Peanut Butter Protein Ice Cream (Ninja Creami, Lite Ice Cream Program)

Peanut butter suits a protein pint because a little fat makes the Creami’s job easier, and this recipe uses exactly one tablespoon of it. Powdered peanut butter carries the flavor at a fraction of the fat, a spoon of natural peanut butter stops the base shaving into dust, and whey isolate plus Fairlife skim milk bring the total to about 54 g of protein per pint. We tested it on the Ninja Creami NC351: the first Lite Ice Cream spin was crumbly and one re-spin made it creamy. Per serving, four per pint, we estimate 100 kcal, 14 g protein, 6 g carbs and 3 g fat.

Tested recipe

Peanut Butter Protein Ice Cream

A peanut butter protein pint that uses powdered peanut butter for flavor and one spoon of real peanut butter for the fat that makes it scoop after a single re-spin.

Lite Ice CreamNC3511 re-spin

Prep

5 min

Freeze

24 h

Process

4 min

Total

24 h 9 min

Servings

4 per pint

16 oz pint24 oz XL tub

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups (360 g) Fairlife skim milk, cold
• 1 scoop (31 g) vanilla whey protein isolate
• 2 tbsp (12 g) powdered peanut butter
• 1 tbsp (16 g) natural creamy peanut butter
• 1 tbsp (8 g) sugar-free instant vanilla or butterscotch pudding mix
• 1 tbsp (12 g) allulose or granulated sweetener of choice
• 1/8 tsp fine salt

Equipment

• Ninja Creami NC351
• 16 oz Creami pint

Method

1. Pour the milk into a blender.
2. Add the whey isolate, powdered peanut butter, peanut butter, pudding mix, sweetener and salt.
3. Blend for 30 seconds, until the peanut butter is fully dispersed.
4. Pour the base into the Creami pint up to the max fill line.
5. Lid the pint and freeze it on a level surface for 24 hours.
6. Remove the lid, lock the pint into the outer bowl, fit the paddle lid and press Lite Ice Cream.
7. Press Re-spin once if the surface looks crumbly.
8. Scoop and serve.

Nutrition per serving (estimated)

Calories

100 kcal

Protein

14 g

Carbs

6 g

Fat

3 g

Program: Lite Ice Cream · Tested on NC351 · By Mike Lala

Tips

• Freeze the pint flat. Peanut butter bases are dense, and a pint that froze on a tilt gives the paddle an uneven block that stays crumbly on the low side even after a re-spin. Use a level shelf and check the surface before processing. The fill lines and leveling notes are in our base ratio cheat sheet.
• One re-spin, no liquid. On the NC351 the Lite Ice Cream cycle took 128 seconds and the re-spin 70 seconds in our timed runs. A crumbly first result is expected; press Re-spin and let the paddle warm and compress the base before you reach for the milk.
• Add 1 tbsp of milk only before a second re-spin. If one re-spin leaves a dry ring around the edge, pour a tablespoon of milk over the top and run Re-spin again. This happens more often with crunchy or extra-dry natural peanut butters.
• Blend until no streaks remain. Natural peanut butter resists dispersing in cold milk. Thirty seconds at high speed, with one scrape of the jar, prevents the frozen knots that chip the texture.
• Keep the freezer at 0 F and store the pint on a shelf, not the door, so the center freezes as hard as the edges.

Variations

• Chocolate peanut butter: replace 1 tbsp of the powdered peanut butter with 1 tbsp (6 g) of cocoa and use chocolate whey, or start from our chocolate protein ice cream and add the peanut butter.
• Peanut butter cup: after the re-spin, dig a hole to the bottom, add 1 tbsp of chopped sugar-free peanut butter cups and run Mix-In.
• Peanut butter banana: replace 1/4 cup (60 g) of the milk with 1/4 cup (55 g) of mashed ripe banana, which adds sugar and usually removes the need for the re-spin.

Storage and refreeze

Smooth the leftover ice cream flat, press the storage lid on and return the pint to a level shelf at 0 F. It refreezes hard overnight. To serve again, run Lite Ice Cream and Re-spin once; because peanut solids keep absorbing water as the pint sits, a refrozen peanut butter pint is drier than a fresh one, so have 1 tbsp of milk ready for a second re-spin. Refrozen pints hold their texture for about five days. Process the whole pint each time and refreeze the remainder, since a half-full pint sits below the paddle’s reach and spins unevenly.

The model and pints we used

This recipe was tested in an original 16 oz pint on the Gen 2 Creami NC351, which measured 82 dB on our meter and whose lid lock still clicks positively after a month of daily protein pints. The same pints fit the NC301 and NC299AMZ; the pints guide covers the two-packs and four-packs and the Deluxe tubs and Swirl pints that do not fit. More recipes built the same way are in the protein recipes category.

Frequently asked questions

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