My ultimate, favorite ice cream flavor is Ben & Jerry's Chubby Hubby: Vanilla malt ice cream, chocolate-covered, peanut butter-filled pretzels, with peanut butter and chocolate fudge swirls. It's to die for, and Chris and I shared quite a few pints of it in college when we first started seeing each other. For me, it's all about the salty with the sweet: the pretzels and the chocolate. And of course the peanut butter, which goes perfectly with both.
Jump ahead 16 years later, and it's not so easy to find Chubby Hubby these days. It's not at any of our local grocery stores (I've checked six different places), and the last time we found it--at a 7/11--there was only one pint left, and they didn't restock. I guess it's not B&J's most popular flavor, which is very sad. Very sad indeed.
But, Chris' Creamy Caramel Chocolate Coffee Chip Ice Cream was a hit, so when he decided to make homemade vanilla ice cream with peanut-butter filled pretzels, Nutella, and some chopped milk chocolate mixed in, I was thrilled. It turned out so good -- and so close to the real thing! But what to call it? I guess we could call Chris' concoction "Not Quite Chubby Hubby" but Chris is nowhere close to being chubby, and I get "the death look" when I refer to him as my "hubby" so I'm going to just let this one go.
You can get the Food & Wine recipe for the ice cream base here. However, Chris did not reveal the exact proportions of peanut butter-filled pretzels and milk chocolate, so I guess you'll have to just eyeball it. He did add a bit of vanilla extract to the ice cream base before chilling, which was a smart move.
Chris's College Try Ice Cream
Ingredients:
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Salt (pinch)
1 high quality milk chocolate bar, chopped into small pieces
2 TBS Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread)
Peanut butter filled pretzels
Minimal MESS/ingredients/clean-up: Category 1
To Do:
- If you need to chill the bucket or insert for your ice cream maker, make sure you've done that already. (It needs to be frozen solid, so at least 24 hours.)
- Place a medium bowl inside a larger bowl, then fill the larger bowl with ice and water until the medium bowl is immersed in the ice water.
- In small sauce pan, combine the heavy cream, whole milk (do not substitute), sugar, vanilla, and pinch of salt.
- Bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring often with a wooden spoon so the sugar dissolves completely.
- Remove the mixture from heat and let cool a few minutes, then pour into the now-chilled medium bowl. Let cool completely, stirring occasionally.
- Cover the cooled base with plastic wrap and refrigerate until very cold, at least an hour or overnight (ideal).
- Prep your ice cream add-ins (in this case, chop your chocolate and stir the Nutella in a small bowl until thinned a bit).
- Pour the chilled base into your ice cream maker along with the chocolate pieces, and drizzle in the Nutella. Freeze according to your machine's directions.
- When ready, gently stir in the pretzels, then transfer the mixture to a freezer-proof plastic container. Cover and freeze at least 3 hours, or until firm.
- Devour.
Hooray for Chris!
xoxo
