Easy Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream

I knew this would happen. It happens every year, usually earlier than January. But it eventually got me: the dreaded head cold. Yep...the cold I've been fighting off, and I thought beating, for the past couple of days decided to hit me like a ton of bricks this morning when I got up for work. I called my boss to explain how I felt and he told me to go straight to bed. As you can imagine, I didn't argue with him.

While cold meds have made me feel a little better, I'm still feeling congested and groggy. So much fun. When I'm feeling under the weather, I always crave my favorite foods. And the majority of those foods are sweets. One of my favorite all time foods is soft serve ice cream. If I'm sick or having a bad day, chances are you can find me with a spoon and giant cup of Frozenyo (my absolute FAVORITE frozen yogurt chain in D.C.) in my presence.

In attempts to replicate my beloved frozen yogurt, I've made for you an easy, homemade "ice cream". I decided to go with a chocolate peanut butter flavor because, let's be serious, is there anything better than the combination of rich chocolate and creamy peanut butter? Nope, I didn't think so. This ice cream, however, calls for PB2, which is a peanut powder. That sounds weird, right? Essentially it is peanut butter with all of the oil extracted. Luckily for all of the peanut butter lovers out there, PB2 has the same great taste that peanut butter has with a fraction of the calories and fat. It goes great in smoothies, ice cream, frosting, and other skinny sweet recipes.

So not only is this ice cream slightly healthy with the addition of PB2 instead of regular peanut butter, but it is also a cinch to make. You literally add all of the ingredients to the Cool Whip container, so you only have one measly spatula to clean. The only part that stinks is waiting for your concoction to harden. After a longgg four hours, pop that Cool Whip container out of the freezer, scoop out some of that delicious ice cream, top it with your favorite candies, and devour. Easy, simple, no mess, delicious, homemade ice cream.

Easy Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream (adapted from Crazy for Crust)
(4-5 servings)

8 ounces Cool Whip Free, thawed
7-14 ounces fat free sweetened condensed milk*
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup Original PB2
1 tsp vanilla extract

Pour sweetened condensed milk directly into Cool Whip container. Stir ingredients together. Add the cocoa powder, PB2, and vanilla extract. Stir all of the ingredients until well blended. Place Cool Whip lid on container and put mixture in the freezer. Freeze until desired consistency is reached (about 4 hours for soft serve and 6 hours for ice cream). Serve chilled and top with chocolate chips, candies, or any of your favorite toppings.

*I used the full 14 ounces the first time I made this recipe and found the ice cream to be very sweet. I would recommend only using half of the can of sweetened condensed milk (7 ounces); feel free to taste test before you freeze the mixture and add more sweetened condensed milk until the level of sweetness you desire is reached.

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Nutritional Info (for recipe made with 7 ounces of sweetened condensed milk)
Servings Per Recipe: 5
Amount Per Serving:
Calories: 209.8
Total Fat: 1.2 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 102.5 mg
Total Carbs: 42.7 g
Fiber: 2.2 g
Sugars: 29.3 g
Protein: 5.8 g

Pros:
-Easy to make
-Delicious!
-Simple list of ingredients
-Can easily be doubled
-Versatile-add different flavorings (lemon juice, just cocoa powder, cake mix, and other mix-ins and candies)

Cons:
-High in calories and sugar per serving
-Must wait for mixture to harden