Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream

Summer is almost here!!  Well, it is here in the desert...but summer is almost here in the rest of the country too ... ALMOST!!  I love ice cream anytime of the year, but in the summer is when I crave it and/or want it the most.  My goal is to make a new ice cream every month this summer.  Let me remind you that summer lasts from pretty much April to October here in the Valley of the Sun....so be prepared!

Like my Peanut Butter Ice Cream post from last week...this was amazingly good!  What I love the most about this recipe and the last one, is that you don't have to use any eggs!  My first attempt at making ice cream about 14 years ago, I didn't temper the egg and it scrambled in my pot...icky!  Ever since then, I have been a bit scared of making homemade ice cream, even though I know what I did wrong.  So when I found these recipes by David Lebovitz, I was ecstatic!!  Also, I learned from my lack of patience last week and this batch turned out incredible.  Chris said it even had the texture and look of mass produced ice cream.  I loved that because I love mass produced ice cream :)  Ok, I love the truly homemade ice cream that my grandma use to make, but let's not go there it will just make me crave something I cannot have!

Anyway...I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!!!!!  Woo Hoo!

Oh.. and in case you don't have an ice cream maker and you still want to make your own...check out David Lebovitz's site for his instructions on how!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream
Adapted from The Perfect Scoop, by David Lebovitz by way of Tracey's Culinary Adventures
Ingredients:
2 cups half and half
1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

Directions:
Whisk together the half and half, cocoa powder, sugar and salt in a large sauce pan. Heat the mixture, whisking frequently, until it comes to a full, rolling boil (it will start to foam up). Remove from the heat and whisk in the peanut butter, stirring until thoroughly blended.

Chill the mixture thoroughly, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Makes about 1 quart.