Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream (you need it)

OK...I'm going to get all first-born-child-bossy on you now. If you like chocolate, and you like peanut butter, and you like chocolate WITH peanut butter, you MUST make this Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream. (Yes, even if it means biting the bullet and buying that ice cream maker. I promise. This is the Cuisinart ice cream maker I have.)

This dark chocolate peanut butter ice cream is rich; it's creamy; it's dreamy. The combination of melted chocolate and lots of cocoa powder gives this ice cream a satisfying "mouthfeel." That's a term I learned from Ben and Jerry's, and it perfectly sums up the texture. 

Not to be dramatic, but this Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream will change your life.  It will make you a happier person.
{Notice I said "happier," not "skinnier."}

The recipe is adapted from the Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream & Dessert Book.   

Ingredients to make Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream...

The ingredients are simple: 

• dark chocolate (Use one that is 80-90% cocoa. Trader Joe's has several great ones to choose from, and you can also check the premium chocolate bar section in the grocery store.)
• Dutch-process cocoa powder (I like Gerb's, Rodelle, or Hershey's Special Dark)
• milk
• eggs
• sugar
• heavy cream (It IS ice cream, after all!)
• vanilla (my favorites are Nielsen-Massey and Morton and Bassett)
• smooth peanut butter (This is the time to break out the classic Jif. No all-natural here.)

How to Make Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream

Start by melting the dark chocolate over a pan of simmering water. Watch to be sure it's not boiling, as chocolate can scorch. 

Then, whisk in the cocoa powder. It's going to clump. Do not panic. This is totally normal. 

Next, you'll whisk in the milk. This will smooth that clump of melted chocolate and cocoa right out. You'll be left with what looks like chocolate milk. Well, I guess it is! 

In another bowl, you'll whisk the eggs - then add in the sugar, cream, and vanilla. 

You'll add the cooled chocolate mixture to the cream and eggs. Give it a rest in the fridge for at least 2 hours, but you can leave it overnight. (Be sure your freezer bowl has been chilling for at least 24 hours, too!)

Before pouring into your ice cream maker, whisk peanut butter into one cup of the chilled chocolate cream. (You do have your plunger-style measuring cup, don't you?) Freeze away!

The ice cream will be very soft after mixing. Spoon into a freezer-safe container and freeze for several hours to firm up to scooping consistency. By all means, scrape every last bit out of the ice cream freezer bowl as you do and give it a test. This is your reward for making ice cream. 

Oh! And how CUTE are these ice cream containers?!? They're so much nicer than freezing in just plastic "leftover" tubs. I found these darling ice cream containers on Amazon. 

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream 

2 ounces 80-90% chocolate, chopped 
1/3 cup dutch-process cocoa powder (such as Gerb's, Rodelle, or Hershey's Special Dark)
1 & 1/2 cups milk
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter (not all-natural)

{This ice cream is made with uncooked eggs, so if you feel uneasy about that or are serving to someone with a compromised immune system, try using pasteurized eggs. I wrote all about them for The Pioneer Woman Food & Friends.}

Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering (not boiling) water. Melt the chocolate. Remove from heat. Gradually add the cocoa; the mixture may clump up in the whisk...that's ok.  Slowly pour in the milk, whisking with the chocolate mixture until combined and smooth. Let cool several minutes.

Whisk the eggs in a large bowl until light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Add the sugar, a little at a time, whisking constantly.  Once all the sugar has been added, whisk 1 minute more.

Add the cream and vanilla; whisk to combine.

Pour the chocolate mixture into the cream mixture and stir.  Cover and refrigerate a few hours or overnight.

Before transferring to an ice cream maker, remove 1 cup of the mixture into a separate bowl and whisk in the peanut butter until smooth.

{Normally, I'm a natural peanut butter girl, but for this, I go with Jif. It's smooth and creamy and luscious...perfect for ice cream.}

Add this back into the main mixture and stir. Process in an ice cream maker.  Once the freezing cycle finishes, transfer to a freezer-safe container, press plastic wrap on top, and freeze a few hours to firm up.

Let the ice cream soften at room temperature for 5 minutes before serving. 

 

Scoop it into a bowl, pile it on a cone, inhale it straight from the spoon - just make it!