DIY Drumstick Ice Cream

These DIY Drumstick Ice Cream Cones are a homemade version of a chocolate dipped ice cream cone sprinkled with nuts. The best part about homemade drumsticks is that you can make them suitable to your needs! Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free and Naturally Sweetened Versions are possible! 

If you love this Chocolate Ice Cream Treat, you may also enjoy Peanut Butter Chocolate Rice Krispie Treats, Watermelon Granita, or Homemade Brownies. 

What were your favorite things about being a child?

I loved the care-free summers I spent playing outdoors at my grandparent’s house. Those days were filled with hours of building forts and visiting imaginary places with my cousins. And then coming in to have a huge family dinner that usually consisted of a Slow Cooker BBQ Pork and Papa’s Baked Beans.

And of course ice cream. My favorite childhood treat was Drumstick Ice Cream Cones.

Let me tell you homemade chocolate-dipped ice cones are simple!

You have to exercise a bit of patience, but with a few simple ingredients, they can be yours! And the quality of the ingredients are a million times better! Plus you make them dairy-free, nut-free, and/or gluten-free. 

Key Ingredients

• Ice Cream Cones: Use sugar cones if you can and you can purchase organic, generic, or gluten-free. 
• Ice Cream: Use your favorite ice cream. Don’t limit to just vanilla ice cream either, you can use any variety you like. And if you need your ice cream to be dairy-free, select your favorite dairy-free variety. 
• Chocolate: Use any chocolate you like. Either cut up a chocolate bar or use chocolate chips. Again, use dairy-free chocolate if needed. Another great option for these drumsticks is to use Homemade Strawberry Magic Shell from Go Dairy Free, in place of the chocolate for a strawberry version of this treat.
• Toppings: Crush up some peanuts or almonds, or skip nuts altogether. Sometimes I am a rebel and use these all-natural sprinkles.

How to Make Homemade Drumstick Ice Cream Cones

• Place a chocolate chip in the bottom of each cone (just in case there are any holes in your cone).
• Stuff your ice cream cone with either chocolate or vanilla ice cream and using your hand (you can wash it later) to shape the top scoop to make a perfect dome around the cone. Trust me using your hand works SO much better than an ice cream scoop. 
• Place the prepared ice cream cones on a wax paper lined sheet tray and place in the freezer for 30-60 minutes or until frozen solid.
• Melt the chocolate using one of the below methods.
• Pull the ice cream cones out from the freezer and dip into melted chocolate. Pro-Tip: Use a spoon to spoon over the ice cream if it is hard to dip the ice cream into the chocolate. 
• Sprinkle chopped peanuts, or other desired toppings over the chocolate before it set. 
• Put cone immediately back into the freezer and wait until the chocolate is set.
• Test your patience. It should only take 10 minutes to set back up, but it can be a hard 10 minutes to wait.

How to Melt Chocolate

For dipping ice cream in chocolate, you can choose one of several different methods for preparing the chocolate. My favorite way to melt chocolate is slowly in the slow cooker, BUT in a pinch, the microwave is my default method to melt chocolate.

Regardless of what method you use to melt chocolate, remember 2 things

• Do not get water in your chocolate—this will cause the chocolate to seize up.
• Break up your chocolate of choice into small pieces for more uniform melting. Chocolate chips, mini chocolate chips, or even a leftover candy bar can be used.
• You can also add in 1 teaspoon up to 1 tablespoon coconut oil into your chocolate prior to melting. This makes your chocolate a lot thinner and will cause it set up immediately on your ice cream.

Melting Chocolate in the Microwave

Heat chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl on medium-high for about 1 minute to start with. Remove from the microwave and stir. Repeat heating at intervals of 20 seconds, stirring in between, until the chocolate is completely melted and has a smooth consistency.

Melting Chocolate in a Double Boiler

Place chocolate in a heat-safe bowl that fits over a stock pan. In that stock pan, bring about an inch of water to a simmer, over medium heat. Set the bowl over the pot, making sure the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl. Stir chocolate occasionally as it softens. Once the chocolate is just about melted, remove the bowl from heat, continuing to stir until all the chocolate melts.

Melting Chocolate in the Slow Cooker

Place chocolate in a heat-safe glass jar. Place the jar in the slow cooker and then carefully pour water into a slow cooker until the water line reaches halfway up the jars. Be cautious not to get any water into the jar of chocolate. Turn slow cooker on high, do NOT put the lid on the slow cooker, and in about 30 minutes your chocolate will be perfectly melted (no need to stir while the chocolate melts). Check on chocolate after 20 minutes, as all slow cookers vary in temperature. 

More Delicious Summer Treats

• Cherry Crumb Pie
• Grilled Mixed Berry Crisp
• Pina Colada Smoothie
• Blueberry Crumb Bars
• Peach Crisp

DIY Drumstick Ice Cream Cones

A homemade version of a classic childhood treat, these ice cream cones are made with natural ice cream and then dipped in chocolate and finished with crushed peanuts. 

5 from 3 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Servings: 6

Calories: 257kcal

Author: Kristen Chidsey

Ingredients

• 6 ice cream cones
• 48 ounces vanilla or chocolate ice cream
• 16 ounces chopped semi-sweet chocolate or chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped peanuts

Instructions

• Place a chocolate chip or morsel into the bottom of each cone.
• Stuff each ice cream cone with 8 ounces of ice cream, finishing with a perfect half sphere on top of each cone (use your hands, if needed.) Freeze on cookie sheet that has been lined with wax paper, until solid, about an hour.
• Melt chocolate and dip the ice cream into the melted ice cream up to the cone. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts.
• Place back on lined sheet and freeze for another 10-20 minutes.

Notes

You can add in 1 teaspoon up to 1 tablespoon coconut oil into your chocolate before you melt the chocolate. This makes your chocolate a lot thinner and will cause the chocolate set up immediately on your ice cream (sort of like Magic Shell.) 

Nutrition Facts

DIY Drumstick Ice Cream Cones

Amount Per Serving

Calories 257 Calories from Fat 144

% Daily Value*

Fat 16g25%

Saturated Fat 5g31%

Cholesterol 27mg9%

Sodium 87mg4%

Potassium 678mg19%

Carbohydrates 42g14%

Fiber 4g17%

Sugar 39g43%

Protein 11g22%

Vitamin A 945IU19%

Vitamin C 1.6mg2%

Calcium 259mg26%

Iron 3.2mg18%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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