How to Make Homemade Magic Shell ~ this 2 ingredient chocolate sauce magically hardens when it touches a scoop of ice cream ~ and will transform any flavor in your freezer into a fun summer dessert.
chocolate + coconut oil = magic shell !
Magic Shell is that topping that you buy at the grocery store that squirts out of a bottle and magically solidifies into a crackly chocolate candy coating when it hits cold ice cream. It’s the same stuff that coats ice cream bars. If you have kids around, you have to make this. If you don’t have kids around, you ‘re going to want to make it anyway, it’s amazing, and tons of fun.
what you need for magic shell ice cream topping
- chocolate ~ use your favorite bar chocolate.
- coconut oil ~ coconut oil comes in a jar, usually in the oil section of the supermarket, and sometimes with the international foods. It comes in solid form, refined or unrefined. I used refined; it has a more netrual taste. Don’t confuse it with coconut milk or cream.
the science behind magic shell
Coconut oil is solid at room temperature, so is chocolate. We melt them together making a rich chocolate sauce, and then, when it hits the cold surface of ice cream, the sauce immediately hardens, forming a ‘shell’ around the ice cream. Magical!
Oh, and by the way, coconut oil is now known to be super healthy, right up there with olive oil. And of course you already know about the health giving properties of dark chocolate. So when you think about it, this decadent sauce is really a power-food 😉
variation ideas
I’m sure this has dawned on you already, but you can do all sorts of creative variations with this sauce.
- I tested the recipe with white chocolate and the same proportions hold.
- Confectionary wafers will work, as will many flavored ‘chips’ from the baking aisle. Experiment with butterscotch or peanut butter chips!
- You could use all kinds of flavorings and add-ins, too. I think vanilla bean and toasted macadamia nuts would be nice with the white chocolate.
- Oh, and I went ahead and made a Nutella version — yep, it’s amazing!
homemade magic shell is superior to the commercial product
This is one of those many examples of a do it yourself food that really makes sense to try. For one thing, it takes just minutes to make. For another, you can use really good quality chocolates and flavorings. The store bought version can’t compete.
Homemade Magic Shell Ice Cream Sauce
Ingredients
- 6 oz semi sweet chocolate, broken in half or in pieces
- 3 Tbsp (heaped) coconut oil
Instructions
- Put the chocolate and the oil in a glass measuring cup and microwave for about 30 seconds. Take out and stir. Microwave in short 15 second bursts, stirring in between, until the chocolate is almost all melted. Keep stirring until all the lumps are gone.
- Pour into a glass jar and store on the counter.
- The mixture will stay liquid at room temperature in the warmer months, and may solidify during cooler weather. No problem, just microwave it briefly before serving.
41 Comments
sylvia
June 27, 2020 at 4:37 amIs that six 6-oz chocolate squares?
Sue
June 27, 2020 at 5:01 amIt’s six ounces total chocolate.
Shannon
July 1, 2020 at 11:56 amDoes this have any coconut flavor at all? Thanks!
Sue
July 1, 2020 at 1:50 pmIt does have a little coconut flavor, but you can use refined coconut oil, which doesn’t have much flavor.
Tamara
June 15, 2020 at 3:50 pmI used the coating over cookies and vanilla ice cream. Yum it’s delicious ? A keeper
Holly
July 12, 2018 at 6:40 pmThis Magic Shell is AWESOME!!! My kids love that stuff and were impressed it was homemade! An absolute keeper, so good over homemade strawberry ice cream, tasted like chocolate covered strawberries! Can’t wait to use dark chocolate next, my favorite, yum!
Sue
July 12, 2018 at 7:20 pmMy kids were enchanted by this too, Holly! There’s something so special about a hard chocolate shell on ice cream, I need to do it with strawberry, that sounds really good 🙂
Jennifer
April 27, 2018 at 5:09 amCan you use liquid coconut oil and get the same effect?
Sue
June 27, 2020 at 5:02 amYes, if it’s pure coconut oil.
Linda
April 26, 2018 at 6:57 pmCould your use Carmel or chocolate mint chips or any other flavor chips in the same application?
Sue
April 26, 2018 at 7:29 pmYou can really play around with this quite a bit, Linda, and I found that most chips work!
Leslie
May 28, 2015 at 7:06 pmI’m allergic to coconut. Is there a substitute for it. It seems everyone has turned to that oil
Sue
May 28, 2015 at 7:15 pmIt’s interesting, Leslie, in this particular case the coconut oil has special properties that make the ‘magic’ happen. I think if you can’t use coconut oil, I would just melt the chocolate alone and use that. It won’t harden quite as fast, but it will still work. Let the melted chocolate cool before using so it won’t melt the ice cream.