Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream

A while back I signed up for a Twitter party for a company called UNREAL that makes chocolate candies. MMmmm ... candy. And they were kind enough to send samples - peanut butter cups and candy coated chocolates.

Well, the candies arrived in the midst of a heat wave, so I chucked 'em into the refrigerator to get them to firm up again. Out of sight, out of mind. I completely forgot about the Twitter party and those danged chocolates. I was planning on sampling them during the twitter party, but there they were, uneaten. Glaring at me. Accusingly.

The peanut butter cups suffered the most from the heat, at least as far as shape. I cut them up, sampled a few pieces, and added the rest to a batch of ice cream.

The deal about UNREAL chocolates is that they're made with healthier ingredients - no corn syrup, no preservatives, and no hydrogenated oil. Then compared to standard brands, there's less sugar, more protein, more fiber. And more cacao.

Flavor-wise, I really liked them. The chocolate was smooth and very chocolaty, without that weird waxy flavor that's in some chocolate candies. The candy-covered chocolates had a really thin coating, which I liked.

As far as the ice cream, it was a very small batch - just perfect to use up two peanut butter cups ... minus just a few samples. You could easily double this to make a larger batch.

Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream

1 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon vanilla butternut extract
Pinch of salt
2 peanut butter cups

Combine the half-and-half, heavy cream, sugar, vanilla, vanilla butternut extract, and salt. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Churn in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions.

Meanwhile, chop the peanut butter cups into small pieces. Stir them into the ice cream. For soft serve, eat it as soon as it comes out of the ice cream maker. Otherwise, freeze it until firm before serving.

We ate it soft-serve. Can you tell?

Yum