Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Ninja Creami Ice Cream
By Emily Carter ·
Published
Quick answer
Blend 1 1/2 cups cottage cheese with 1/2 cup milk, cocoa, peanut butter, sweetener, vanilla and salt for 60 to 90 seconds until glossy, freeze the pint for a full 24 hours, then spin on Ice Cream, re-spin once with a tablespoon of milk if crumbly, and run Mix-in with 2 chopped mini peanut butter cups. The pint carries roughly 47 g of protein, about 12 g per serving across 4 servings.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Ninja Creami Ice Cream is the treat night pint that still counts as a high protein dessert. It is cottage cheese, milk, cocoa, peanut butter, sweetener, vanilla and salt, blended glossy, frozen solid, spun creamy and finished with chopped mini peanut butter cups. Rich, salty-sweet and properly chocolatey at the same time.
Why you’ll love it
- Tastes like a frozen peanut butter cup, not like a protein shake that got frozen.
- About 12 g of protein per serving from label values, about 47 g per pint.
- Five minutes of hands-on work, then the freezer and the machine do the rest.
- No protein powder needed, since cottage cheese carries the protein here.
- Chopped cups stay chunky through the Mix-in cycle for a real bite in every few spoonfuls.
Ingredient notes
Cottage cheese: full-fat gives the creamiest result. Low-fat works too and keeps the protein high, but the pint freezes a little firmer. Small curd or large curd does not matter, since everything gets blended smooth for a full 60 to 90 seconds.
Cocoa powder: two tablespoons is the balance point. It gives a real chocolate flavor that still lets the peanut butter through, while more cocoa buries the peanut butter completely.
Peanut butter: regular creamy peanut butter is the safest choice here because it stays emulsified and spins smooth. Natural peanut butter can work, but stir it very well first or the oil separates in the base.
Peanut butter cups: freeze them for 10 minutes before chopping. Frozen pieces chop cleanly and stay distinct after Mix-in, while warm pieces smear into the base and disappear.
Sweetener and salt: three tablespoons of sweetener is enough once the pint is frozen, and the small pinch of salt is what makes the chocolate peanut butter flavor pop instead of tasting flat and sweet.
The freeze and spin rule that makes or breaks it
Two rules decide this pint, and both are about patience. First, freeze for a full 24 hours on a level surface, with the top smoothed flat. A pint frozen for only a few hours, or frozen at a slant, spins soft and uneven. Second, do not judge the first spin. Cottage cheese bases often look crumbly after the first cycle, and that crumbly look sends a lot of people to the conclusion that the recipe failed. It did not. One tablespoon of milk and one re-spin turns it thick, creamy and scoopable. Only after the re-spin do the chopped cups go in, through the Mix-in cycle, so they stay chunky instead of getting pulverized.
Variations
- Double chocolate cup: add an extra tablespoon of cocoa and a handful of mini chocolate chips through the Mix-in cycle along with the cups.
- Crunchy cup: finish each bowl with chopped roasted peanuts for extra crunch against the smooth chocolate base.
- Banana cup: blend in half a ripe banana with the base and reduce the sweetener to 2 tablespoons for a chocolate peanut butter banana pint.
- Salted cup: finish each bowl with a pinch of flaky salt for a salted chocolate peanut butter finish.
What we learned testing it
- Cocoa amount decided the balance. Two tablespoons gave a real chocolate flavor that still let the peanut butter through, while three tablespoons buried it.
- Frozen cups beat room temperature cups clearly. Frozen pieces chopped cleanly and stayed distinct after Mix-in, while warm pieces smeared into the base.
- The re-spin mattered as usual. The first spin looked crumbly, and one re-spin with a tablespoon of milk turned the pint thick and scoopable.
Read how we test recipes.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Ninja Creami Ice Cream
Makes 1 pint (about 4 servings) · 24 hr 10 min total · Easy
Ingredients
Equipment
Blender · Ninja Creami machine · Ninja Creami pint container with lid
Instructions
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Blend the chocolate peanut butter base until glossy
Add the cottage cheese, milk, cocoa, peanut butter, sweetener, vanilla and salt to a blender, leaving the chopped peanut butter cups aside for later. Blend for 60 to 90 seconds until completely smooth and glossy, scraping down once, with no curd texture left. The base should look like thick chocolate peanut butter shake.
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Pour into the pint and freeze for 24 hours
Pour the base into your Ninja Creami pint container, staying below the max fill line. Smooth the top with a spoon so it freezes level, which helps the machine spin evenly. Snap on the lid and freeze the pint on a level surface for a full 24 hours. A shorter freeze gives a soft, slushy spin.
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Spin on Ice Cream, then re-spin if crumbly
Take the pint straight from the freezer, remove the lid and load it into the machine. Select the Ice Cream setting and let it run the full cycle. If the pint looks powdery or crumbly after the first spin, add 1 tablespoon of milk and press Re-spin. That one re-spin is what turns this base from crumbly to creamy.
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Mix in the peanut butter cups and serve right away
Make a small well in the center of the spun pint with a spoon, drop in the chopped mini peanut butter cups and run the Mix-in cycle. The cups stay chunky and give a chocolate peanut butter bite in every few spoonfuls. Scoop into bowls right away, while the texture is at its best.
Notes
- Freeze the peanut butter cups for 10 minutes before chopping. You get clean pieces instead of a smear, and the pieces hold up better in the Mix-in cycle.
- Blend for the full 60 to 90 seconds. Cottage cheese bases need the long blend or curd texture survives into the finished pint.
- Taste the base before freezing. A frozen pint always tastes a little less sweet than the liquid base, so the base should taste just slightly sweeter than you want the finished ice cream.
- Check your peanut butter cup label if gluten matters to you, since brands vary even when the rest of the pint is naturally gluten-free.
Nutrition per serving
Nutrition information is being calculated.
Substitutions
- Peanut butter cups
- Use 2 tablespoons of chopped chocolate and 1 extra tablespoon of peanut butter instead. You lose the cup shape, but the chocolate peanut butter flavor stays.
- Cottage cheese
- Use the same amount of blended Greek yogurt for a tangier pint with a similar protein count and a slightly softer texture.
- Granulated sweetener or sugar
- Use 1/4 cup maple syrup or honey instead. The pint will be a little softer and sweeter, so freeze it the full 24 hours.
Storage and make-ahead
The texture is at its best in the first few minutes after spinning. If you have leftovers, smooth the surface flat, put the lid back on and refreeze. Re-spin leftovers straight from the freezer on Ice Cream, adding a tablespoon of milk if they look crumbly. Eat refrozen leftovers within 3 days for the best texture.
Frequently asked questions
Can I make this chocolate peanut butter cup ninja creami without the cups?
Yes. Skip the mix-in and you still get a rich chocolate peanut butter pint at nearly the same protein. The cups are the treat finish, not the base, so the pint stands on its own without them.
Why freeze the peanut butter cups before chopping?
Warm cups smear instead of chopping. Ten minutes in the freezer gives clean pieces that stay distinct through the Mix-in cycle instead of melting into the base.
Is this the same as the peanut butter ice cream post?
No. That post is a milk and peanut butter pint with no cottage cheese and no cups. This one is built on cottage cheese with cocoa in the base and chopped peanut butter cups folded through at the end.
How much protein is in this ice cream?
These are label-based estimates, not lab tested numbers, and they vary by brand. The pint carries roughly 47 g of protein in total, about 12 g per serving across 4 servings. Check your cottage cheese, peanut butter and cup labels for your exact numbers.
Can I refreeze and re-spin the leftovers?
Yes. Smooth the surface flat, lid the pint and refreeze it. Spin leftovers straight from the freezer on Ice Cream, with a tablespoon of milk if they look crumbly. The texture is best within 3 days.
