Homemade Choco Tacos
The following recipe and photography was provided by recipe developer and food photographer, Ashley Durand of Plate & Pen.
Do you hear that? Whimsical music is playing in the distance. The ice cream truck is on its way!
There are many things that remind me of my childhood summers, but none more so than sprinting down the street with a scrambled collection of dollars and cents in my sweaty little hands on a quest for a Choco Taco from the neighborhood ice cream truck.
All these years later, if I were to stop by my local ice cream truck, I would still choose a Choco Taco from the extensive selection of ice cream and popsicles on the menu, but ice cream prices aren’t what they used to be, and this legendary dessert taco is hard to come by nowadays.
Luckily, these fan-favorite frozen treats are extremely easy and cost effective to recreate at home! All you need is a package of traditional waffle cones, vanilla ice cream, chocolate chips and peanuts.
The trickiest part of this recipe is forming the waffle cones into the taco shell shape, but with a little practice it gets easier. The key is to make sure that the cones are slightly damp and pliable so that they can be unraveled and reshaped into a shell. Once that’s done, all that’s left to do is fill the shells to the brim with Heinen’s rich vanilla ice cream, made right here in Ohio, dunk the taco in melted Heinen’s chocolate chips and sprinkle on a few peanuts (or sprinkles if you’re feeling colorful!).
Summer taco night just got sweeter!
Homemade Choco Tacos
Servings: Up to 12 Tacos
Ingredients
- 12 waffle cones
- Heinen's vanilla ice cream
- Heinen's dark chocolate chips
- Heinen's roasted peanuts, crushed
- Chopped fruit, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Dampen 2-3 paper towels with warm water. Carefully wring out the excess water and wrap the damp paper towels around a waffle cone. Place the wrapped cone in the microwave for 30 seconds. Carefully remove the wrapped cone from the microwave (use an oven mitt because the paper towels will be hot) and unwrap the paper towels from the cone. While the cone is warm and pliable, use the edge of a cutting board or the handle of a pot or strainer to re-shape the cone into a taco shell. Start at the point where the end of the cone overlaps and work your way out. If the cone hardens, re-heat it to continue forming the taco shell shape. Repeat with the remaining waffle cones. Once formed, set the shells aside.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil and set a bowl over top. Add your desired amount of chocolate chips to the bowl and stir until melted. Once melted, remove the bowl from the boiling water and briefly set aside.
- Grab a waffle cone taco shell and fill it almost to the top with vanilla ice cream. If the ice cream softens during this process, place the filled tacos in the freezer for a few minutes.
- Depending on how much chocolate used, either gently dunk the filled tacos in the bowl of melted chocolate or drizzle the melted chocolate over top.
- Immediately sprinkle with crushed peanuts.
- Place the tacos in freezer for 10 minutes, then serve immediately with fresh chopped fruit, if desired.
