Peanut Butter Magic Shell is an easy 3-ingredient topping that hardens when you pour it over ice cream. You can make your own “dipped” cones or sundaes at home in just minutes!
This peanut butter magic shell is amazing over strawberry ice cream, for a peanut butter and jelly flavored sundae, or you can serve it over chocolate ice cream for more of a peanut butter cup flavor. Either way, it’s totally delicious!
I’ll also share how to add cacao powder to this recipe, for a chocolate peanut butter magic shell.
Ingredients You’ll Need
All you need is 3 simple ingredients!
- Peanut butter
- Coconut Oil
- Maple syrup
Not surprisingly, one of the main ingredients in a store-bought Magic Shell topping is coconut oil. Because of its high saturated fat content, coconut oil solidifies almost instantly when chilled, making for an incredibly fun, ice cream topping that will “crack” when your spoon breaks into it.
Don’t love coconut flavor? Don’t worry! You can use an expeller pressed, or ultra-refined coconut oil, to get the hardening effect, without any coconut flavor.
Use all-natural peanut butter for the best flavor and consistency. Peanut butter brands with added ingredients will be thicker to stir, and might require that you add more oil, or less maple syrup, since some are already sweetened. Luckily, this is the kind of recipe that you can taste as you go!
How to Make It
- Gather the ingredients. Make sure you start with ingredients that are at room temperature or melted, otherwise they will be difficult to mix together smoothly.
- Mix. Use a small whisk to combine the melted coconut oil, peanut butter, and maple syrup. If your kitchen is cold, you can do this over a double boiler on the stove, to keep things warm.
- Enjoy! It’s best to use this mixture soon after making it, so the magic shell topping is easy to pour. Add a thin layer to your ice cream and watch it harden in about 30 seconds! If you use a thick layer of shell, it might take longer to harden, FYI.
Feel free to adjust the ratio of ingredients to your liking. For a less-sweet topping, use less maple syrup, and for a runnier consistency, add another tablespoon of coconut oil.
Variation: Chocolate Peanut Butter Magic Shell
Prefer your ice cream topping to taste like a peanut butter cup? Try this!
Makes 6 tablespoons:
- 2 tablespoons cacao powder
- 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon all-natural peanut butter
Whisk the ingredients together, then serve over your favorite ice cream. This makes roughly a 1/4 cup, but feel free to double or triple it to make more!
Storage Tips
This mixture can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days, or for up to 1 month in the fridge.
If your kitchen is cold like mine, this magic shell topping may solidify, even when stored outside of your fridge. To use it again, place the jar of magic shell in a bowl of hot tap water for 10 to 15 minutes, or melt it in a double-boiler before serving again.
Peanut Butter Magic Shell
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons all-natural peanut butter (38 grams)
- 1 tablespoon melted coconut oil (12 grams; use refined/expeller pressed for best flavor)
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup (36 grams; at room temperature)
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Make sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature; they will be difficult to mix if anything is cold. In a small mixing bowl, combine the peanut butter, coconut oil, maple syrup, and salt. Use a whisk to mix well.
- Adjust any flavoring to taste, adding more peanut butter if desired. For a runnier consistency, you can add more coconut oil, too. It won't affect the flavor as long as you're using refined coconut oil. Once it's well mixed, pour it over your favorite ice cream and watch it harden in about 30 to 60 seconds.
- Store any leftover magic shell in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days, or in the fridge for up to 1 month. If it solidifies, you'll simply have to melt it again before serving. Place the jar in a bowl of very hot tap water and let it rest for 15 minutes to help it become pour-able again.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
If you try this Peanut Butter Magic Shell, please leave a comment below letting me know how you like it! And if you make any modifications, I’d love to hear about those, too. We can all benefit from your experience.
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Reader Feedback: What’s your favorite ice cream flavor? Let me know if you have any flavor or topping requests!
This looks amazing, what a great idea!
Whaouuu! At the moment, I don’t know why, have a huge need of peanut and almond butter and a good treat with my dark chocolate… So now I know what will be my dessert tonight after my green smoothie! Thank you for this brilliant idea Megan!
Peanut butter and almond butter are both AMAZING with dark chocolate!! I hope you enjoy it! 🙂
Yum! Can’t wait to make this tonight. Also, if you want a coconut oil without the coconutty taste, I’ve found that refined vs. unrefined seems to make the difference. The refined oil does not taste or smell like coconut, but the unrefined does (even expeller pressed unrefined) 🙂
Thanks for the tip, Cheryl! I happen to love the taste of coconut, but I know many people don’t want that flavor interfering with their desserts!! 😉
Wow, I had to comment first on the photos and then I am going back to read..it looks that delicious!! Hope you had a great weekend!
Umm what?!!! Peanut butter shell topping and chocolate ice cream (banana soft serve) You are amazing! I love this!
Thanks, I hope you enjoy it!
I just made this . . . and it is AMAZING! I didn’t have any banana ice cream made, but I did have a Weight Watchers Chocolate Ice Cream Bar. I took that and scraped it off the stick into a bowl and whipped-up the peanut butter magic shell . . voila! YUMMY. Thank you for this wonderful treat. Now I can catch some ZZZZZZzzzzzzzz
So creative! Love it
This is such a good idea! It looks like so much fun.
THANK YOU SO MUCH for sharing this!!!! My boys are going to think I am the BEST MOM ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow! I can hardly wait to try it!!
Yum! Just like a reese’s shell! Thank youuuu
This is GENIUS! I can’t wait to try this…
So quick and super easy!! 🤩 the kiddos and husband loved it!
Made this today…so good on homemade chocolate ice cream! Easy and delicious!
Thank you, Megan.
Do you think your Magic Shell recipe would work if you drizzled it in like a Stracciatella version? If you are taking requests (lol, you are the BEST), have you tried a vanilla base with a healthy nut brittle mixed in or a Rocky Road flavor?
Wow, this looks tasty! I’m already obsessed with the combo of frozen banana slices and peanut butter, so I imagine it would be delicious with a layer of peanut butter shell. I find bananas have a very similar texture to ice cream once frozen, so this would be great to make little “ice cream” bites. Excited to give this recipe a try!
If you don’t have coconut oil will butter work since it is hard when cold?
I haven’t tried that, but my guess is that butter would work, too!