As far as I’m concerned, there are few things better than a cool vanilla ice cream on a sunny day, aside from ice cream drizzled with a moreish peanut butter sauce.
It’s the ultimate treat for peanut butter lovers! It has so much more depth of flavor than some syrupy standard caramel sauce or corn syrup.
If you love peanut butter, you’re going to love the peanut butter ice cream topping recipes I have in store for you!
But it’s not just for ice cream – it’s also the perfect sauce for french toast, too, and for other dessert cuisine.
And as dessert recipes go, ice cream topped with this peanut butter sauce makes for a perfect date night treat at home.
Once you’ve made this liquid peanut butter you’re going to want to try it out on more than just ice cream – it also goes great on the likes of pancakes, fruit skewers, milkshakes, and frappes, too.
First, I’ll give you my favorite peanut butter ice cream topping recipe, then I’ll follow that up with some tips and ideas for variations.
Enjoy!
Peanut Butter Ice Cream Topping Recipe!
Let’s get straight to it.
It turns out you don’t actually need a whole lot of ingredients for a great peanut butter sauce. And it requires minimal prep time, just 10 minutes at the most.
Here’s what you’re going to need:
- 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (don’t use a natural peanut butter)
- 5 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
And here’s what you need to do:
- Place sweetened condensed milk and peanut butter in a small saucepan over low heat.
- Now you need to give it a really good stir, and keep stirring the mixture until it’s nice and smooth.
- Add the water and stir until the mix is fully dissolved.
- When you are satisfied, transfer the peanut butter mix to a jar and store covered.
- (Unless you want to enjoy it straight away, of course, simply give it a drizzle over your favorite flavor of ice cream with a spoon!)
Tips For Your Peanut Butter Ice Cream Topping
I strongly recommend using smooth creamy peanut butter, but if you only have crunchy peanut butter at home, then I recommend blitzing it first in a food processor.
Personally, I love to give my vanilla ice cream a drizzle with this peanut butter sauce while it’s still hot, for that amazing contrast of temperatures, it makes the ice cream taste really cool, and it gets the ice cream melting right away.
I also recommend adding some crushed peanuts on top to serve, but I know not everyone goes for that.
Or another alternative would be chocolate chips or chocolate sprinkles. Everyone loves chocolate!
And a quick note – the peanut butter sauce will start to thicken a little as it cools.
If you feel the sauce is perhaps a little too thick, then what I would recommend doing is transferring the sauce to a microwave safe bowl, and putting it in the microwave just enough to make it pour-able, like liquid peanut butter.
If you can’t get hold of any sweetened condensed milk, it’s OK to use regular condensed milk, and you can simply stir in some sugar to make it sufficiently sweet.
When making the peanut butter sauce, I think having the pan on a low heat is best, but you can do it on a medium heat if you don’t have the patience to wait for it to heat up for you.
If you don’t wish to use the peanut butter sauce right away, that’s fine. You can store it in your refrigerator for up to 3 days.
And there’s good reason why I say not to use natural peanut butter. Natural peanut butter that’s homemade doesn’t melt as well as regular peanut butter.
So be sure to use regular store bought peanut butter for your peanut butter ice cream topping.
As for nutrition facts, my top tip is to just forget about calories for this treat. Your ice cream is going to be high in calories anyway, so what’s a few more?
Variations For Your Peanut Butter Ice Cream Topping
There are all kinds of variations you can make to this delicious peanut butter sauce.
You can throw in some corn syrup, butter, vegetable oil, coconut oil, maple syrup, hot fudge, sugar, cream, and even heavy cream.
The list goes on. Don’t be afraid to experiment.
Just don’t experiment too much and throw everything in. All you need to satisfy most peanut butter lovers is simply a substantial amount of peanut butter.
When you experiment with different ingredients, try to keep an eye on the thickness of your peanut butter ice cream topping.
If you feel it’s getting a little too thick, all you have to do is stick it in the microwave for a few seconds, and you’re good to go once more.
What Flavors Of Ice Cream Go Best With The Peanut Butter Sauce?
The good news is that this peanut butter ice cream topping goes just great with a range of different ice cream flavors, and you don’t have to stick with plain vanilla if that’s not really your thing…
I love it with chocolate ice cream, banana ice cream, and toffee ice cream (and of course peanut butter ice cream if you’re lucky enough to find some).
Basically any flavor that goes well with peanut butter.
Wrap Up
So, now you know how to make your very own peanut butter ice cream topping.
It’s super easy and super versatile, too. Not only does it go great with a wide range of flavors of ice cream, but you can also use it as a topping for other things too, like pancakes for example.
And if you decide to experiment with different flavors, be sure to steer clear of natural peanut butter or crunchy peanut butter, and you can adjust the thickness with just a few seconds in the microwave.
