Peanut Butter Lover’s Ice Cream
Now, you know I am one of the world’s biggest peanut butter lovers. I put peanut butter on nearly everything, and make no apologies for it. I’ve loved peanut butter since I was a kid; so much so, that I even had a peanut butter and jelly sleeping bag. Given my affinity for the stuff, it’s hard to believe that I never experienced peanut butter ice cream until I went away to college. The main dining hall at my college had an ice cream freezer where you could scoop your own ice cream on the way out. Once of the ice creams was peanut butter swirl, which was was peanut butter ice cream with an unbelievable peanut butter swirl in the middle. That ice cream played a pivotal role in my packing on the freshman fifteen, but I couldn’t quit it if I tried.
How it has taken me nearly five years of having an ice cream maker to make straight-up peanut butter ice cream is beyond me. The important thing, however, is that I did it and that it is absolutely, positively amazing. If you love peanut butter, this ice cream is for you.
To make this ice cream, I used my favorite vanilla ice cream recipe, omitted the vanilla bean and added peanut butter, then swirled in more melted peanut butter as I transferred the ice cream to its container. Basically, this is a peanut butter lover’s dream. It’s like eating big spoonfuls of smooth, creamy, cold peanut butter. I certainly mean that in the best way possible.
While I think this is definitely peanut butter ice cream in the purest form possible, you could throw even more layers of flavors in here if you’d like. You could add a fudge swirl, peanut butter cups, or any number of other add-ins. You could also scoop this into a bowl, drizzle on some hot fudge and top with whipped cream. I’ve been eating it by the spoonful from the container. I’m not here to judge how you eat your ice cream.
It may have been a long time coming, but this peanut butter ice cream was absolutely worth the wait.
What’s your favorite way to enjoy peanut butter ice cream?
One year ago: Rainbow Ribbon Jello
Two years ago: Oil and Vinegar Coleslaw
Three years ago: Quiche Lorraine Pizza
Four years ago: Eggplant Lasagna Tart with Parmesan-Basil Crust
Five years ago: Beef Wellington
Peanut Butter Lover's Ice Cream
Ingredients
For the Ice Cream:
- 1 cup (244 ml) whole milk
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (129 g) creamy peanut butter
- 2 cups (476 ml) heavy cream, divided
- Pinch of salt
- 6 egg yolks
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
For the Peanut Butter Swirl:
- ½ cup (129 g) creamy peanut butter, melted and cooled slightly
Instructions
- Warm the milk, sugar, peanut butter, 1 cup of the heavy cream and the salt in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved and the peanut butter has melted. Continue cooking until the mixture comes to a slight simmer, bubbling around the edges of the pan.
- Meanwhile, pour the remaining 1 cup heavy cream into a large bowl and place a fine-mesh sieve on top. Whisk the egg yolks in a medium bowl. Slowly pour the warmed milk mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly. Scrape the mixture back into the saucepan.
- Place the saucepan over medium heat and stir constantly with a rubber spatula, being sure to scrape the bottom of the pan as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the spatula, a few minutes. The mixture should register 170 to 175 degrees F on an instant-read digital thermometer.
- Pour the custard through the fine-mesh sieve and stir it into the cream. Stir in the vanilla extract and place the bowl over an ice bath. Stir occasionally, until the mixture is cool. Cover and transfer the custard to the refrigerator until completely chilled, at least 8 hours or overnight.
- Freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. As you remove the ice cream to a freezer-safe container, drop dollops of the melted peanut butter over each layer of ice cream. Once all of the ice cream and peanut butter has been placed in the container, use a butter knife to gently swirl the mixture. Store the ice cream in the freezer.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
Question more than reply. Step 1 you’re melting peanut butter with milk etc. in last step you’re swirling more melted peanut butter? Please clarify.
This is the best, creamiest ice cream I have ever made.
Haven’t tested the outcome yet, it’s still cooling in the fridge, but based on the taste tests i’ve done – this should be good.
I skipped the swirl. Instead I grabbed milk chocolate, melted in a pan with chunky PB, spread it out on greaseproof paper and let set in the fridge. The plan is to crush it and put it in the machine while churning – leaving some to ad before serve.
I am looking for a plain peanut butter ice cream recipe = can I omit the peanut butter swirl, or will it affect the flavor? Thank you!!
Hi Janet, You can absolutely do that. Enjoy!
How much is a serving
I followed this recipe exactly as written, and the ice cream turned out way too custard-y and rich. It had an unusual chewy texture too. It’s the first time I’ve made ice cream with egg yolks, so I don’t know if egg-based ice creams are supposed to have these characteristics?
People who had made this icecream & commented on here seemed to have really liked it, so maybe it’s just a personal preference that I have for the more traditional non-custard ice creams without any eggs.
The flavour was not entirely bad though, so I might try it again- maybe with 1 or 2 egg yolks instead.
Holy smokes. This is epic. Incredible. Easy. Creamy. Perfection.
I’ve never made ice cream this smooth before! I believe it was the step for sieving the egg custard before the final step of mixing and freezing. It removed any milk or egg solids. The flavor was amazing and even my husband, who isn’t a huge fan of peanut butter, scraped his bowl clean.
If I have one 250ml single cream and one 250ml thick cream – which one do I use for which part?
I’m a macaron baker and am always tossing my egg yolks, so I occasionally whip up some ice cream when I’m in the mood. I absolutely love everything peanut butter and I know Michelle does too, so I had to try this one. OMGosh, I’m trying hard not to finish the whole batch, but I can’t stop thinking about it. My freezer keeps calling me to take a spoonful. It’s so smooth and oh so peanutty, I just love it. I’m tempted to make a peanut butter shake, but I want it to last as long as possible. I have posted a picture on my Instagram – Betsysmacarons if you want to see how it turned out. Enjoy!
I made this and made a last minute decision to leave out the swirled pb and instead add crushed up peanut butter Oreos. The custard is so smooth and delicious. Very easy recipe. I will try the swirl next.
I have a peanut butter loving husband, dad and advisor, so I’m making genius kitchen’s soft peanut butter cookies then filling them with your ice cream for the ultimate peanut butter ice cream sandwich :) The only question…. to roll them in crushed peanuts or not?!
Oooooh yes, yes!
Delicious! My husband makes this ice cream and it is my all time favorite! It is super smooth and creamy!
Whether you are a novice in the kitchen or you are a professional. I am an intermediate if you like peanut butter you need and I mean need to make this ice cream. It is unbelievably good ice cream. The flavor the texture and ease are superior. Haagen-Dazs has nothing on this. I could go on forever. I have made a quart and it is gone luckily I have a two quart ice cream maker and I have the custard in the fridgerator now for two quarts. I only made on tiny change and that was to put one full cup of peanut butter in this custard. Everything else I did as you said and I cannot stop eating this. There is no dinner made we had peanut butter cones for dinner tonight. Thank you. For the novice I recommend that you use the sieve you do not want custard pieces that set in the cooking in your ice cream. That is why you use the sieve.
Another of your 5 STAR recipes! Excellent! I used JIF creamy PB..this ice cream is amazing..as is your Vanilla Bean and your Chocolate! Thank you so very much for sharing….oh I forgot to mention your Carmel Sauce…fabulous too!
Very delicious ice cream. You don’t know how many frozen dairy desserts ( no eggs) recipes I had to wade through, until I found your ice cream recipe. Loved it.
I made chocolate chocolate chip cookies, so we could make ice cream sandwiches. It is rare, that I don’t have to make adjustments to a recipe, this one is a keeper.
Oh my goodness! I’m in heaven! I have just started my ice cream maker addiction and when I saw this recipe, I had to try it immediately. The ice cream if finishing in the freezer right now, but I have to admit that there is only half a batch left. I kept “sampling” along the way and then my husband came home as it was churning and insisted he had to try a good portion of it to approve it. :) I use organic, no sugar added peanut butter and it appears that it doesn’t melt. So next time, I will try something different for the swirl, but even with that little hitch, it’s delicious. Thank you for the wonderful recipe.
Tried this recipe and loved how it came out ! I am not a huge peanut butter fan myself but I absolutely loved this.
I just made this, literally just now. I’m not a PB lover at all, but this is delish. I did do a couple of tweaks, such as using half and half, and crunchy PB in the ice cream, and it tasted so good after only 10 mins churning in the kitchenaid I nearly didn’t add the swirl. Yummy
This was creamy peanut buttery deliciousness! However, I would recommend using a no stir variety of peanut butter. I used a “creamy” natural (stir in the oil at the top of the jar) kind of peanut butter and it had little gritty bits of peanuts throughout. When I strained my mixture the bits clogged up my strainer, so I ended up using a nut milk bag to squeeze everything through. I bought a jar of skippy to make the swirl, because I wanted a smooth final product, and all ended well. :)
Made this ice cream this weekend and it was delicious! My family thought it was the best ice cream I ever made. Thank you for this wonderful recipe.
Used your recipe but substituted average peanut butter with
Manna Organics Toasted Coconut Cashew Butter.
This is what icecream tastes like in heaven!
I am just seeing this recipe (thanks to Googling “peanut butter ice cream”) even though it is a year later. I am commenting ONLY to tell you that when I was a kid, my dad taught me to put a thin layer of peanut butter on hot dogs. Yes. Peanut butter on hot dogs. Thin layer, slathered right on top of the hot dog, not on the bun. I still have one that way in his honor every now and then. :-)
P.S. The ice cream is perfection!
Hi, I have been looking all over for a peanut butter vanilla image for a project I’m working on and yours is one of the only ones I’ve come across. Would you be ok if I use your image? Please just shoot me an email and let me know :)
Thank you so much!
I just made this ice cream today. With a few alterations. It’s really delicious. I didn’t have enough cream so substituted I cup of cream for 1 cup of milk. However with all those egg yolks the custard was still super thick. It took only a minute to thicken up (usually I am stirring for ages…!). For the peanut swirl I added some chocolate to the melted peanut butter. The chocolate seized when I poured it over the ice cream (which I thought it might) so it’s now more like a choc-chip peanut butter ice cream. Still tases amazing though! My only complaint is that after I poured it out of the ice cream maker it doesn’t look like all that much ice cream. Would definitely recommend doubling the recipe.
Oh. My. Gawd. This was amazing! I’ve never made ice cream using eggs, and wasn’t sure what to expect, but WOW! I didn’t have whole milk on hand, so I used almond milk (don’t judge), and it still was phenomenal. Best ice cream I’ve ever made, and one of the best I’ve ever tasted. Thank you!
I made this last week and double the recipe… Man was it ever good… Will be making this again…