x
Ingredients
1 cup whole milk (240ml)
¾ cup granulated sugar (150g)
½ cup creamy peanut butter (130g)
2 cups heavy cream, divided (480 ml)
Pinch of salt
6 egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (10ml)
Instructions
Warm the milk, sugar, peanut butter, 1 cup of heavy cream and salt in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved and the peanut butter has melted. Simmer for 1-2 minutes until the mixture bubbles around the edges of the pan. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
Add the egg yolks to a large mixing bowl. Whisk well with a wire whisk or electric hand mixer. Add large spoonfuls of the warm peanut butter milk mixture to egg yolks, whisking well between additions. Whisk in all of the warm peanut butter milk in this fashion. Once combined, pour the mixture back into the saucepan.
Place the saucepan back on the stove and heat over medium flame until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the spoon. Stir constantly to avoid scorching. The mixture should register (170°F – 175°F/79°C-77°C) on an instant-read digital thermometer.
Add the remaining heavy cream to a large clean mixing bowl. Whisk in the warm peanut butter custard.* Add the vanilla. Cover the bowl and allow to cool to room temperature, about 1 hour. Place in the refrigerator to chill overnight, at least 8 hours.
Pour the mixture into your ice cream maker. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for churning and freezing the ice cream.
Find a container for storing your ice cream after it is churned. I prefer to use a 5″ x 9″ (12.7cm x 23cm) loaf pan with a piece of parchment paper lining the bottom interior. You can also use a 2 qt/2lt plastic food storage container.
Scoop the ice cream into your storage container. Place in the freezer for at least 24 hours for ice cream to set.
Notes
If you had trouble with adding the hot liquid to the eggs and the eggs curdled, simply strain through a mesh strainer to remove the lumps.
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