Copycat Reese’s Shell

It was late. The kids were in bed. Greg turned to me and asked in a plaintive voice, “Honey, what do we have for a treat?”

“We have some ice cream in the freezer,” I replied.

“Do we have anything to go on it?” he asked hopefully.

“Weeeell… I bet I could use the coconut oil to make some Magic Shell,” I said.

And I did!

Reese’s Shell is our absolute favorite ice cream topping, with its chocolaty, peanut-buttery, smooth, crispy goodness. However, it’s pretty darn expensive for the amount that comes in a bottle, and we tend to run out of it long before we finish off the ice cream that we bought at the same time. Fortunately, with the magic of coconut oil (don’t forget, it has a freezing point of 75 degrees Fahrenheit) I can make a fantastic approximation using inexpensive pantry items that I always have in my cupboards. You don’t have to have chocolate or candy chips to melt down, and best of all – unlike versions that use butter – all of the ingredients are shelf-stable, so it should stay good for much longer than it will take you to devour all of it.

It was too dark to take pictures last night, which means that I had to fix up this ice cream just to take a picture of it…which, you know, breaks my heart.

Oh yeah, baby.

Copycat Reese’s Shell
Ingredients:

• 1/2 c coconut oil (measured when solid)
• 1/2 c powdered sugar
• 1/4 c cocoa powder
• 1/4 c creamy peanut butter

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan, combine all ingredients.
2. Heat on medium-low until melted.
3. Remove from heat; allow to cool. Pour into a container (I used a pint-sized mason jar) and seal until needed.
4. If your “Shell” solidifies, it can be microwaved until melted. Be sure not to make it too hot, though, or you’ll melt your ice cream before it can freeze your “Shell!”
5. Enjoy.

Makes somewhere around 1 cup of topping (shown here, minus three servings of ice cream slathered with this stuff).

I can’t help thinking that this would be so much fun in other flavors, but I’m a bit stumped for ideas. I’ve really only seen the chocolate and peanut butter flavors of Magic Shell! Any ideas? What flavor would you like to make?