The peanut butter ice (cream) experiment

I knew I had an ice cream maker somewhere in this house. Found it recently and after this little experiment, remembered why I stored it away... I can't make decent ice cream. But I'm going to keep trying (so long as the thing keeps working anyway) because one of these days I'll get right.





This? Was an adaption from a bunch of different recipes and another something I forgot... soy milk added to a cream mixture makes ice milk (or ice, period), not ice cream. Still, for a first try (in so many years), it was ok. I have something else in mind for any future attempts... like actually using cream (not half & half) and also trying this recipe with peanut butter (I'm allergic to hazelnuts) sometime soon.

I should've used all half & half for this recipe but I was trying to "healthy it up" a bit but by doing so it changed the texture. A lot!


The recipe:

1 1/2 cups half & half
1 1/2 cup soy milk
(should have tried 2 1/2 cups 1/2 & 1/2 and 1/2 cup soy milk)
3/4 cup natural peanut butter
1/4 cup powdered milk
1/2 cup sugar


I heated all the ingredients in a saucepan until the sugar and powdered milk was dissolved and the peanut butter was melted. Stored the mixture in the fridge and added it to the ice cream maker per instructions the next day.


The result was a peanut butter ice milk concoction (that I took out of the freezer and stirred every hour for a few hours to help thicken it up) that wasn't bad at all but not what I was hoping for.

Better luck next time.

Fudge Oatmeal Peanut butter 'cookies'

These are excellent...! Quick & easy. They come out perfectly so long as you let the mixture boil long enough (has to be a light brown in color and a little thick). These are little peanut buttery oatmeal yummies.

You will need to start:

1 cup granulated (white) sugar
1 cup (light or dark) brown sugar
1/2 cup margarine (8 TBS or 1 stick)
1/2 cup milk (half & half, rice milk, or soy milk also work)

Cook the above ingredients in a medium saucepan (non-stick works best for me) on low to medium heat until thick, about 10-15 minutes after it starts boiling. Stir occasionally.

Take off the heat and add:

2 (rounded) Tablespoons peanut butter
1 1/2 cups uncooked quick oats (canister kind, not instant, unflavored)
1 tsp vanilla

Mix well (and quickly), drop by teaspoonfuls onto waxed or parchment paper.
This step must be done quickly as this mixture will set fast.

Let cool fully before storing.

Any kind of nut butter will work with this recipe. Stored in an air tight container, these will last about 4 days.

The batch in the picture were made with 100% natural chunky peanut butter and coffee creamer because I didn't have any milk. Works just fine. Versatile recipe. You can view another picture here.