Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Protein Ninja Creami
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Did you know it’s possible to swirl two flavors in the Ninja Creami? This Ninja Creami Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl protein ice cream is the perfect way to try it out! Individual chocolate and peanut butter layers make each flavor stand out. With 59 grams of protein, this recipe is great for those who love a twist!
Thick, creamy, decadent ice cream without using heavy cream or sugar? Sign me up! The Ninja Creami machine has been one of my favorite kitchen tools for almost a year now. It has made eating more protein so much easier, and I’m not kidding when I say I don’t miss regular ice cream at ALL.
I also love how simple the Ninja Creami ice cream maker is to use compared to a traditional ice cream maker, and how you can make individual portions of your favorite flavors. No need to drink a boring protein shake when protein ice cream is only a couple of spins away!
*Disclaimer: Of course, it’s fine to eat regular ice cream. But if I can make a healthier option that tastes just as good, I’m going to do that!
Making Flavor Swirls
Several months ago, I had a thought–what would happen if I froze my Ninja Creami in different colored layers?
I first tried this concept by making a Superman ice cream replica for my kids. That particular ice cream was all one flavor (Tutti Fruitti) but I divided it into 3 so I could add a natural food coloring to each one. I froze them in layers, 1/3 at a time. When I went to spin it, I was amazed at how well it did! I could clearly see each color in the pint, and no, it did not just blend all together into a gray blob.
My next experiment was to do this for protein ice cream. I made a Mounds Bar-inspired Ninja Creami protein ice cream where I swirled chocolate and coconut ice cream together. It is still one of my all-time favorite Ninja Creami ice creams (tied with my Apple Cinnamon protein ice cream).
My husband is a big fan of the chocolate-peanut butter combo. I have a great peanut butter protein ice cream flavor, as well as a delicious chocolate flavor…so really, all that was left was to swirl them! This is the perfect healthy treat to satisfy a sweet tooth.
How to Swirl Ninja Creami Flavors
A lot of people say this doesn’t work, but I’ve never had it fail and I do it all the time. In trying to analyze what makes my technique successful, I’ve come up with the following tips and considerations:
- You Need a Firm Ice Cream Base
It is pretty common in the healthy ice cream world to make soft-serve style, fluffy ice cream. While that’s certainly delicious, I don’t think a soft texture can maintain its flavor separation as well when the machine is spinning the pint. - Minimize Re-Spins
For most of my Ninja Creami recipes, I do one spin on “Lite Ice Cream” followed by one “Re-spin.” I find with the ingredients that I use, I do not need more than that. I think that’s an important piece of this puzzle. The more spins you do, the more opportunities you give the layers to mush together, so we want to minimize re-spins. - No Added Liquid at the Re-Spin
Many people add liquid before a re-spin. This is often unnecessary–your ice cream would have smoothed out fine without the liquid. Some websites’ recipes might be extra powdery so they depend on that liquid, but my recipes here at Sweet Simple Things do not need added liquid. This technique works with base recipes like mine. I cannot promise this technique will work for recipes that don’t spin together well. - Put the Lighter Flavor/Color on the Bottom
While the color swirl will work no matter what order you do the layers, I have found the best results to be the lighter color on the bottom. It appears as if the top layer is more prone to color mixing than the other way around.
With these principles in mind, let’s get to the recipe! The step-by-step process for this Ninja Creami chocolate peanut butter ice cream will be shown in the Instructions section.
Want More Recipes Like This One?
If you love my Ninja Creami recipes and want some more fun flavors like S’Mores, Pistachio, Monster Cookie, Black Forest Cake, or even Moose Tracks, check out my Ninja Creami Recipe eBook!
The recipe book is available for instant download and offers delicious recipes in an easy-to-access eBook without any ads.
Purchase my 20 High-Protein Ninja Creami Recipes eBook on Etsy. Feel free to reach out to me (holly@thesweetsimplethings.com) with any questions!
Ingredients & Equipment
We will use some simple ingredients to make this protein-packed flavor swirled homemade ice cream! You also need a Ninja Creami Ice Cream Machine.
Cottage Cheese – I use 2% cottage cheese as a binder for both flavors of ice cream. It aids in developing a creamy texture. You can also use Greek yogurt.
Whey Isolate Protein Powder – You will need both a chocolate protein powder flavor and a vanilla flavor for this. I am really loving Legion protein powders these days. It’s a little spendy, but the ingredients are great and it makes awesome ice cream. It is sweetened with stevia, though, so if you don’t like stevia you will want to choose a different brand.
Allulose– Allulose is my natural sweetener of choice these days due to its incredibly normal taste (seriously! No weird aftertaste at all!) and good safety profile.
Vanilla Bean Paste – I like using vanilla bean paste in my ice creams, but vanilla extract also works.
Peanut Butter Powder– Powdered peanut butter adds a great peanut butter flavor without all of the fat and calories of regular peanut butter.
Toffee Flavor Syrup – Sugar-free toffee flavor syrup accentuates the rich peanut butter flavor. I get a giant bottle of it pretty cheap at TJ Maxx. If you don’t have access to toffee flavor syrup, it can be left out, but add another 1-2 tbsp allulose in its place.
Black Cocoa Powder – Regular cocoa powder can also be used, but I tell you…if you want a RICH chocolate flavor, opt for black cocoa powder.
Milk – You can use skim milk like nonfat Fairlife. Fairlife is a great choice for extra protein and less carbs. If you need something lower calorie, unsweetened coconut milk beverage is my favorite alternative milk for ice cream.
Instructions
Here are the instructions for Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Protein Ice Cream:
1. Prep Peanut Butter Base
Place a Ninja Creami container on your food scale and add all of the ingredients for the Ninja Creami peanut butter ice cream recipe as listed in the recipe card, adding a splash more milk if needed to reach the max fill line (for pint container). Blend with an immersion blender until smooth.
2. Divide in Two
Pour half of the peanut butter base into a second pint container. Place lids on the pints and put them in the freezer for a few hours until they are frozen enough not to mix when you pour the chocolate layer on top.
3. Make Chocolate Base
Take out a quart-size wide-neck jar or other bowl. Add the chocolate base recipe ingredients to the jar and blend with an immersion blender, then place in the refrigerator until the base layers are ready for it.
When the bottom layers are frozen, take the pints out of the freezer and pour half of the chocolate base on top of each one. Place storage lid on each one and put them back in the freezer on a level surface for 24 hours.
4. Spin on Lite Ice Cream
After 24 hours have passed, remove one of the pints from the freezer. Install it into your machine per the instructions for your model. Press the “Lite Ice Cream” button and let it spin.
5. Re-Spin
After the first spin completes, check the texture of your ice cream. You will likely want to do a re-spin unless you like it as is. Re-install it into the Ninja Creami machine and press the “Re-Spin” button. Try to avoid doing more than one re-spin, and do not add any liquid.
6. Enjoy!
Garnish your ice cream with some low or no sugar added peanut butter cups. Chocolate chips and peanuts also make a delicious addition!
The best part of this creamy ice cream is how each flavor can stand on its own! I love tasting the individual peanut butter and chocolate flavors. It’s such a fun experience.
Other Ninja Creami Recipes
If you want to try another delicious flavor swirl, you’ll love my Chocolate-Coconut Protein Ice Cream.
Check out my Ninja Creami ice cream recipes page for all of my delicious flavors.
Nutritional Information
This recipe makes two pints. For one pint, the nutritional information is as follows:
- Calories: 376 cal
- Protein: 59 grams
- Fat: 6 grams
- Carbs: 43 grams (this includes 12g allulose, which some people subtract for net carbs)
Recipe Notes
Make sure you let the base layer freeze for 24 hours before spinning. It’s especially important for recipes like this one that they are fully frozen so the flavors don’t mush together.
If you don’t finish it all in one sitting, flatten the top of the ice cream and re-freeze. You can re-spin it on lite ice cream when needed, but I can’t guarantee the color swirl will make it through another round.
You can also heat the pint container in the microwave for 30 seconds to make it easier to eat with a spoon without re-spinning.
Need to Troubleshoot?
If you’re having issues with your Ninja Creami machine, check out my Ninja Creami Troubleshooting Guide.
Try this Flavor Swirl Today!
Make this Ninja Creami Chocolate Peanut Butter flavor swirl today and let me know how it goes! Please leave a comment and review! It means the world!
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Ninja Creami Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl
Equipment
- 1 Ninja Creami Ice Cream Maker
Ingredients
Peanut Butter Protein Ice Cream
- 100 grams 2% cottage cheese - 1/2 cup
- 1 scoop vanilla whey isolate - about 30-35 grams depending on brand
- 20 grams powdered peanut butter - like pbFit (2 tbsp + 1 tsp)
- 1 tablespoon granulated allulose
- 2 tablespoon sugar free toffee flavor syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 1 cup skim milk or unsweetened coconut milk - up to 1 1/4 cup if needed
Chocolate Protein Ice Cream
- 100 grams 2% cottage cheese - about 1/2 cup
- 50 grams chocolate whey isolate protein powder - about 1.5 scoops
- 12 grams black cocoa powder - about 1.5 tbsp
- 2 tablespoon granulated allulose
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 1 cup skim milk or unsweetened coconut milk - up to 1 1/4 cup if needed
Instructions
- Start by making the peanut butter flavor. Put all ingredients into a pint container and blend with an immersion blender.
- Grab a second pint container and pour half of the peanut butter mixture into the second pint cup. Each cup should be close to half full, but it doesn't have to be perfect.
- Put a lid on each container and freeze on a level surface in your freezer for 24 hours.
- Next, make the chocolate mixture by combining all of the chocolate ice cream ingredients into a jar or bowl and blending them. Put this mixture into the refrigerator until the base layers are frozen enough.
- When frozen, pull the two peanut butter pint containers out of the freezer and remove the lids. Divide the chocolate mixture evenly over the top of each. Place the lid back on each and stick them back in the freezer for 24 hours.
- When ready to eat, pull one of the pints from the freezer and install in the Ninja Creami machine per the instructions for your model. Spin on "Lite Ice Cream." When the spin completes, remove the pint and check the texture. If needed, put the pint back in the machine and press the "Re-Spin" button. Do not add liquid, and try not to do more than one re-spin for the best swirl results.
- Enjoy! See notes for more tips regarding the swirl.
Video
This was great–I didn’t know you could swirl flavors. Was a fun recipe to try and will make again.
Glad you liked it, Joe! 🙂 We love this one over here, too!