October 1, 2015

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Ice Cream

I love planning my kiddos' birthday parties, not because I'm the over-the-top Pinterest mom who feels everything needs to be absolutely perfect. I love it because baking and playing around with desserts is so much fun for me, so I use it as an opportunity to pull out all the dessert stops (as in homemade cookies, cake and ice cream!).

I found this recipe from How Sweet It Is while on vacation, and my husband picked this from a handful of flavors I proposed. You could eat this as a spoon without churning it into ice cream, and it would be a delicious pudding.

My only complaint is I used the exact pretzels listed in the original recipe. I love that they won't get soggy, but I am disappointed at the price I paid only to discover they are malted milk chocolate coating. Despite my love of chocolate and nearly all things sweet, malted milk chocolate is on my short list of things that include chocolate and the word disgusting in the same sentence.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Ice Cream
3 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
4 Tbsp. cornstarch
3/4 cup heavy cream
10 oz. dark chocolate, chopped
2 tsp. vanilla (whoops, I missed this in my version)
1 cup creamy peanut butter, slightly melted
1 bag of Lindt HELLO pretzel bites

Heat a large saucepan over medium heat, and add 2 1/2 cups of milk. Whisk in the sugar, salt and cocoa powder until dissolved and combined. Keep it over low heat, stirring often for a minute or two.

In a bowl, whisk together the remaining 1/2 cup milk and cornstarch until smooth. Slowly whisk it into the warmed milk mixture, and increase the heat to medium. Whisking the entire time (especially the bottom), bring the mixture to a boil. Cook it for 2 to 3 minutes until it has slightly thickened. Remove the pan from the heat.

Heat the heavy cream just until bubbles appear around the edges. Place the chopped chocolate in a bowl, and pour the cream over top. Let it sit for 1 minute. Stir until a thick and smooth ganache forms and all the chocolate has melted. Stir the ganache into the milk mixture. Transfer the entire thing to a bowl, and let it chill in the fridge until completely cold, a few hours.

Once cold, pour the mixture into your ice cream maker and churn according to the directions. Right before it's done churning, drizzle in 1/2 cup of the peanut butter. Finish churning, and remove the bowl. Stir in the remaining peanut butter and the HELLO pretzel bites. Place in a freezer safe dish or container. Freeze for 4 to 6 hours before serving. Makes about 1 quart.

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