Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Peanut Butter Ice Cream


I'm warning you now that as summer approaches this blog might devolve from a baking blog into a blog devoted to frozen desserts. Maybe a few raw treats too, but I know I'm not going to want to turn on my oven. Baking in the summer heat is like going to bikram yoga without feeling better about your health after! I went to a few bikram yoga classes last summer and was not the biggest fan. But then again I think it's definitely one of those practices that many people hate while doing it, but love it after they have left. I just can't get over with overwhelming sweaty-ness. Yoga poses that I could do in my sleep become something completely challenging because there are ounces of salt water dripping into my eyes and causing my feet to slip across my mat. No thanks! I will stick to antigravity yoga. Still a bit of the shock factor, but I find it much more rewarding. Hanging upside down for a few minutes at a time stretches out my spine and limbs in ways that I crave.

leaves and flours vegan peanut butter ice cream

Speaking of craving, I have been daydreaming about all sorts of ice cream and sorbet and popsicle flavor combinations. I'm feeling really inspired by The Vegan Scoop. I've made several recipes now, and all of them have exceeded my expectations. This peanut butter ice cream was no different. Chock full of peanut butter, it tasted just like the inside of a frozen Reese's cup. To keep up with the frozen Reese's cup taste, I sandwiched a scoop of ice cream between two chocolate chocolate chip cookies. It was a mess. I was far too impatient to wait for the ice cream to harden enough to cut it with a cookie cutter, so I just scooped a mostly frozen blob of ice cream on the cookies and devoured it. Be thankful that I spared you from the pictures. It was gluttonous and magical and sinfully sweet.
If you are a fan of nut or seed butters, then this recipe is something you should definitely try out. I'm sure it would be just as wonderful with almond butter or sunflower butter!
Are you a yoga fan? Or do you have another favorite type of exercise? My gym hours have been on a resurgence with all the recipe testing I have had to do for work lately. I do a one hour antigravity class once a week, and then mostly stick to the elliptical and a few weight machines the other days. I use to be a huge fan of zumba and spin, but our the classes at my gym are so packed that it's difficult to make it in. I've done a few kickboxing classes, but none are offered at my current gym. I'm interested in trying a few other things. Do you go to a gym or workout at home? Do you have a favorite workout video?

8 comments:

  1. I like spending about an hour a day, five or six days a week, at the gym. I start with twenty or thirty minutes of low impact cardio like the elliptical or stationary bike, then do a rotation of weight machines (or free weights if I'm concentrating on arms). I like using the stability ball for abs, as well as doing push-ups (which have actually become an at-home stress reliever for me!), then finishing off with five or ten minutes of cardio or jogging home.

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  2. I love frozen desserts and this one looks divine !! I workout at home, I love it. I also run outside a lot. In a gym I always feel like a hamster...running and going nowhere. The only thing that is more difficult in having home workouts is the motivation. I also love to go in different yoga classes and crossfit ! :)

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  3. I agree on the whole oven-in-the-summer thing. This ice cream sounds like a perfect solution!

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  4. i am so glad i didn't get you that book for your birthday!! . . . i haven't been to a gym in SO long but i always feel like biking to work makes up for working at a bakery?! i want to start running again which is reason #6573984 i can't wait to move to nashville besides having a set schedule, enjoying all the parks, AND i can't wait for frozen treats and healthy moving again ahhhhh

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  5. Ooooh the ice cream looks really nice! It's a super hot summer here too so even I've been making more and more ice creams lately. :)

    I'm a fan of traditional Indian Yoga. I really get confused when I hear all these fusion yoga practices which have cropped up in the west. haha

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  6. For something fun, check out Hemalayaa's Bollywood Dance Workout series--they are a good cardio workout and you learn some funky Bollywood moves :-)

    I really want a big bowl of that ice cream.... yummmmmmm!

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  7. My favorite way of excersing is the Wii!

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  8. That texture looks fantastic, which is arguably the hardest aspect to nail down when making ice cream. It sounds so good, but of course, I don't think I'd be able to resist topping such a scoop with hot fudge sauce. ;)

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