When it’s too hot outside, cool down with these Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Ice Cream Cupcakes. Plenty of chocolate and peanut butter in every bite!

When it comes to Memorial Day, you probably instantly think of picnics. Sometimes you may go to the park. Other times you just want to stay home and cook out in your backyard. When I’m cooking in the backyard (or rather, when Dad is cooking), that means we can eat something chilled for dessert since we don’t have to worry about transporting it. Between the heat of the grill and the sun, of course you want a cold dessert. And since it’s a family cook out, you also want something that can easily be shared. That’s when these Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Ice Cream Cupcakes come in handy. They can be made ahead of time so you aren’t trying to juggle #alltherecipes on the same day. I almost always make the dessert the day before for cook outs.

Just like the name states, these are cocoa rice krispie treats topped with peanut butter ice cream, filled with a mini peanut butter cup, and topped with chocolate. It sounds like there is a lot going on, but all of the elements come together for a creamy, crunchy, peanut butter cup heaven experience.

How did I come up with such a crazy idea? The original idea came from one of my food magazines, titled Frozen Peanut Butter Cups. However, they reminded me more of cupcakes. The base is corn flake cereal, topped with vanilla ice cream filled with some peanut butter mixture and topped with chocolate. I pretty much changed everything but the topping.

For the base, I used cocoa rice krispie cereal and marshmallows instead of cornflakes and corn syrup. Huge warning – when you press the cereal into the individual cups, press it down with parchment paper (plastic wrap sticks too much). When the hot, gooey marshmallows encase three of your fingers, you will be running for the sink.

For the ice cream, I opted for homemade peanut butter cup ice cream. However, this is one case where buying store bought might be better. When you make homemade, it tends to be harder and not as creamy as store bought. You need your ice cream creamy in order to spread it around and cover the peanut butter cup. I’ve seen a few brands who make peanut butter ice cream, but if you’re having trouble finding some, you can use vanilla ice cream.

Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Ice Cream Cupcakes

Yield: 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
3 cups mini marshmallows
3 cups cocoa rice crispy cereal
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pint peanut butter ice cream (homemade or store bought)
12 unwrapped mini peanut butter cups
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions

Grease a 12-cup muffin pan and set aside.
In a large saucepan, melt together 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons peanut butter. Add the marshmallows and stir constantly until melted. Remove from the heat and stir in the cereal. Add the vanilla.
Divide the cereal mixture into each muffin cup, filling all 12. Using pieces of parchment paper, press the cereal into place. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.
Remove the pan from the freezer and loosen each base. Leave them in the cups. Working with one at a time, place a small spoonful of ice cream into the middle and "glue" a peanut butter cup into place. Fill the cup with more ice cream, covering the peanut butter cup. Repeat until all 12 are filled. Freeze for 30 minutes.
Melt together the remaining 1 tablespoon butter, remaining 1 tablespoon peanut butter, and chocolate chips. Place the chocolate into a plastic sandwich bag and squeeze it all down into one corner.
Remove the pan from the freezer. Cut the corner of the plastic bag and pipe chocolate on top of each cupcake. Freeze at least 1 hour before serving.

Source: Inspired by Cooking Club magazine

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