Chocolate Peanut Butter Magic Shell

Chocolate peanut butter magic shell is a rich and chocolatey ice cream topping. This magical ice cream topping hardens into a shell when poured over your favorite frozen treat.

Chocolate peanut butter magic shell topping is incredibly easy to make - it's ready in just five minutes and you only need three ingredients to get started!

Top your favorite vanilla ice cream with this rich chocolate topping and watch it magically harden into a crisp shell. While not as instantaneous as the store bought version, this ice cream shell fully hardens within about 30 seconds. 

Make a batch of chocolate peanut butter magic shell for your next ice cream night with the family. It makes a great addition to ice cream bars at parties, too! If you like this version, try my peppermint chocolate magic shell for the holidays.

Ingredients and substitutions

• Chocolate chips - I used semi-sweet chocolate chips for a less-sweet, dark chocolate flavor. However, they can be substituted with any flavor of baking chips, like milk chocolate, peanut butter (for double peanut butter flavor) or white chocolate chips.
• Peanut butter - Can be substituted with other nut and seed butters if needed, like almond butter or sun butter. Peanut butter can also be omitted entirely to make a plain chocolate magic shell.
• Coconut oil - Necessary to help thin the shell topping while melted (making it easy to pour). Coconut oil also helps your topping solidify when it comes in contact with ice cream.

Making magic shell

Add all of your ingredients to a microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 30 second increments, stirring each time, until completely melted. Take care to microwave in short increments only. Otherwise, your chocolate could scorch instead of melt. 

Storing magic shell

Chocolate peanut butter magic shell can be stored at room temperature for up to a week in a sealed container. It can be stored in the refrigerator but will harden.

If your magic shell hardens, don't worry - simply microwave it for a few seconds to liquefy it again.

How does magic shell work?

The secret of magic shell is the combination of chocolate chips and coconut oil. Both ingredients are solid at room temperature. When melted together, they create a rich, thin chocolate sauce.

Once it comes in contact with something cold, like a bowl of ice cream, the chocolate and coconut oil solidify again into a thin, chocolate shell.

Does this work like store bought magic shell?

The "magic" in this shell works a little slower than the store bought version. I found that it took about 30 seconds for this shell to harden fully on my ice cream. But as you can see, it breaks apart beautifully once it's frozen.

Magic shell tips and tricks

• Microwave your shell ingredients in short bursts. Otherwise the chocolate can scorch, adding a gritty texture.
• Allow your shell topping to cool slightly before adding to ice cream. Otherwise, it may melt your ice cream before solidifying.
• This recipe uses refined coconut oil for a neutral flavor. Unrefined coconut oil will also work, but adds a coconut flavor to your shell topping.
• Try using different flavors of chocolate chips to make different flavors of magic shell.
• The peanut butter can be omitted to make a plain chocolate magic shell.

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