Peanut Butter Brownie Fudge Ice Cream

 

 

What do you do when your sister is visitng, there are 7 kids running around the house, and its over 30 degrees (celcius...that's like 85 or something in ferenheit). Well, you do pretty much nothing.

 

Maybe spend the afternoon playing board games (scattergories anyone?), reading Divergent (trust me, read it) and playing Harry Potter 20 questions. It's fun, I swear. Especially if you're nerdy like us. It was hot, okay?

 

At some point we decided that we should probably get some food in the kids. My mom-in-law recently bought an ice cream maker and I was dying to get my hands on it. And what sounds better in sweltering heat than some homemade, creamy and cold ice cream. Not much, to be honest. This may or not have been dinner.

 

 

Peanut Butter Brownie Fudge Ice Cream

 

(the base ice cream recipe was from the Cuisinart ice cream maker recipe book)

 

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (Dutch process preferred)

2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1-1/2 cups whole milk
3-1/4 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1 batch of brownies (minus the caramel and skor bits) 

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup hot fudge (I like the smuckers brand)

• Place the cocoa and sugars in a medium bowl; stir to combine.
• Add the whole milk and use a hand mixer on low speed or whisk to combine until the cocoa and sugars are dissolved, about 1 to 2 minutes.
• Stir in the heavy cream and vanilla. If not freezing immediately, cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
• Turn machine on; pour mixture into freezer bowl, and let mix until thickened, about 25 to 35 minutes. The ice cream will have a soft, creamy texture.
• Break up brownies into bite sized pieces and add them, piece by piece into the ice cream.
• Add peanut butter, by the teaspoon full into the ice cream.
• Add fudge.
• Let it mix for another minute or two.
• If a firmer consistency is desired, transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and place in freezer for about 2 hours.
• Remove from freezer about 15 minutes before serving

*Directions may vary, depending on what your ice cream maker's instructions.

 

 

-Jessica and Leah

 

 

 

 



A little bite of Disneyland (peanut butter banana bites)

I had a pineapple sitting on the counter that needed to be used. They were on sale, so Matt grabbed one- I had to stop him from buying two- he's a big pineapple fan. But it was a busy week and before we knew it, the pineapple was uneaten and nearing the end of its life. So I cup it up and decided to dip the pieces in chocolate for dessert. When in doubt, cover in chocolate.

The problem was, I over estimated and wound up with a bunch of melted chocolate and no more pineapple. My first thought was to go Disneyland style and make chocolate covered bananas, but I had no peanuts to sprinkle on top. It wouldn't be the same. But what if I put the nuts on the inside. Not peanuts of course, but peanut butter. Like a healthy Reese's cup. Sorta. Anyway, they're pretty delicious, I think. My family thinks so too. And I bet yours would too. Make them, watch Aladdin (my personal favourite) and pretend you're there, eating a real Disneyland banana.

Peanut Butter Banana Bites



3 bananas
1 cup dark chocolate (I used chips, but you could use whatever is in your pantry)
1 splash of vegetable oil (it helps the make the chocolate runnier)
1/3 approx. of peanut butter (I used smooth, but I wish I had had some crunchy in the house)

• Slice up bananas
• In a double boiler, melt chocolate over low heat
• Add the oil and stir until it's really smooth and creamy
• Spread a bit of peanut butter of the top of each banana
• Put the banana slices, one by one, into the pot of chocolate and cover completely with chocolate using a spoon.
• Place dipped slices on a foil lined cookie sheet and freeze for at least one hour.

-Jessica

Thai Peanut Soup

When we were newlyweds, Matt delivered Chinese food to put himself through school. He would get home at around 10:30 or 11:00 reeking like chicken chow mein and sweet and sour pork. Not a smell I loved. In fact, I kind of lost my taste for Chinese food altogether. Not that there was much to lose, I never was a huge fan of the MSG soaked, deep fried food.

I kind of had this perception of Asian food that it would all taste like a vat of Fried Rice. Well, I could not have been more wrong. My favourite restaurant is Japanese Village- their sesame sauce is what dreams are made of. I have had some really delicious Vietnamese food too. So when I came across this recipe for Thai peanut soup (thank you Pinterest), it sounded dee-lish.

It was easy-peasy to make too, and it's Vegan AND Gluten-Free. Mental note to make this for my allergic-to-flour brother in law!

You can find the original recipe here.


Thai Peanut Soup

• 1 onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 carrot, sliced
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp coriander
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 2 1/2 cups diced tomatoes
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 cup natural peanut butter
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• juice from 3 limes
• 1 tsp salt
• cilantro, chopped, to garnish
• dry roasted peanuts, unsalted, chopped, to garnish

In a large pot, cook onions, peppers and garlic until tender (5 minutes). Add all other ingredients except cilantro and peanuts. Simmer until cooked through. Top with cilantro and chopped peanuts. The original recipe says it will feed 5-6 people, I'm going to say more like 4.

-Jessica

Peanut Butter Chocolate Skor Bark

Some mornings, I wake up, take 35 seconds to shower, hap-hazardly throw cereal into bowls, quickly pack lunches, and attempt to make sure that the boys hair is at least somewhat flat on their heads before rushing out the door for school. Some mornings, I remember to set my alarm so that I am showered, dressed, the house is cleaned, and a warm breakfast is waiting on the table by the time everyone else is up. And some mornings, I wake up with baking on the brain. I can think of nothing else. Which means else nothing gets done. Those days are good and bad. Bad, because it means I am wearing sweats for the school drop off (which we are a good 10 minutes late for), the house is a disaster, along with the kids hair of course, and breakfast was most likely a cereal bar and a quick chug of milk. Good, because when everyone gets home, the snack that day is awesome. And most likely the dessert. And, on really good days, dinner too.

But you see, it's not really my fault. Food has this way of burrowing itself inside my head. I can't help it if it makes other things leave in its place. Things like common sense. For example, telling my husband who is dressing the children that no, camoflauge pants do not match with cowboy boots. Or that it's not a good idea to play house under the baby's crib while he is still sleeping in it.

Well, today was one of those days. In my defense, it is December now which means Christmas baking. Lots of Christmas baking. It's 2:00 pm and breakfast dishes are still on the table. Shameful. But it was worth it in the end. I filled 6 tins today. So there.

Happy Baking!



Peanut Butter and Skor Bit Bark

10 ounces good quality dark chocolate, chopped
6 ounces white chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/3 cup salted peanuts
1 1/4 cup skor baking bits
8 ounces milk chocolate, chopped

-Melt dark chocolate in a double boiler, or in a stainless steel bowl over a pot of water. Set aside 2 tbsp for later. Pour the rest into a foiled 9x9 inch pan. Let cool in the fridge until hardened.
- Melt white chocolate and peanut butter in a double boiler. Remove from heat. Stir in peanuts. Let cool for about 10 mins, then pour on the hardened dark chocolate. Sprinkle with about half of the skor bits. Let cool again.
- Melt milk chocolate in a double boiler. Pour on top of the cooled bark. Sprinkle with remaining skor bits. Reheat the reserved dark chocolate and drizzle over the top with a spoon. Let cool completely in the fridge and cut up however you like.

-Jessica