Chocolate Fudge Swirl Peanut Butter Ice Cream

My daughter and her boyfriend have an obsession for peanut butter, so it got me thinking about what I could make with peanut butter. I wanted a WOW! factor though, so it had to be good. Brandon had already made Peanut Butter and Jelly cookies this week and they were fabulous! He found the recipe on the Food network. I'm not quite sure what recipe he used, but if I find out I'll share it.

Since it's been extremely warm this past week I decided I would look for an ice cream recipe. A PEANUT BUTTER ICE CREAM RECIPE! Sound impossible? Well I did find several recipes, but I decide on a recipe I found on the Brown Eyed Baker.

This ice cream recipe is super easy to make. Last year I had a fiasco when making ice cream. It kind of turned me(and my family) off from making ice cream again. The Brown Eyed Baker had rave reviews for this ice cream so I thought I would give it a try. My family (and daughter's boyfriend, he's a foodie at heart) were excited about trying this yummy looking treat.

Well long story short, everyone loved, I mean loved this ice cream.The only thing that I would do differently when making this treat is to double the ice cream amount. The fudge sauce and the peanut butter patties are sufficient, but it lacks the ice cream. We all figured if the ice cream was double it would be perfect. So If you like peanut butter and chocolate give this a try. I think it tastes like a Reese Peanut Butter Cup.

Chocolate Fudge Swirl Peanut Butter Ice Cream
Yield: 1 quart
Prep Time: 30 minutes Chill Time: 8 hours Churn Time: 20 minutes
2 cups half-and-half
¼ cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
½ cup granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
½ cup smooth peanut butter
Fudge Ripple (recipe follows)
Peanut Butter Patties (recipe follows)
Fudge Ripple
½ cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup
½ cup water
6 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Whisk together the sugar, corn syrup, water, and cocoa powder in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture begins to bubble at the edges. Continue to whisk until it just comes to a low boil. Cook for 1 minute, whisking frequently. Remove from the heat, stir in the vanilla, and let cool. Chill in the refrigerator before using. (Fudge Ripple can be stored for up to 2 weeks, covered, in the refrigerator.)
Peanut Butter Patties
6 tablespoons peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
Mix together the peanut butter and confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl. Line a dinner plate with plastic wrap. Pinch off small pieces of the peanut butter mixture, about ½ teaspoon each, and drop them onto the dinner plate. Once you’ve used all of the mixture, freeze the patties. (The patties can be stored in the freezer, well wrapped, for up to 1 month.)
To Make the Ice Cream:
1. Whisk together the half-and-half, cocoa powder, granulated sugar, and salt in a large saucepan over medium heat. Heat the mixture, whisking frequently, until it comes to a full, rolling boil (it will start to foam up). Remove from the heat and whisk in the peanut butter, stirring until thoroughly blended.
2. Chill mixture thoroughly, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions. Fold in the Peanut Butter Patties when it has finished churning. Just before you remove the ice cream from the machine, spoon some of the Fudge Ripple onto the bottom of the storage container. As you remove the ice cream from the machine, layer generous spoonfuls of the sauce between layers of ice cream. Avoid stirring the Fudge Ripple, as it will make the ice cream muddy.
*Note: A tip of sorts – after I made the ice cream mixture, I went ahead and made the Fudge Ripple and Peanut Butter Patties and got them into the refrigerator and freezer, respectively, so all of the “dirty work” was done at once and they would all be sufficiently chilled once I was ready to churn the ice cream. I just made the Fudge Ripple in the same pan as I made the ice cream mixture.
(Recipe from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz)