Caramel Peanut Butter Ice Cream

Guess what time it is!? Peanut butter jelly caramel time!

Yup, it’s the monthly Peanut Butter Bash, where bloggers from all over come together to celebrate the marriage of peanut butter and one of its many pairs. Last month, peanut butter got married to banana, but banana got old and rotten so peanut butter divorced her and found a new match : caramel. Sweet, succulent, and smooth, caramel and peanut butter make the perfect match (since pb is also sweet, succulent, and smooth).

This ice cream tastes like a peanut butter caramel cookie flurry / blizzard / whatever else you call the delicious concoction of ice cream plus candy or cookies. It’s addicting and can cause pure bliss among individuals who love peanut butter. Remember, you’ve been warned.

I tell myself it’s okay to eat a lot of it because it’s vegan and it has less sugar than regular ice cream. The ice cream itself only has a 1/4 cup of sugar, the cookies don’t have much sugar in them, and caramel is naturally sweetened with fruit! Less sugar = more ice cream for your “nutritional buck.” Yippee!

ENJOY, you lovely peanut butter lover.

Caramel Peanut Butter Ice Cream

makes 1 quart

• 3 and ½ cups (2 cans) coconut milk
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp xanthan gum (you don’t have to use it if you don’t have it, but I’d highly recommend using it because it stabilizes the ice cream)
• 1/3 of the peanut butter cookies

Mix-ins:

1 recipe of THESE peanut butter cookies

1 recipe of the caramel (recipe below)

Caramel:

OR you can use MY OTHER CARAMEL RECIPE if you want an even richer caramel! In the other recipe, you can swap the almond butter for peanut butter if you just can’t get enough of it!

• 17 dates (a little over ½ cup)
• pinch of salt
• ½ cup water
• 1/4 cup nondairy milk

Blend the dates in a food processor. When they’re broken up into little pieces, add everything else and run until you get a silky caramel mixture.

Procedure :

Shake the coconut milks then open them and put them in a large saucepan over medium heat. If needed, whisk them around so the top layer (cream) and the bottom layer (water) combine. Whisk in sugar, vanilla, and xanthan gum. Turn the heat to high and bring the mixture to a boil. Stir constantly for 1 minute when it boils so the mixture doesn’t overflow and burn on your hot stovetop (I know from experience that it WILL burn and it WILL NOT smell good!)! Take the mixture off the heat (and turn off your stovetop) and add in a third of the cookies (later, you’ll add the rest into the ice cream). Let it cool for a few minutes, then cover the mixture with plastic wrap so the wrap is touching the ice cream (so a “skin” doesn’t form). Let this sit out for 30 minutes, then transfer it to the refrigerator for 2-3 hours to let it cool.

After 2-3 hours, set up your ice cream maker. I use a Cuisinart soft serve ice cream maker. We got it BRAND NEW at Goodwill for $50 (normally they’re $100). YAY for bargains!

***If you don’t have one, you can try making the mixture and adding in the mix ins right away. Then you can freeze it stirring it every half hour until it’s frozen, but that’s so much more work.***

Pour the mixture into the bowl of your ice cream maker and mix according to the machine’s instructions. After 20 minutes, add in peanut butter cookie crumbles and caramel. I put about 3/4 of the caramel recipe in, as I reserved the other 1/4 for topping the finished ice cream with.

ice cream churning in                          the ice cream maker

You can eat the soft serve ice cream immediately, OR you can put it in a container and freeze it until it is ready to consume (about an hour or two, but leaving it in the freezer overnight is fine too). Thaw ice cream 15-20 minutes before serving. Scoop it into ice cream cones or bowls and top with more cookie and caramel.

Notes :

• I used the procedure from the s’mores ice cream from Oh, Ladycakes! to make this ice cream (boiling the coconut milk mixture on the stove and letting it sit and stuff). The recipe is linked. Try it out because it’s insanely delicious.
• You can use almond butter, sun butter, hazelnut butter, or another “butter” in place of the peanut butter in the cookies (if you’re allergic to or don’t like peanut butter).

Enjoy! xx Ellie

P.S. —

Check out all the other peanut butter and caramel recipes below!

Reese’s Caramel Popcorn from Gina of Kleinworth & Co.

Peanut Butter Caramel Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies from Rebecca of Living Better Together

Peanut Butter Twix Bars from Carisa of Messes to Memories

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Carmelitas from Maggie of The Love Nerds

Peanut Butter Caramel Oreo Ice Box Cake from Miranda of Cookie Dough and Oven Mitt

Peanut Butter Cheesecake Brownie Cups from Stephanie of The TipToe Fairy