3 Ingredient, No Churn Peanut Butter & Jelly Ice Cream

In our last post, we talked about improving an old childhood favorite with the addition of ice cream.

today? We’re here to show you how to turn one of your favorite childhood sandwiches into ice cream. The classic peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It’s flavors were pretty much a universal childhood experience. Matter of fact I loved it so much, and had to have it so often growing up, that by high school I had to take a 10 year hiatus before I could appreciate it, let alone love it again.

And this isn’t just any old ice cream recipe, either. Oh-no. This pb&j ice cream only calls for THREE ingredients, and is pretty healthy as far as indulgent desserts go. I had the hubs as soon as I used healthy and ice cream in the same sentence. And he wasn’t disappointed when it came time to taste-test 🙂 It received universal approval from the sons too ( but mum

3 Ingredient Peanut Butter & Jelly Ice Cream

5 frozen bananas
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/3 cup grape jelly

Directions

1. Put the peanut butter into a blender or food processor.
   2. Add the frozen bananas.
   3. Blend on high for several minutes, or until you’re sure the bananas and peanut butter are fully processed and incorporated, making sure to scrape the sides as you go, and the mixture is creamy.
   4. Transfer to a freezer safe dish and use a spatula to gently fold in the jelly, but not fully stirring them together. You want ribbons of jelly throughout.
   5. Enjoy immediately for a soft serve ice cream or seal the dish & freeze overnight for firm ice cream.

Advertisement

Circus Animal Cookie Ice Cream

Anybody else remember going to the grocery store, and looking forward to getting an old school box of animal crackers to enjoy when it was over?

I used to live for that.

Now my kids want things like 25 cent soads, and 35 cent bags of cheetos. Same price, but new school snacks. The nostaglis must just be mine. 😦

I’ll bet between my strawberry cheesecake ice cream, grilled peaches, and healthy cherry cheesecake popsicles, ya’ll thought I was turning into some sort of grown up. We can’t have that, now can we? That was enough adulting for a few posts. At least 🙂

Which brings us to a post sure to bring out the kid in all of us. Circus Animal Cookie Ice Cream.

When I found out they made those same cracker/cookies I’d always loved, but frosted?? I had to get those for the sons, as much as for myself. And we’ve all loved them ever since.

They’re so yummy, what with their signature creamy-coated cookie crunch and all. And something that snack-tastic could only be improved by one thing.

Ice cream.

If you love the cookies, then you’re going to think this ice cream is nothing short of heavenly.

Circus Animal Cookie Ice Cream

1½ cup whole milk
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup half & half
1 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
2 cups heavy whipping cream
3 cups Circus Animal Cookies, gently crushed into large pieces

Directions

1. Mix together all ingredients except for cookies and pour into a 2 qt. ice cream maker (halve the recipe for a quart-sized ice cream maker).
   2. Follow the manufacturer’s directions for churning.
   3. When ice cream is almost completely set up, stir in the cookies and and process, or continue stirring, enough to get them incorporated.
   4. Transfer the ice cream to a freezer-friendly dish, cover, and freeze until completely firm.

No Churn Chocolate Fudge Brownie Ice Cream

Guys! I finally figured it out. This summer the sons and I managed to crack the code with this whole easy to make, no churn, no fancy-schmancy ice cream maker required thing. You can go ahead and trash that ice cream maker that you got 3 Christmases ago that’s still in the box now without any guilt if you so choose. No need for it. After you learn how simple it is to make homemade ice cream you may not even want to buy some from the grocery store again. And it does not require making and stirring custard on the stove or any crazy 100 step process.

That said, we will still feature recipes ‘occasionally’ that ‘require’ an ice cream maker just because the sons love using their ice cream ball so much, BUT I’ve just handed you the keys to the ice cream kingdom. And any future recipes should be easily adaptable.

This creamy chocolate ice cream is none too rich, but it is ridiculously delicious. It’s studded with fudgey bits of brownie and laced with lines of hot fudge running throughout. It’s any choco-holics new bff.

That’s what I’d call lick the spoon, like the bowl good.

No Churn Chocolate Fudge Brownie Ice Cream

 

2 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups chopped cooked brownies
1/2 cup hot fudge

Directions

1.In the bowl of a stand mixer, use the whisk attachment to beat the heavy cream on medium speed until it slightly thickens – about 3 minutes.
2. Add milk, brown sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for 5 additional minutes.
3. Pour mixture into a metal loaf pan. Freeze for 90 minutes.
4. Remove ice cream from the freezer after 90 minutes and add in the chopped brownies. Add dollops of hot fudge over the entire surface of the ice cream and use a knife to cut/swirl it into the ice cream.
5. Freeze for 8 hours or overnight before serving.

Lemon Pie Pops

Do you love a cold glass of lemonade on a hot day? How about looking forward to a slice of cool lemon merengue pie, or even lemon ice box cake?

I feel like lemon anything is the quintessential summer flavor. Like an unofficial mascot or something.

And speaking of summer necessities… Heeelllooo, Popsicles.

.

So it was just good common sense to combine these things into one epic, refreshing treat.

Even better? They’re not Popsicles made from sugar water. They’re Popsicles made from Greek yogurt, so they’re relatively healthy AND a yummy way to cool off. And they’re a filling snack.

Lemon Pie Pops

 2 cups nonfat vanilla Greek yogurt (regular yogurt may be substituted)
3 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp pure lemon extract
2-3 drops yellow food coloring
2-3 shortbread cookies, Nilla wafers, or golden Oreos, crushed

Directions

1. Stir together the  yogurt, lemon juice, sugar, extract, and food coloring until evenly combined .
   2. Scoop equal amounts of lemon mixture into paper dixie cups or into popsicle molds.
   3. Sprinkle about 2 teaspoons of cookie crumbs on top of the yogurt mixture. Use a toothpick or popsicle stick to gently stir the crumbs into the mixture slightly. Pack down whatever crumbs are left on top.
   4. Insert sticks or colorful straws into the center of the mixture, sticking straight up. Freeze for at least 4 hours or overnight. Remove paper or remove popsicles from molds and enjoy!

Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

Anybody else have a thing for dessert? The hubs will put sugar on his sugar. The sons all inherited his sweet tooth. Me? My tastes are a bit more refined. Well maybe not really, but about the only dessert that I will consistently go ga-ga over is cheesecake. Flavor or type? Doesn’t really matter.

I’m ALL about the cheesecake.

And now I’ve found a way to perfectly bring all those flavors together into one perfectly replicated bowl of ice cream.

For real.

 

The flavors in this No Churn Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream will floor you. You get all the creaminess of the ice cream, the cream cheese of the ‘cheese cake’, the fresh chunks of juicy, ripe strawberries, and then the traditional graham cracker crumb ‘crust’ in every bite. Absolutely perfection (if I say so myself). It may have taken several years, err tries, if you will but now we’ve got this no churn ice cream thing down pat.

Just look at it. All those sinfully tempting flavors in every scoop  every bite of this ice cream.

Ahhhh. Dreams DO come true.

Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar, divided
2 cups strawberries
1/3 cup graham cracker crumbs, roughly 3 sheets

Directions

1. Blend milk, cream, cream cheese, salt, vanilla and 3/4 cup sugar until smooth. Transfer to clean container, cover and chill overnight.
2. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 425 degrees. Hull and slice strawberries, tossing with remaining 1/2 cup sugar. Roast on a parchment lined baking sheet for 15 minutes. Transfer to a clean bowl, cover and chill.
3. Churn liquid according to manufacturer’s directions. In the last 5 minutes, drop strawberries and liquid a a small spoonful at a time.
4. Alternate layers of ice cream and spoonfuls of graham cracker crumbs in a freezer safe container. Freeze until firm.

Grilled Peaches with Vanilla Ice Cream

I’m just gonna go ahead and call this the week when I decided to share all the ice cream. Summer’s coming to an end, and will fade into Fall before we know it. And I have so, so many yummy frozen treats to share with ya’ll that I don’t even want to waste another second dragging it out. So you’ve been warned! Stay tuned the rest of this week and next for some totally tasty refreshing snacks and desserts coming your way.

And there’s no better way to kick this bonanza off than with Grilled Peaches and Vanilla Ice Cream. Peach picking season is in full swing around these parts at all of our local orchards. And if you’re skeptical at the idea of grilled fruit, or even grilled fruit as dessert, let me stop you right there.

Grilling these babies is quick and easy, and caramelizes the sugars in a way that can’t be described, just tasted. Add a pinch of brown sugar to the mix, and they make the perfect ‘bowls’ to hold a hearty scoop of your favorite vanilla ice cream.

It’s like the ice cream and pie of 2015, minus the crust, and well … pie. But I’m sure you get my meaning. Just like the granny smith apples and flaky crust in my Mama’s apple pie, these two were meant to go together.

Grilled Peaches with Vanilla Ice Cream

2 ripe peaches
canola oil
brown sugar
vanilla ice cream

Directions

1. Heat grill to medium high heat. Brush the peach halves with a touch of oil, sprinkle each half with a pinch of brown sugar, and place them on the grill for a few moments and then rotate 90 degrees and continue to cook for about 3-4 minutes, grill marks will be present and the peaches will feel softer.
   2. Remove from the grill with a pair of tongs and serve with a generous scoop of your favorite brand of vanilla ice cream in the center of each peach.

Fruity Pebble Crunch Ice Cream Cake

Did you have a favorite cereal as a kid? The sons were subjected to the most heinous form of cruel and unusual punishment throughout their elementary school years, and only offered relatively sugar free cereal options, like cherrios, Rice Krispies, or raisin bran.

They were horrified when I put the kibosh on them sprinkling spoonfuls of sugar over said plain fair (a trick Nanni had taught them).

Still, I’m not totally against sugar, or even yummy sugary breakfast cereals. I’m just against them on most school mornings when they’re already wound tight enough with excitement. That and a sugar crash later will have them struggling through the end of the school day.

B U T…

on weekends, we’ve been known to get a little wild.

Like break out the fruity pebbles, and add some chocolate to make crunchy fruity pebble clusters, and adding those to some ice cream. You know, just for good measure and all.

Breakfast is already acceptable for lunch and dinner, so why not bring a lil bit to the dessert table while we’re at it?!

This cake is bright, it’s fun. It literally screams ‘summer vacation’. Kids of all ages will fall for it.

Fruity Pebble Crunch Ice Cream Cake

4 cups Fruity Pebbles
1½ cups white chocolate chips
1½ tablespoons shortening
½ gallon vanilla ice cream

Directions

1. To make the Fruity Pebble Crunch Ice Cream Cake, start by placing half a gallon of vanilla ice cream in the fridge to soften. We want it soft, so it’s stirrable but NOT melted.
   2. Put the cereal into a large bowl. Melt the white chocolate chips and shortening in the microwave, or you can use a double boiler for the same results. Pour the melted chocolate over the cereal and stir together until the cereal’s evenly coated.
   3. Pour the coated cereal out onto a piece of parchment paper, gently spreading it out so its not a giant pile, but not necessarily an even layer either. Let the coated cereal sit, about 20-30 minutes, to allow the chocolate to harden and then break the cereal up into bite-sized chunks.
   4. In the same large bowl, add the half a gallon of softened vanilla ice cream and quickly fold in the 2 cups of the crunchy cereal pieces. Again, quickly spread the ice cream mixture out into a 9-inch springform pan to avoid melting. If it melts it’s like pouring a liquid into the pan, which a springform pan cannot hold, and it will all run right out.
   Top with the remaining crunchy cereal bits and gently press it down a bit into the ice cream.
   5. Cover the springform pan and place the ice cream cake in the freezer for 4-6 hours or overnight to harden. When ready to serve, remove from the freezer and slide a knife around the edges of the springform pan to release the cake and then remove slowly release the spring and loft the outer pan away.
   6. Dip a butter knife in very hot water, quickly dry it off and use the hot knife to cut slices of the ice cream cake. Re-dip and dry the knife for each cut you make. The cake will begin to melt so work quickly and immediately return any uneaten portion to the freezer.

recipe adapted from The Gunny Sack

Gummy Bear Popsicles

Anybody who has little ones knows there’s something mesmerizing about any candy or treat that’s ‘gummy’. In this case, gummy bears. What little guy or gal, or big, or even the young at heart, wouldn’t love a special Popsicle made just for them with gummy bears hidden inside?

These sweet treats are ice cold with a sweet, sticky surprise inside. They’re perfect pool side or as post-meal treat on any hot day. Whip em out at your next bbq, and you’ll instantly rise in ranks to the ‘hostess with the mostest’. Even better? They’re healthier than baked goods and they’re ice. cold.

Are you sitting there thinking, damn those look refreshing, and fun, but I can’t make those because I’ve already broken through (at last estimate) 284 cheap Popsicle molds, and refuse to invest in another ( because let’s face it, even at a dollar a pop from the $ store, it adds up )? Well if you are, then you probably haven’t heard of Zoku’s Popsicle molds.

These little things are awesome. The green part is just a base, and everything is designed for easy removal. Designed for easy cleaning and use, this classic mold design features 6 removable molds and 6 sticks with drip guards. When your pops are ready, you simply lift the individual molds from the base by pulling on the pop stick and run the mold under under warm water for just a few seconds to release the Popsicle within. It’s fool-proof.

Gummy Bear Popsicles

Popsicle mold
Popsicle sticks
Gummy Bears
Sprite

Directions

1. Fill molds about 3/4 of the way full.
2. Drop in gummy bears.
3. Place popsicle stick into mold.
4. Freeze until frozen all the way through.

Lucky Charms Blizzard

Another late day again. (shh!) It happens. If you love Lucky Charms & milk, then this fun treat is going to blow. your. mind. Everyone’s favorite marshmallow loaded cereal with ICECREAM! These are absolutely friggin’ addictive delicious. I’m honestly surprised this hasn’t become a ‘thing’, or the next big thing to hit the iconic Blizzard line. These were the perfect ending to our simple, yet ‘taste’ ful St Patrick’s Day meal. Thankfully, I had an extra carton of ice cream because everyone, sons and the Hubs included, came back for seconds. I had to put my foot down at thirds. While our blizzards featured Luck Charms, don’t just stop there. There’s a whole world of possibilities awaiting my fellow DQ lovers. Sub in your favorite treat to the base recipe and enjoy the sure-to-be splendid result.

Lucky Charms Blizzard

recipe originally from Sweet Treats & More

about 2 cups vanilla ice cream
1/4 cup milk
1 tbsp whipping cream
3/4 cup Lucky Charms Cereal + extra for sprinkling on top
1/4 cup rainbow sprinkles + extra for sprinkling on top

Directions

1. Place ice cream, milk and whipping cream in a blender and blend until smooth (should be thick). Stir in lucky charms cereal and sprinkles with a spoon. Pour into alarge glass (or two small glasses) and sprinkle with additional lucky charms (lots of marshmallows) and sprinkles on top. Serve immediately!
2. Note this base recipe makes about two large servings. It’s easy to double or to do several batches if feeding a ravenous pack of wolves hungry boys.

Copy-Cat Wendy’s Frosty

I scream. You scream. We all scream for Ice Cream! Well, in this case, for Frostys!

My guys all go absolutely ga-ga for the cold, creamy concoction. Just mention it around them and their eyes glaze over. The excitement is just too much for them to handle. It overrides all higher functioning brain activity. They’re like little ice cream zombies at that point. Instead of watching them aimlessly shuffle around, waiting for their dessert but not knowing what to do, or how to function until they get it, I get them involved in the process.

All ice-cream induced zombie-ism aside, we don’t use an actual ice cream ‘machine’. Instead I prefer using our ice cream ‘ball’. You can find them here. Amazon carries them in a variety of colors and sizes. I use the quart sized one to make enough for our entire family at once.

This is what my boys do for fun on a Friday night. I enjoy it because it gets them working together: laughing, joking, and playing. At the end of their teamwork? A sweet treat to share and enjoy. You’ve gotta love the little things in life.

Speaking of it being a Friday night, did I mention that I’m really not trying to drag all four kids out into a fast food line? Or even a grocery store check out line? Friday is for peace & quiet. For Mommy. I think I’ve earned a little time to relax by Friday night. Making  our own Frostys at home helps buy some extra little moments for me, and the zombies still get dessert. It’s a win-win, right?!

Copy-Cat Wendy’s Frosty

• 1/2 gallon chocolate milk
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 tub of cool whip, 8 oz

Directions

1. In a blender combine all ingredients.
2. Pour into ice cream maker, and follow the machine’s instructions.
3. Enjoy!