That nearly empty jar of peanut butter on your shelf still has so much promise. You know that we are fans of using already, and your peanut butter jar is no exception. With just a few more ingredients, you can create a quick treat for yourself that's so good that you'll rush to finish the next jar of peanut butter. The good news is there's no need to drag your ice cream maker out of storage to make this ice cream, it all comes together in the peanut butter jar.
Scraping the last bit of flavor from a jar can seem tedious, but by shaking that sticky peanut butter up with some cream, it begins to dissolve, creating the flavor base for the ice cream.
As a bonus, any streaks that don't mix in become extra nutty stripes in the finished ice cream. This trick also allows you to customize the sweetness of the ice cream, and of course, you can add additional flavors and mix-ins, too.
Start with a jar of peanut butter that still has about 2 tablespoons left. Squeeze in a tablespoon of honey for sweetness and top it off with a half cup of whipping cream. We prefer honey to sugar, because liquid honey mixes in well, and sugar won't have time to dissolve before the mixture is frozen.
You could substitute in a pinch, but the finished texture will be more icy. Stir the ingredients together briefly with a spoon or mini spatula, but no need to get everything mixed too well. Screw the lid onto the jar and then shake it hard, this step adds air to make the ice cream texture fluffy. You'll hear the liquid sloshing around for a minute or so, and then gradually the sound becomes more like a thick slapping. Stop at that stage, the jar is now ready to freeze.
If you want to add mix-ins to your ice cream, stir them in before freezing the jar. Ideas we like are a spoonful of hot fudge sauce to make chocolate ribbons, half of a chopped-up banana, a couple of tablespoons of freeze-dried strawberries, or a handful of coconut flakes.
The ice cream will be firm and ready to enjoy in about 2 hours. Enjoy as is, spooning the rich and creamy ice cream right out of the jar — it might turn out to be the best thing you made with that jar of peanut butter.
