Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream Sandwiches

Sure, Valentine's Day is associated with chocolate and I'm fine with that. But sometimes I wonder if I should make a non chocolate dessert and save the chocolates for my favorite box of decadent truffles. But if I'm replacing chocolate, there probably needs to be peanut butter. And if I'm not pairing the PB with chocolate then my choice is my other favorite flavor, banana. Peanut butter and banana is awesome.

 

Since it is a special occasion, I went all out with peanut butter in the cookies and banana in the caramel. Yes, it's a peanut butter and banana caramel and I'd be fine just eating that with a spoon. Not that I did that... much.
 

Technically I cheated with the ice cream by not making my own base and just using my favorite store bought vanilla but it came out so great. I did make the effort to freeze the ice cream in a wide pan so that I could cut out heart shapes for smooth edges. It's definitely kind of a pain and not absolutely necessary but you will get some extra appreciation from your sweetie. Or, at least, you'd better. Otherwise just keep these treats for yourself and tell them to make other plans. They'll be appreciating real fast! So, sweet, salty, creamy, crunchy and ridiculously good. Enjoy!

Yield: 8 Servings

Author: Anita Schecter

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Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream Sandwiches

Prep time: 30 MinCook time: 20 MinTotal time: 50 Min

Recipe for heart shaped peanut butter banana ice cream sandwiches with peanut butter caramel.

Ingredients

For the Ice Cream:

• 1 Banana, frozen
• 1 Cup vanilla ice cream
• 2 Tablespoons peanut butter
• Pinch of salt

For the Peanut Butter Shortbread Cookies:

• 2 Cups flour
• 1/4 Cup peanuts
• 2/3 Cup sugar
• 1 Stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 Teaspoon salt
• 1/4 Cup peanut butter

For the Peanut Butter Banana Caramel:

• 1/2 Cup sugar
• 1/2 Cup heavy cream
• 2 Tablespoons peanut butter
• 1/2 Banana, preferably over-ripe
• Pinch of sea salt

Instructions

1. To make the ice cream, combine the frozen banana, vanilla ice cream, peanut butter and salt in a food processor and pulse until combined. Spoon into a covered plastic container and freeze while you make the rest of the recipe. Note that if you want to cut out heat shapes in the ice cream, freeze it in a wide container in a layer about 1" thick.
2. To make the cookies, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Add the flour, peanuts, sugar, butter, salt and peanut butter to a food processor and pulse until sticky and thoroughly combined. Turn the dough out on a floured surface and roll to about 1/4 thick. Use a heart shaped cookie cutter (mine is 3") to cut out the dough and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until the cookies are a light golden brown. Allow the cookies to cool before carefully removing them from the pan or they may break.
3. To make the caramel, add the sugar to a pot and cook on low heat until the sugar dissolves. Be careful to watch it and not let the sugar burn. When it's dissolved, remove from the heat and add the heavy cream. It will bubble up. Return to a low heat, add the banana and whisk any lumps. Add the peanut butter and continue to stir until the mixture is smooth. Stir in the sea salt.
4. Assemble the ice cream sandwiches and serve with a drizzle of sauce. You can also roll the edges of the ice cream in chopped peanuts, if desired.

Created using The Recipes Generator

Photo courtesy of ONE Bananas

I developed this recipe for ONE Bananas, growers of delicious bananas and a socially responsible company, committed to giving back to their community.

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