Lisa wanted to make ice cream again, and being a huge fan of both peanut butter and agave nectar, combined this recipe from David Lebovitz with this one from Joy the Baker to create this Agave-Sweetened Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream treat! Wow, was it good. Dangerously good. Pure-evil good.

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Lisa says:

Hey, where’s the peanut butter in the picture?

Chris says:

Um, this was the last scoop of ice cream left… we foolishly waited until the next night to take a photo.

Lisa says:

Well, can you blame us? It was SO delicious…

Chris says:

I know it. You heart peanut butter.

Lisa says:

I do! And actually I may have put a little *too* much in… I didn’t really measure and just kept adding.

Chris says:

Well it certainly worked for me… maybe next time you can make something not quite as good.

Lisa says:

Actually, maybe we’ll just invite other people to share. That way we’ll be limited in how much we can scarf down. 🙂

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Agave-Sweetened Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream
10 tablespoons agave nectar
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, very finely chopped
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 cups half-and-half, divided
5 large egg yolks
pinch of salt
1/2 cup valencia peanut butter

In a small saucepan, warm the agave syrup with the unsweetened chocolate over the lowest heat possible, stirring constantly, until the chocolate is melted. Remove from heat and transfer mixtures to a large bowl. Set aside.
In a medium saucepan, add 1 1/2 cups of the half-and-half and whisk in the cocoa powder. Cook over moderate heat until the mixture begins to bubble, then simmer for 30 seconds, whisking frequently, making sure to break up any clumps of cocoa powder.
Remove from heat and scrape the mixture into the bowl with the chocolate-agave mixture. Stir them together, then set a mesh strainer over the top.
Add the remaining half-and-half to the saucepan with a pinch of salt, turn on the heat, and when warm, slowly pour the warm half-and-half into the yolks whisking constantly, then pour the warmed yolks back into the saucepan.
Cook, stirring constantly over moderate heat, until the mixture becomes steamy and thickens — the mixture should reach around 170F degrees.
Pour the mixture through the strainer into the chocolate mixture.
Stir, then let cool a few minutes. When cool enough to handle, mix in a blender for ten seconds until it’s smooth and velvety. (Be very careful: hot liquid + blender = danger!)
Chill thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Once the mixture has chilled and thickened in the ice cream maker, slowly drizzle in 1/4 cup of peanut butter. Transfer the ice cream into a freezer safe container and fold in the remaining 1/4 cup of peanut butter. Cover and freeze until solid.

Makes 1 Quart