August 4, 2017

Peanut Butter Ice Cream

Even better, a peanut butter ice cream brownie Sundae!

I think the only downside of having goats is that they produce less cream than  cows. Not that I'd want all that milk to deal with, but I sure would love more cream. I'd love to have enough butter for both cooking and table use, not to mention make more whipped cream and ice cream. Some people think goats don't produce any cream, which isn't true. Click here to read my post on getting cream from goat milk and making butter.

What I do have a lot of is whey. Anytime I make cheese, I use the whey to make a simple ricotta cheese. (How-to for that here.) And because we adore ice cream (especially in summer), I borrowed an idea from the Italians to use my ricotta in place of cream for ice cream (called gelato - recipe here). This small amount is perfect for my Cuisinart.

Peanut Butter Ice Cream

  • 2 cups whole milk (could use skimmed)
  • 2 cups ricotta cheese
  • 1/2 cup peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 3 egg yolks
  • pinch sea salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Heat the milk, peanut butter, and sugar in a sauce pan, stirring until the sugar melts. Beat the egg yolks in a blender (or by hand) and s-l-o-w-l-y add the warm milk mixture (slow enough to not cook the eggs). Add the salt and vanilla and allow the mixture to chill. (While you're waiting, use the egg whites to make the brownies. 😊 ) Churn and enjoy!
👍 👍 👍 👍 👍

I find that the ricotta adds the same richness that cream does to ice cream and with very little fat (ice milk just isn't satisfying). My ricotta is made from the whey of my skimmed milk mozzarella, and if skimmed milk was substituted for the whole milk in the recipe, you could have delicious low-fat ice cream. Substitute fruit for the peanut butter for even less!

18 comments:

Goatldi said...

Very interesting! I made ice cream often with my milk but I was fortunate to have purchased second (very reasonable second hand) a 1930 Monkey Wards (Montgomery Wards for the younger generations http://www.wards.com/ ) hand crank cream separator.

I would get 1 quart of cream to every two to three gallons of milk . This depended on the time of lactation with the first part of the lactation being more volume there fore containing less butterfat. My girls ran at about a 5.5 to 6.5 butterfat with one doe who gave a 15% butterfat in the last part of her lactation. This amazing feat got her dubbed "heart attack doe".

I will entertain trying your method now that the cream separator is no longer in my possession.

Meg said...

I don't like peanut butter very much but I love peanut butter ice-cream...silly, I know! I am going to give this recipe a try. Thanks for sharing it. Meg

Leigh said...

Goatldi, 15% butterfat is amazing! Did she pass that on to any of her daughters? Fortunately new science research tells us that butter and cream aren't as bad for us the old science thought. :) But I didn't know Monkey Wards used to sell cream separators! I do have one (made in India) but at this point in time I'm not getting enough milk to warrant using it.

Meg, curious! I never liked pumpkin pie until I tried pumpkin pie ice cream, so I know it's not crazy!

Susan said...

I love anything ice cream - and happen to have ricotta cheese in the fridge. Although I have access to as much raw cow milk as I want, I like the idea of using the cheese!

Ed said...

I'm all for goats milk ice cream but I would pass on the peanut butter flavor. I like my fruit flavors like strawberry or peaches.

jewlz said...

Makes me even more excited for my first nigerian to kid- any day now, as I've been saying since July 11th!

Rain said...

Oh I love peanut butter anything! But Alex is allergic so it's off our list. But this would work with almond too...I like that you used ricotta. I will have to try that in my next ice cream too.

Leigh said...

Susan, for cheesemakers the whey supply quickly builds up, doesn't it? So I always try to make ricotta from it. Then I have a ton of ricotta, LOL. This is one of my favorite ways to use it. :)

Ed, any flavor will do! (Dan just happens to like peanut butter :)

Jewlz, that's exciting news! I really liked my Nigies, except my hands were too large to milk them comfortably. But they have great personalities.

Rain, any flavor will do! The ricotta just really gives it a nice rich texture.

Sandra @ Thistle Cove Farm said...

peanut butter and chocolate...STOP!
I WANT NOW.
just sayin'.
lol

Goatldi said...

Unfortunately that doe met with an untimely early death so we will never know if she passed it on to daughters. During most of her lactation she ran more like 6.5 percent but when she reached the last third of her lactation and the volume decreased the butterfat went up up up.

I was very lucky to get that separator it came with multiple other dairying items in a package deal for $300 that won't ever happen again!

Leigh said...

Sandra, chocolate and peanut butter are Dan's favorites!

Goatldi, well darn. Sounds like you sold her daughters but never got to keeping one for yourself. Choosing sellers versus keepers is always a challenge for me; always second guessing. A loss like that though is the worst. All plans go out the window.

Sam I Am...... said...

I adore ice cream but with cholesterol rising I am staying away from it and most milk products although I also love cheese but try to limit it. I do partake on Holidays...that's when I treat myself to those things I am not supposed to have! LOL! Looks very yummy!

Leigh said...

Sam I Am, very yummy indeed! But you are right to take control of your diet concerns. Very wise.

Cozy Thyme Cottage said...

I recently read about making ice cream with a cuisinart ice cream maker using yogurt. Since I eat too much ice cream this might be a healthier choice for me. Yours looks delicious but since I don't have goats in my courtyard LOL the yogurt might be a choice I could do. Nancy

So Sunny Day said...

hubby loves peanut butter ice cream and this recipe looks so interesting. I'll see if he wants to give it a try.

Just found your blog and am following. We live on just over 5 acres as well. Moved here a year ago and are living the dream of homesteading. I loved your little "about you" at the top of the page. Looking forward to reading more of your posts!

~ Emily from So Sunny Day

Leigh said...

Nancy, yogurt makes wonderful ice cream! Especially the fruit flavors - yum~

Emily, welcome! And thank you. I hope my posts are encouraging and helpful. My husband loves peanut butter too, so this was a quick inspiration when we were almost out of brownies. Great combination!

Anonymous said...

If ever you do want a cow but the milk quantity still seems daunting, consider a Dexter cow. They are a natural miniature and from my reading they produce up to 10L per day and many likely much less. That's just enough for our family to drink our 2L + per day, put away enough for cheese making each weekend, skimming for cream and butter, making yoghurt and leaving the calf on mum too. Well, I hope it will be. We will also have 2 goats that we hope we can breed to provide milk during the cows drier times. Well, that's our plan anyway. :)

Leigh said...

Jessie, good to hear from you! It's funny you should mention Dexters because I was recently researching miniature and midsize cows. Lucky you to be getting one! Your plan for year-round milk should work very well, depending on when you breed the goats.