My refusal to eat peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches is just one of the many ways in which I was a difficult child. (You’ll have to ask Ouisue and Larry about my insistence on wearing fancy, Royal Wedding-esque hats to kindergarten, as well as my tendency to describe my beverage requests in great detail (“I want a glass of something that is cold, white and comes from a cow…”).

That is not to say I forwent all peanut butter-based sandwiches. No, I was a peanut-butter-and-honey girl. On toasted wheat bread, crusts intact, please (hello, they’re the whole point of the sandwich). So, when my friends at Project Open Hand (a fantastic non-profit dedicated to providing healthy meals for those who cannot afford them or are too sick to cook for themselves) let me know that they created their own gourmet peanut butter, the proceeds of which go towards a wonderful cause (for every $4 tub of peanut butter, Project Open Hand feed one person), I knew I had to make peanut butter ice cream with honey. Everyone combines peanut butter with chocolate or fruit, but not me (I’m difficult, remember?).

And then I remembered my friends at my all-time favorite food non-profit, Time at the Table recently sent me some gorgeous handcrafted vanilla, the proceeds of which benefit Time at the Table’s mission to get families eating healthy, homemade meals together. I decided I would make ice cream with a cause (er, a few causes).

This no-cook ice cream was easy (not to mention perfect for the San Francisco heat wave we’re experiencing right now), and bottom-of-the-bowl-scraping-ly good. Serve with an extra drizzle of honey.

Note: To order Time at the Table’s vanilla, click here. If you live in the Bay Area, you can look for Project Open Hand’s peanut butter at your local Whole Foods.

• ingredients
• 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter Pantry
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar Pantry
• 2 cups (1 pint) half-and-half $1.50
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract $4 for 4 oz.
• 1/4 cup honey Pantry

Total Cost of Ingredients $5.50

Directions

Beat together the peanut butter and sugar using an electric mixer. Pour in the half-and-half and vanilla and beat for about 3 minutes, until sugar is dissolved and mixture is very creamy.

Freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s directions. Once custard has set, drizzle in ice cream with the machine running to create ribbons of honey throughout the peanut butter ice cream.

Serve immediately (as a soft custard) or freeze until hard enough to scoop.

Makes about 3 1/2 cups ice cream.