Peanut butter ice cream recipe | vegan ice cream

Homemade peanut butter flavor is one of my favorites these days. I have always loved having roasted and boiled peanuts. However, I was introduced to nut butter quite late. I am not a fan of processed commercial nut butter so how did I end up eating so much of it? Probably, that's what happens when you listen to nursery rhyme peanut butter jelly time every single day as a mum. Make a peanut butter ice cream, or cookies. Bliss balls or just eat it on bread. You can also make a chocolate peanut butter ice cream variation if you like.

My butter cup loves it. My sister also loves having peanut butter sandwiches but I am more of bliss ball fan. I have even made sugar free modaks from it. It reminds me of good old aate ke laddu or pinni and my son loves it so much that we make it together every week. It is summer time and finally time for some cold treats. Hence, we ended up making our own batch of peanut butter ice cream.

Sugarless treats for kids

I have made dairy based ice creams in the past. However, our quest of eating healthy brought us to using fruit sugars instead of commercial one when it came to sweet treats for my kiddo. He does get enough sweet treats in the week so we have always wanted to make or bake something vegan and sugarless yet sweet.

Kids today have greater choices of treats and while we must not limit their experiences, we should always encourage them to eat healthy. After all, we become what we eat. Body slows down its metabolism with our sedentary lifestyles and then we start limiting our favorite food. If we choose better, we live better.

Here is our favorite ice cream recipe of this week. No sugar, no heavy cream, no whole milk yet the whole bowl finishes within minutes. I love this any day over desserts filled with granulated sugar.

No machine no problem!

Usually I use my Cuisinart ice cream maker or Ninja to make ice cream recipes in the past. I didn't want people who do not have a machine, feel they cannot make frozen desserts at home.

After all, my MIL and mum always made frozen dessert recipes in our childhood and we never had ever heard of any machine which could be used at home. The only machine we saw was a softy maker much later in life when we were in our teens.

Equipment

• grinder if making nut butter at home
• freezer
• blender

Ingredients

• Peanut butter from Roasted peanuts (I buy the unsalted roasted peanuts from the supermarket)
• frozen bananas ( over-ripe will do)peeled,sliced and frozen for 3-4 hours.
• chia seeds soaked in water
• honey/ agave /maple syrup if vegan
• vanilla extract
• Salt (optional)

Refer to recipe card for quantities.

how to make peanut butter ice cream?

• Grind ¾ cup peanuts to make ½ cup nut butter in a spice grinder. Keep grinding peanuts in short pulses until the oil is extracted and it gets a soft silky texture. You can do this in advance and keep it in a bottle.

• Chop the frozen bananas and add it along with chia seeds in a blender with salt(optional).

• Now, add the nut butter, along with maple syrup and vanilla extract.

• Blend until you get a smooth mixture.

• Pour the mixture in an ice cream tub. Add some chopped nuts or chocolate chips on top.

• Cover it with cling film. Close the lid and let it set overnight of 5-6 hours in the freezer.
• Do not keep your freezer to coldest setting as it will end up with very hard dessert.

• Before serving, wait for 5-10 minutes before scooping and serving.

• Add extra chopped nuts, chocolate sauce and chocolate chips optionally while serving.

Substitutions

If you like dairy you may add some cream to above mixture. However, we did not feel any need for it.

You can also add maple syrup or agave or coconut sugar if you do not want to use honey and want a vegan treat.

Add nuts of your choice while serving. You can also substitute peanut butter with almond butter or nut butter of your choice like hazelnuts, cashews and macadamia.

Variations

You can make your own nut butter ice cream and add chocolate chips, berries, chopped nuts to it. Top with a chocolate sauce swirl and do not count calories!

Make a peanut butter swirl and freeze this along with chocolate ice-cream or add some cocoa to your dessert and make a chocolate peanut butter variation.

Storage

Store it in freezer in an air tight plastic container with a cling film on top.

Top tip

Make a big batch of nut butter and store it in an air tight container up to 1 month at room temperature. Use it to make sweets of your choice later. Always cover homemade ice cream with cling film and then close the lid.

This will help avoid ice crystals and keep the texture smooth. Remember homemade ice cream does not have market based stabilizers and preservatives hence can get crystallization.

Also, whenever you see over ripe bananas, freeze them if you do not have time to bake a cake. This helps avoid food waste at our own level. Also, helps whip sugarless treats in no time.

Food safety

Ensure you freeze the ice-cream brick immediately after taking out your scoops. Never eat any ice cream which got thawed completely as it has chances of getting listeria.

FAQs

Creamy nut butter is here to stay for a while in my house! Are you a nut butter lover too? What did you think of this recipe? Do let us know.