Homemade Ice Cream Bars
Creamy, no churn ice cream bars coated in homemade chocolate magic shell and sprinkled with your favourite toppings!
These no churn Homemade Ice Cream Bars are a creamy, dreamy, cool summer treat! Smooth vanilla ice cream coated in a chocolate magic shell and sprinkled with your choice of nuts or sprinkles. Made from scratch with only 6 ingredients, these bars are too simple not to make at home.
What you need to make ice cream bars at home
- Heavy cream: Cold heavy cream, whipped to medium-soft peaks, forms the base of these no-churn ice cream bars.
- Sweetened condensed milk: Just half a can, brings a creamy, sweet richness.
- Vanilla: You can use pure vanilla extract or half a vanilla bean.
- Chocolate: You can use chocolate chips or chopped chocolate. I like milk chocolate, but use semi-sweet if you prefer a darker chocolate shell.
- Coconut oil: Either refined or virgin coconut oil brings the “magic” to the magic shell; keeping it liquid at room temperature and then solidifying quickly upon contact with cold ice cream.
- Toppings: Use your favourite! I like slivered almonds, chopped peanuts, and chocolate or rainbow sprinkles.
How to make ice cream bars at home
In a large bowl, whip heavy cream to medium-soft peaks. Add in the condensed milk and vanilla, and whip until soft peaks form. Spoon the mixture into frozen treat molds and insert the stick. Freeze until solid, at least 6 hours.
While the ice cream bars set, make the chocolate shell. In a medium bowl, combine chocolate chips and coconut oil. Place the bowl over a pot of simmering water, making sure bowl does not touch the water. Stir often, until the mixture is fully melted and smooth. Pour into a pint-sized mason jar and allow to cool completely. Store at room temperature until ready to use.
Unmold the ice cream bars. One-by-one, dip the frozen bars in the cooled melted chocolate and immediately top with chopped nuts or sprinkles. Enjoy immediately, or keep frozen until ready to eat!
More success tips for homemade ice cream bars
- Don’t wait to make the magic shell. Make the magic shell right after you place the bars in the freezer to set. This way the melted chocolate has plenty of time to cool completely. When stored at room temperature, the magic shell will stay liquid until ready to use.
- Refreeze the ice cream bars before dipping in chocolate shell. If you find that the ice cream has started to melt a bit during the unmolding process, once the bars are out of their molds pop the bars back in the freezer until fully firm.
- Dip and decorate the bars one-by-one. The magic shell will set fairly quickly, so work one bar at a time when dipping the frozen bars into the magic shell and sprinkling on toppings.
Like this recipe? Pin it for later!
If you’re looking for more chilled summer desserts, don’t miss this recipe for No-Bake Pistachio Pie.
Homemade Ice Cream Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ¾ cup sweetened condensed milk
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup milk chocolate chips
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- ¼ cup chopped nuts or sprinkles, for topping
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whip heavy cream to medium-soft peaks. Add in the condensed milk and vanilla, and whip until soft peaks form.
- Spoon the mixture into frozen treat molds and insert the stick. Freeze until solid, at least 6 hours.
- While the ice cream bars set, make the chocolate shell. In a medium bowl, combine chocolate chips and coconut oil. Place the bowl over a pot of simmering water, making sure bowl does not touch the water. Stir often, until the mixture is fully melted and smooth. Pour into a pint-sized mason jar and allow to cool completely. Store at room temperature until ready to use.
- Unmold the ice cream bars. If the ice cream begins to melt during the unmolding process, once removed from the molds pop the bars back in the freezer until fully firm.
- One-by-one, dip the frozen bars in the cooled melted chocolate and immediately top with chopped nuts or sprinkles. The magic shell will set fairly quickly, so work one bar at a time.
- Enjoy immediately or keep frozen until ready to eat.
