Ninja Creami Peanut Butter Ice Cream
By Emily Carter ·
Published
Quick answer
Blend 1 cup milk with 1/2 cup peanut butter, sweetener, vanilla and a pinch of salt until completely smooth, freeze the pint for a full 24 hours, then spin on Lite Ice Cream and re-spin once if it looks crumbly. With one scoop of protein powder the pint carries roughly 55 to 60 g of protein from label values, about 14 g per serving across 4 servings; without the powder it is about 9 g per serving.
Ninja Creami Peanut Butter Ice Cream is the pint I make when I want dessert to taste like dessert and still count as a high protein snack. It is just milk, peanut butter, sweetener, vanilla and salt, blended smooth, frozen solid and spun into thick, salty-sweet scoops. No pudding mix, no ice cream maker churning for an hour, and no sad, icy protein pint.
Why you’ll love it
- Tastes like real peanut butter ice cream, not like a protein shake that got frozen.
- About 14 g of protein per serving with the optional powder, about 9 g without it.
- Five minutes of hands-on work, then the freezer and the machine do the rest.
- Spins thick and scoopable, with one re-spin fixing the crumbly first spin.
- Easy to dress up with a peanut butter drizzle and chopped roasted peanuts.
Ingredient notes
Peanut butter: the flavor and a good share of the protein, about 28 g per 1/2 cup from standard labels. 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.
Milk: whole milk gives the creamiest pint, and 2% is a close second. The milk adds about 8 g of protein per cup from standard labels and keeps the base from freezing rock hard. Skim milk is the one version I would skip, since it made the test pint icy.
Protein powder: completely optional, and vanilla is the best match for the peanut butter flavor. One scoop adds about 20 g of protein on most brand labels, but check yours, since scoops vary. If you skip it, you still get a proper peanut butter ice cream, just at the lower protein number.
Sweetener and salt: three tablespoons of maple syrup or honey is enough sweetness once the pint is frozen, and the small pinch of salt is what makes the 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. Peanut butter bases look crumbly after the first cycle more often than vanilla bases do, 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. A second re-spin takes it softer still, toward soft serve, so stop after the first re-spin if you want proper scoops.
Variations
- Peanut butter cup style: after the re-spin, make a small well in the center with a spoon, add a handful of chopped peanut butter cups and run the Mix-in cycle. This adds chocolate, so it suits a treat night rather than an everyday pint.
- Banana peanut butter: blend in half a ripe banana with the base and reduce the sweetener to 2 tablespoons. The banana keeps the pint a little softer and adds a classic peanut butter and banana flavor.
- Crunchy peanut topping: skip mix-ins entirely and finish each bowl with chopped roasted peanuts and an extra drizzle of peanut butter. You keep the smooth spin and still get the crunch in every bite.
- No-powder cottage cheese pint: if you want more protein without powder, make the related cottage cheese ice cream pint instead and swirl in peanut butter at serving time. It is the best no-powder route to a peanut butter flavored pint.
What we learned testing it
- Peanut butter amount decided the texture. At 1/4 cup the pint tasted like peanut flavored vanilla ice cream; at 1/2 cup it tasted like real peanut butter ice cream and still spun scoopable instead of pasty.
- The re-spin mattered more here than in a vanilla pint. The first spin often looked crumbly because of the peanut butter fat, but one re-spin with a tablespoon of milk turned it thick and creamy every time.
- Whole milk beat 2% for creaminess in the side by side test, but 2% still worked well. Skim milk made the pint noticeably icier, so I do not recommend it here.
Read how we test recipes.
Ninja Creami Peanut Butter 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 base until completely smooth
Add the milk, peanut butter, maple syrup or honey, vanilla, salt and protein powder (if using) to a blender. Blend on high for 60 to 90 seconds, stopping once to scrape down the sides, until the mixture looks completely smooth and pourable, like a thick peanut butter shake with no streaks left.
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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. This step is not optional: a shorter freeze gives a soft, slushy spin.
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Spin on Lite 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 Lite 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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Scoop and serve right away
Scoop into bowls while the texture is at its best, in the first few minutes after spinning. Drizzle with a little extra peanut butter and scatter the chopped roasted peanuts over the top if you like a bit of crunch against the creamy scoops.
Notes
- Regular creamy peanut butter spins smoother than natural peanut butter, which can separate and spin a little grainy. If you only have natural peanut butter, stir it very well first and blend for a full 90 seconds.
- 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.
- No protein powder version: skip the powder and keep everything else the same. The pint is still thick and peanut buttery at about 9 g of protein per serving. For a no-powder pint built on cottage cheese instead, see the related Ninja Creami cottage cheese ice cream post.
- If your freezer runs very cold and the pint is too firm to load, let it rest on the counter for 2 to 3 minutes before spinning, no longer.
Nutrition per serving
Nutrition information is being calculated.
Substitutions
- Protein powder
- Leave it out for the no-powder version at about 9 g of protein per serving, or use an unflavored powder instead of vanilla and add an extra 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract.
- Maple syrup or honey
- Use 1/4 cup granulated sweetener, monk fruit blend, allulose or sugar instead. Allulose keeps the pint a little softer after spinning, which suits this rich base.
- Peanut butter
- Use sunflower seed butter at the same amount for a peanut-free pint. The flavor is earthier and less sweet, so taste the base and add an extra tablespoon of sweetener if it needs it.
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 Lite 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 ninja creami peanut butter ice cream without protein powder?
Yes. The powder is optional. Without it the pint still spins thick and peanut buttery, at about 9 g of protein per serving from the peanut butter and milk labels. If you want a no-powder pint with more protein, the related cottage cheese ice cream post is the better starting point.
Why is my peanut butter pint crumbly after the first spin?
That is normal for this base, not a failure. Peanut butter fat makes the first spin look powdery more often than a vanilla base does. Add 1 tablespoon of milk and press Re-spin once. One re-spin fixes almost every pint, and a second makes it softer, almost like soft serve.
Should I use natural or regular peanut butter?
Regular creamy peanut butter gives the smoothest result, because it is already emulsified and will not separate in the base. Natural peanut butter works if you stir it very well first and blend for a full 90 seconds, but expect a slightly grainier spin.
How much protein is in this ice cream?
These are label-based estimates, not lab tested numbers, and they vary by brand. With one scoop of protein powder the pint carries roughly 55 to 60 g of protein in total, about 14 g per serving across 4 servings. Without the powder it is about 36 g in total, about 9 g per serving. Check your peanut butter, milk and powder 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 Lite Ice Cream, with a tablespoon of milk if they look crumbly. The texture is best within 3 days, and it will never be quite as perfect as the first spin, so scoop generously the first time.
