By far my most consistently asked for ice cream is peanut butter. Our friend circle is increasingly filled with radicalized peanut butter supremacists. It's also one of the easiest to make. I decided I'm willing to share my secrets ;)
You'll need:
Ice cream maker (obviously)
Batter bucket (big mixing bowl with measures on the side and a spout, I use an 8 cup glass one)
Silicone spatula
Ingredients:
1 cup smooth peanut butter. I've tried crunchy but the bits don't mix well. Skippy Naturals is my recommendation
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup light cream
2 tbsp vanilla extract
Whole milk
First, stir the peanut butter thoroughly to incorporate any oil that's settled to the top. Pour it into the batter bucket using the spatula until you've roughly reached the 1 cup line when leveled. Add the sugar, and mix. Add the cream in portions, stopping to mix it into the peanut butter as you go to avoid lumps. Add the vanilla extract, and then add whole milk until you reach the 4 cup line on your batter bucket. Stir until homogenous. Optional: pre-chill the mixture in the fridge for a faster freezing time. Pour it into your ice cream maker, and churn for 15 minutes if pre-chilled or about 25 minutes if not, until the ice cream is a soft serve consistency. Scoop it into your preferred containers and put into the freezer to firm up.
Serve with a drizzle of your favorite chocolate sauce. I suggest SMALL PORTIONS. It's extremely rich and you can always go back for more.
If you don't have a batter bucket, I can't recommend one enough. Scooping peanut butter out of and then cleaning the measuring cups is a giant pain. Being able to pour the mixture from a spout is a huge upgrade over a bowl. It's immensely helpful in ice cream making and if you plan on making it more than once in your life just get one already.
Enjoy ;)
I used to have a very low opinion of the capabilities of kids younger than 5, and genuinely had no idea what they were really like. I remember having similar thoughts about parents grieving babies, because for milennia we as a species had to deal with children dying all the time, to the point of not even naming them before certain ages. I have a toddler now and boy did I underestimate them. Did you know some speak in full sentences by two and a half? We taught our kid sign language when he was 8 months old so he could tell us what he needed, and by ten months he was telling us he loved trucks, had a surprisingly high tolerance for hot sauce and was a major cuddle bug who had a different favorite color every day (but mostly yellow and blue). He's three now and knows how to crack jokes, build block castles, can do forward and backward floor somersaults, and even can even do some basic rock climbing. I have parent friends with kids similar ages, one has their kid writing already, another has their kid riding a bicycle, all under 4 years old. They come out of the gate with very distinctive personalities, and every kid is different. I think if you actually knew a toddler well enough to get to know them, you'd realize just how quickly they become a fully realized person.