Remember the feeling of awe and wonder the first time you saw melted chocolate magically set over your ice cream, forming a crunchy shell? Now there’s no need to buy the bottled stuff, because you can make your own quick-setting ice cream topping. Just combine chocolate with a little vegetable oil. Nearly any type of chocolate—milk, bittersweet, or semisweet (but not unsweetened)—will work. It’s a fun and easy way to fancy up your next ice cream social. You can also swap out the vegetable oil for the more common coconut oil if you prefer.

Game plan: Drizzle—or pour—this over any flavor ice cream, gelato, or sorbet you like, or use it to dip frozen bananas. Or, instead of the labor-intensive process of tempering chocolate, use this topping as a quick alternative for dipping ice cream bars. Just remember to double this recipe to ensure that you have enough chocolate to coat all the bars; and note that while the coating will be delicious, it will not have the same crunchy snap as tempered chocolate.

  • Yield: About 2 cups
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Total: Under 10 mins, plus cooling time

Ingredients (2)

  • 1 pound chocolate chips or coarsely chopped chocolate (not unsweetened)
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil

Instructions

  1. Place the chocolate and oil in a medium heatproof bowl set over a saucepan containing an inch of barely simmering water. (Make sure the bowl does not touch the water.) Stir constantly until the chocolate is just melted and the mixture is smooth.
  2. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and let the chocolate mixture cool until barely lukewarm (about 100°F) before using. Store in a container with a tight-fitting lid at room temperature for up to 1 week. Reheat to the desired consistency in a medium heatproof bowl set over a saucepan containing an inch of barely simmering water.