Salted Caramel Peanut Butter Pretzel Ice Cream Cups (Vegan GF)

Delicious 6-ingredient ice cream cups with a peanut butter pretzel base, a middle salted caramel ice cream layer topped with a delicious peanut butter caramel and more pretzels. These cups are easy to make, naturally vegan and gluten-free.

Summer may be coming to an end, but I could not let it pass without sharing these beauties. Admittedly I made these back in May when I was all aboard the summer recipe making train and then time ran away with me and I shared so many other ice cream and summery recipes that these Salted Caramel Peanut Butter Pretzel Ice Cream Cups got pushed to the back of the queue. But here they are and I hope you will love these triple-threat cups.

These Salted Caramel Peanut Butter Pretzel Ice Cream Cups are:

• Deliciously sweet and salty
• Peanut butter-y
• Crunchy yet silky smooth
• Moreish and melt in your mouth
• Naturally vegan and gluten-free (GF pretzels needed)
• Easy to make in a few steps
• Require only 6 ingredients

There isn’t a lot to these triple-layered dessert/snack cups and they hit the spot everytime, especially when it is sunny and warm. The base is a simple crunch and wholesome mix of:

• Oats or oat flour: no need to buy oat flour, you can make your own by blitzing oats into oat flour. Make sure your oats are gluten-free where needed.
• Pretzels: I love the salty combination of adding pretzels to sweet recipes and pretzels are so delicious for this reason. I use pretzel thins but any small pretzels will work here and use gluten-free ones where needed.
• Vegan yoghurt: this may be a surprise ingredient for these cups but it helps to bind the base, keep them crunchy but moist, too. You can use any yoghurt but I like to use oat, coconut or almond.
• Peanut butter: this adds to the lovely salty sweet combination and it works so well with pretzels and ice cream. You can also use another nut butter like cashew or almond butter or use a seed butter like sunflower seed or tahini.

Stir together all the ingredients for the base and divide between 10 silicone cupcake or normal cases. I prefer to use silicone moulds as you can pop the cups out much more easily and you can find these online fairly cheaply.

The middle layer of these Salted Caramel Peanut Butter Pretzel Ice Cream Cups is simply your favourite ice cream. To keep with the salted caramel theme, I went for a dairy-free salted caramel flavoured ice cream but any will work.

The salted caramel on top is made from 2 (or 3) ingredients:

• Peanut butter: as above, if you are using a different nut or seed butter, use the same one for the caramel.
• Maple syrup: for the sticky caramel texture and sweet taste. You could use another syrup like agave, date or coconut syrup or vegan honey.
• Salt: for the salted caramel element.

Scoop the ice cream over the bases and then cover them with the salted caramel. Quickly top with another pretzel and freeze for a few hours to allow all the layers to set. These Salted Caramel Peanut Butter Pretzel Ice Cream Cups are great straight from the freezer or allow them to thaw for 5-10 minutes and enjoy. If you’re eating these in the peak of summer, they will start to melt on you (as with any ice cream) which only adds to the fun.

How do I store these Salted Caramel Peanut Butter Pretzel Ice Cream Cups?

You have to store these cups in the freezer, and they will last for up to one month. As soon as they are outside of the freezer, they will start to melt.

Can I make these nut-free?

Of course, make sure you use a seed butter for both the base and for the caramel. Also make sure the yoghurt is not nut-based, too.

That is all there is to these Salted Caramel Peanut Butter Pretzel Ice Cream Cups, and they are just so delicious. Even when the temperatures dip, I know I will be going into my freezer for one or two of these.

If you are looking for more summer recipes, how about my:

• Mocha Magnum Ice Creams
• Chocolate and Pomegranate Magnum Ice Creams
• Coconut Caramel Granola Tart
• Cookie Dough Nice Cream Blizzard
• Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Magnum Ice Creams

I look forward to hearing what you think of these Salted Caramel Peanut Butter Pretzel Ice Cream Cups so please let me know in the comments below. If you do make these cups, I’d love to see them – please tag me on social media. I’m @nourishing.amy on Instagram and use the hashtag #nourishingamy. I’m also on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest  – please say hello!

With ice cream cup love x