Homemade Peanut Butter Ice Cream

When I was a young lad growing up with five siblings in rural west Tennessee, my dearest mother, Eunia Mae Harris (picture inset) would make us special desserts for our birthdays. How she had time to bake and prepare requested desserts in addition to the washing, ironing and preparation of three full meals a day, not to mention her participation in all sorts of farm chores including tractor work in the fields, is beyond my understanding.

One such dessert stands out above the rest and was not even a request. My parents had only recently acquired their first refrigerator (this was back in the '50s in rural America) and my Mother would often freeze ice cream in a double ice cube tray after removing the cube separators. She would make all sorts of fruit flavors from our orchard but one day on a lark she added some smooth Peter Pan Peanut Butter to the ice cream mix and it was an instant hit with us kids. Later this recipe was transferred to an old crank homemade ice cream freezer and now to this day I still prepare a version of my mother's homemade peanut butter ice cream. I have made my special ice cream for many friends and acquaintances, to some acclaim.

Here is the recipe if anyone cares to taste the absolute best ice cream in the world- that is assuming you like peanut butter!

First choose your freezer- I recommend a self-coolant model ICE-20 made by Cuisinart.
Next you will need a blender and the following ingredients.
(1) 1 quart of half & half
(2) 1 quart of whole milk
(3) 1 cup of smooth peanut butter
(4) 3 cups of granulated white sugar
(5) 3 whole eggs
(6) 4 tbls heavy whipping cream

Assemble the ice cream freezer - place the frozen canister into the container, add the dasher and cover and then start the motor and let the canister turn freely while you prepare the ingredients.

Preparing the ingredients-
Add the 1 quart of half & half; 3 cups of sugar and 3 eggs and blend for 2 minutes and then pour into a large container for final mixing.

Add the 1 quart of whole milk; 1 cup of peanut butter and 4 tbls of heavy whipping cream and blend for 2 minutes and pour into the mixing container.

Stir the ingredients in the mixing container with a wooden spoon until well mixed and then pour into the ice cream canister.

The cream should freeze semi-hard within 30 minutes. Remove canister and enjoy your ice cream!

For all ice cream lovers, I recommend a definitive book on ice cream by Gail Damerow entitled Ice Cream! The Whole Scoop