Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Ice Cream

My family loves ice-cream. That's an understatement. They're obsessed with ice cream.

I grew up in a home where there was an ice-cream parlor in the basement. A bona-fide ice-cream parlor with a marble bar, brass foot railings, upholstered white-painted iron bar stools, a copper sink, built-in ice cream maker, and a spittoon.

What is a spittoon? Google it. Grody. It is just for looks (the spittoon), and has never been used. But since my brother's bedroom was also in the basement, I guess I can't guarantee that it has never been used...

Anyway, behind the marble counter of the ice cream bar is a red brick wall. And in the middle of the brick wall is a stained-glass window designed and made by my father. It displays our family's name and has a beautiful stained glass ice-cream sundae in the middle of it: complete with glass renditions of hot fudge and a cherry on top.

So what's the deal? Why did every kid think I had the coolest basement ever (it even has an old-fashioned telephone booth in it, you guys!)?

Because my family is genetically and conditionally truly obsessed with ice-cream! That's why. We had it as an option almost every night for dessert. Our freezers (yes, plural..as in more than one; more than two, actually) were continually stocked with it.

When Thrifty's had a sale on ice cream, WATCH OUT! We were accustomed to the stares from the grocery clerk(s) as we checked out. 20 cartons of ice-cream? No, we're not having a party. Unless you count ice-cream party every night at our house !!! Woot woot!

My dad's running joke when we (spoiled ice-cream parlor-in-the-house kids that we were) asked what flavors of ice cream we had in our freezers, was: "Prune Ripple." One of these days, you will see a post on here on how to make Prune Ripple Ice cream. Some day. But not today.

Today you understand my love for ice-cream. My snobby desire for high quality, high-butterfat creamy delicious and velvety smooth ice-cream. It's not my fault. I grew up with an ice-cream parlor.

Do I still have ice cream almost every night? No...I don't have the desire for it every night. But when I do, that snobbery kicks in and I want only the good stuff. So, my friends, I share with you a delicious recipe for the good stuff.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Ice-Cream.

This is a dark chocolate-based ice cream with an intense chocolate flavor, laden with chewy chunks of glorious peanut butter chocolate chip cookie-dough. If you are a chocolate and peanut butter fan, you are in luck! If you are a cookie dough fan, you're in even more luck. It's the best of the two worlds combined.

This recipe calls for making a custard (it contains five egg yolks), and so this is the creamiest, richest ice cream I have had. And from my story above, you can tell that that's saying something.

It's not difficult to make, and once you have made it and tasted it, you will be converted into an ice-cream snob too. I welcome you with open arms. And I'm sorry. I'm sorry you will never be satisfied by cheap air-filled, xantham gum-containing ice-cream again.

Or maybe you will. I am being a little dramatic. Seriously, though: are you ready for this? Let's do it!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Ice Cream

(ice-cream recipe adapted from recipe of David Lebovitz)

Ingredients

2 cups heavy cream

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, preferably Dutch-processed

1 scant cup of semi-sweet high-quality chocolate chips

1 1/4 cup whole milk

3/4 cup sugar

1/8 tsp. salt

5 large egg yolks

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (I used Jif)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup pasteruized eggs (or egg whites, or egg beaters)

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda 

pinch of salt

1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

additional flour to dust cookie dough balls with before freezing

Directions

1. Place the unsweetened cocoa powder and 1 cup of the heavy cream in a saucepan over medium heat and whisk constantly to combine. Bring the mix to a soft boil and boil for 30 seconds while stirring. Remove from the heat and add the semi-sweet chocolate chips. Stir until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Add the other cup of heavy cream and stir until combined. Pour the chocolate mix into a medium bowl and scrape the pan thoroughly; place a strainer over the top of the bowl.

2. In the same sauce pan (meaning you don't have to clean it. yay!) warm the milk, sugar, and salt until hot. Whisk the egg yolks together in a separate medium bowl. Slowly pour the warm milk into the egg yolks while whisking constantly. Scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the sauce pan. 

3. Stir continuously over medium heat with a heat-proof spatula. Stir until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula (about 170 degrees F). This will take about 5 minutes. Pour this custard into the strainer (over the chocolate bowl). Stir until smooth, and stir in the vanilla.  Place the bowl in an ice bath and continue to stir until the mixture is cool. Place the mixture in the refrigerator and allow to chill for at least 8 hours. 

4. Make the cookie dough: Cream the butter and peanut butter together with a mixer until smooth and light. Add the sugars and beat again. Add the pasteurized liquid eggs/whites and vanilla and mix again until combined. Add the flour, baking soda, salt and combine. Stir in the chocolate chips.

5. With a small spoon, dish out small portions of the dough (however large you want the dough bites to be in your ice cream), roll quickly in your hands into a ball, and throw into a bowl with some flour in it. Repeat until you use about 2/3 of the dough. Place the flour-coated little dough balls in a freezer bag and in the freezer until you are ready to use them. I baked the rest of my cookies at 350 for about 12 minutes. Because there is pasteurized egg and a small amount of baking soda, they can actually bake up like a normal cookie. 

6. Freeze the ice cream/custard in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. Once the ice cream is done churning, scrape it into a container and fold in the frozen cookie dough balls (you can add as much as you like, but I used about 1/2 of them and saved the rest for another batch. I even had some leftover dough to make a few cookies). Place in the freezer to harden for at least 8 hours. 

7. EAT!

As a side note, the few cookies I baked from this dough were amazing. I now have a new peanut-butter chocolate chip cookie dough recipe.

Enjoy this yummy ice-cream, and it's lucky that you'll have some extra cookie dough niblets on-hand for that mandatory second batch of ice cream. Trust me: you will be making this again.