A bowl of this Salted Caramel & Peanut Ice Cream is an excellent way to end a warm summer’s day!
I’ve been hanging on to this recipe for a while now. Don’t get me wrong…it’s delicious! I just didn’t think it would be appropriate to post an ice cream recipe when there was still snow outside.
So why did I even make this ice cream while there was still snow outside? Great question! You see, I had a lot of peanuts. My wife had mentioned that I should pick up some nuts to snack on for when her parents came to visit. Cool, no problem. So I picked up a Sam’s Club size pack of peanuts. (That’s 3 pounds and 4 ounces of peanuts in case you were wondering.) When my wife saw the peanuts, she was all like “Why did you get those?,” and I was all like “Well, you asked me to.” Apparently I was supposed to get mixed cocktail nuts instead of peanuts. So I’ve been munching on peanuts for a long time now. We decided that I should use some of the peanuts in a recipe, and I happened to have some cream in the fridge…and so this Salted Caramel & Peanut Ice Cream was born.
Now that the summer sun has returned, I decided to pull this tasty Salted Caramel & Peanut Ice Cream out of the archives. If you’ve never made homemade ice cream, then stop reading this immediately. Go buy an ice cream maker. Come back and finish reading this. (Ice cream makers aren’t too expensive, and they make the process a piece of cake. How’s that for using one food analogy to describe another? And to be honest, it’s easier than baking a cake!)
For this ice cream, I used my go-to caramel sauce and just added it to the ice cream maker right before the ice cream was done. I was truthfully hoping that the ice cream would end up with a wonderful swirl of salted caramel, but it just all blended together instead. Oh well. It still tasted great! Here’s to a long summer with many nights of homemade ice cream on the back deck!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups whole milk, divided
- ¾ cup sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- 5 egg yolks
- 2 ½ cups heavy cream
- 1 ½ Tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup salted, roasted peanuts
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 2/3 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp sea salt or kosher salt
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, heat 1 cup of milk until it just begins to simmer.
- Meanwhile, whisk together the sugar, salt and egg yolks in a medium bowl. Gradually pour the hot milk into the egg yolk mixture, whisking vigorously the entire time.
- Return the entire mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon (6-7 minutes).
- Remove mixture from the heat and stir in the remaining ½ cup of milk, heavy cream and vanilla extract.
- Pour the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean container. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic directly to the surface of the mixture. Refrigerate overnight.
- Place the sugar in a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk the sugar constantly as it begins to melt. (Tip: Use a larger saucepan than you might think as the mixture will bubble up when the other ingredients are added later.)
- Once the sugar has melted and begins to boil, remove from heat and add the butter; stir until butter has fully melted. (Note: The mixture will bubble up vigorously when the butter is added, so use caution at this stage.)
- Slowly whisk in the heavy cream. Add the sea or kosher salt and whisk together until smooth. (Note: Use caution once again as the mixture will bubble up when the cream is added.)
- Let sauce cool for about 20 minutes at room temperature. Refrigerate until needed.
- Pour the ice cream mixture into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s directions. When there is approximately 5 minutes left, add the peanuts and about 3/4 of the Salted Caramel Sauce. Allow the ice cream maker to finish making the ice cream. (The ice cream will be soft at this point. If you prefer harder ice cream, just place it in the freezer for a couple of hours.)
- Drizzle with remaining Salted Caramel Sauce before serving.
I adore – I mean adore peanuts! I can (probably) eat my weight in peanuts! With that said – combining them with salted caramel is so brilliant! I don’t have an ice cream maker – being lactose intolerant I have mostly resorted to purchasing packaged froyo – but this flavor combo sounds amazing – I could probably use coconut milk/coconut cream in plcae of whole milk/heavy cream?
Shashi! I had no idea you were such a peanut fan. I do love me some peanuts, and I have to be really careful…I think I could have eaten all 3+ pounds of these peanuts by myself. Easily. So I made a Roasted Almond + Coconut Ice Cream last year (http://spicedblog.com/roasted-almond-coconut-ice-cream.html) with almond milk and coconut milk. It was AMAZING…but it still has heavy cream in it. Perhaps you could start with that recipe and make some adjustments to get rid of the cream?
Brilliant recipe my friend, I could totally use a serving of that awesome ice-cream in a couple of hours while watching Spain v Netherlands!
PS GO NETHERLANDS! 😉
Heck yeah! I’m trying to get all of my computer work done so I can turn on the Mexico game in the kitchen. And then of course The Netherlands game will command all of my attention after that!
If only I lived in upstate NY and was your neighbor… I could be helping myself to all sorts of this ice cream goodness right now #wolfpackeats style. Unfortunately, instead I’m sitting here in a daze wishing that ice cream was in my life right now. ::sigh::
If only, Chris, if only. I’ve literally been telling you about this ice cream since like March…and it finally makes its debut on Spiced! Too bad it’s long gone…
Too funny David. i literally LOLed about the giant bag of peanuts and your wife’s confusion. Way to get creative with them. This is so very much my cup of tea as far as deserts go. I love sweet and salty combinations, and the caramel on top. Ohhh boy! Pinning!
Haha…thank you so much, Katie! I made this ice cream several months back and I’ve kept the post in the archives until summer. But I am just now finished that darned tub of peanuts. I love me some peanuts…but 3+ pounds worth!?
Hahhah munching on peanuts all summer long! Sounds like someone I know. This ice cream looks amazing. The combo is just perfect.
Haha! Man, there are a lot of peanuts in 3+ pounds. Trust me. A lot…
OK, the ice cream looks and sounds amazing but — ERMAHGERD — I must have those adorable bowls!!!!!!!!
Haha! Thanks, Mrs. Ninj! I’m pretty sure those were a Marshall’s/TJ Maxx find sometime back in the winter. And I’m pretty sure I shoved them in my cart and covered them up so no-one could take them away from me. 🙂
Ohmigerrrd! I have this secret wish to be buried in a blanket of salted caramel. Oh crap…. I guess it’s not much of a secret anymore 😉
LOL! Now there’s a different mental image. The cat is out of the bag, Chef Becca!
Delicious recipe! 3+ lbs. of peanuts is a lot. Can you imagine mindless snacking, then you look over and the can is nearly empty. I’d have a heart attack. Haha
Great use of those peanuts 😀
Oh man, that totally almost happened, too. Peanuts are so darned delicious…I can’t stop myself. Literally. I have no self-control. So I decided to put them into ice cream instead! 🙂
it looks delicious!
Thanks, Dina!!
Lol! We have all fallen prey to the bulk Cosco purchase that just will not disappear! This ice cream looks delicious AND I would eat it when there is snow on the ground. I don’t know why, but sometimes winter calls for ice cream!
I actually agree with you 100% Lindsey! In fact, this ice cream has been long gone…but I didn’t think anyone else would appreciate an ice cream recipe in February or March. Apparently I was wrong! 🙂
My husband would be thrilled if I accidentally grabbed a 3lb package of peanuts. But he would love this ice cream even more. Looks amazing and I love the caramel with the peanuts. Totally appropriate for any season 🙂
Thank you so much, Sherri! I certainly wasn’t upset with the huge pack of peanuts. Talk about turning lemons into lemonade…or peanuts into ice cream! 🙂
This recipe is everything! What an amazing ice cream flavor! Yum!
Thank you so much, Eden! This is one delicious ice cream…and now I’m craving another batch after hopping over and seeing your comment. Haha! Hope your summer is filled with delicious ice cream, and thank you for supporting my site! 🙂