These homemade Choco Tacos are a fun, nostalgic treat that’s perfect for summer! No churn fudge-swirled vanilla ice cream is stuffed inside a sweet and crispy waffle cone, then the whole thing is dipped in a chocolate and chopped peanut mixture.
We keep hearing rumors of the Choco Taco’s return, but sadly, the only way to get your hands on one is to make it on your own! That’s why we’re making these as part of our Better Than Store Bought series, where we’re making homemade versions of everyone’s favorite snacks.
These look like they’d be tricky, but they’re actually super easy to make, so don’t be intimidated! They’re a super cool, nostalgic dessert that’s perfect for bringing to a party or for entertaining.
Homemade Choco Taco Ingredients
For the no-churn ice cream
- Heavy cream: this is whipped until it forms stiff peaks, and is half of the no-churn base, alongside…
- Condensed milk: this provides the sweetness for the ice cream, and teams up with the heavy cream to create a soft, rich texture that’s perfect for these choco tacos.
- Vanilla bean paste: this is my favorite choice for homemade vanilla ice cream. You can also use vanilla extract instead.
- Kosher salt: helps to balance out the sweetness of the ice cream.
For the fudge ripple
- Cocoa powder: this provides all of the chocolatey flavor.
- Sugar: plain granulated white sugar works best.
- Heavy cream and unsalted butter: these add fats to the sauce to give it a luxurious fudgy texture.
- Vanilla extract: you could use vanilla bean paste, or leave it out if you want.
- Kosher salt: helps to balance out the sauce’s sweetness.
For the waffle taco shell
- Egg whites: be sure to use only the whites, and not the entire egg.
- Sugar: we used half white and half brown sugar to add some color and depth of flavor to the cones.
- Vanilla extract: adds a great vanilla flavor to the cones – we wouldn’t recommend skipping this ingredient.
- Butter: melt unsalted butter in the microwave, cooking it at with intervals of 10-15 seconds on, 10-15 seconds off, stirring in between. We let the butter cool slightly before adding it to the rest of the batter, to prevent it from cooking the eggs prematurely.
- Flour: plain all purpose flour works best.
- Kosher salt
For the peanut topping
- Peanuts: we used roasted, unsalted peanuts, but salted would probably be good, too.
- Chocolate: semisweet chocolate chips provide the best blend of chocolate flavor and sweetness, and are easy to melt.
- Coconut oil: this helps the chocolate to set more quickly atop the ice cream, and we wouldn’t recommend skipping it.
How to Make this Homemade Choco Taco Recipe
STEP 1: Make the fudge sauce for the ice cream ripple.
In a small saucepan, whisk together the cocoa powder, sugar and heavy cream over medium-low heat. Once it starts to heat up, add in the butter and whisk until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth and shiny. Remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla and salt. Set aside to cool.
STEP 2: Prepare the ice cream base.
STEP 3: Layer the ice cream.
Pour ¼ of the ice cream base into a loaf pan, then drizzle on ⅓ of the fudge sauce. Repeat 3 more times, finishing with a layer of ice cream. Freeze until set – about 3 hours.
STEP 4: Make the waffle cones.
STEP 6: Prepare peanut-chocolate topping and assemble.
