How to Make a Choco Taco
Choco Tacos can be hard to track down. The preeminent dessert taco makes cameos at select ice cream trucks and gas stations, but other times, you think, "did I dream that?" Since nobody should have to suppress a Choco Taco craving, or embark on a roadtrip to the magical Taco Bells that still stock them, follow these steps to make them at home.
Choco Tacos
- Makes 12 -
Ingredients
For crepe taco shells:
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 to 3 teaspoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
For chocolate syrup:
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla
Dash of salt
Chocolate chip ice cream (vanilla also works)
1 cup peanuts
Procedure
1. For crepe shells: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar. Gradually add in the milk, vanilla, and melted butter, stirring to combine. Add the flour and salt. Beat until smooth.
2. Heat a lightly oiled, small griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. (We used a tiny 6-incher for easy maneuvering.) Pour about 1/4 cup of the batter onto the pan for each "shell," tilting to make sure the liquid coats the surface evenly.
3. Cook the crepe on each side for about 2 minutes, until light brown.
4. This is the fun part. Pick a book. We went with Franz Kafka's The Trial. Oh yeah, make sure it's a pretty clean book. Shape the crepe around the bookbinding so it forms a taco shell mold. Freeze this contraption for ten minutes. Be careful when setting up; these are delicate.
5. Continue cooking crepe shells, shaping them around books, and freezing.
6. For the chocolate syrup: Combine cocoa, sugar, and salt in a saucepan. Add water. Mix until smooth. Bring to boil for one minute, then remove pan from heat. Once cooled, add vanilla.
7. After the first frozen shell is pretty sturdy, pull it out and drizzle inside with this (not burning hot) chocolate syrup. A paintbrush comes in handy here. Throw syruped shells back into the freezer so chocolate can firm up.
8. Wait at least five minutes before pulling them out. Delicately stuff them with ice cream, then return them to the freezer for another ten minutes of firming-up.
9. Remove proto-Choco Tacos and drizzle them with extra syrup. Crush peanuts and throw those on top too.
10. Happiness. Was that the ice cream truck jingle sound outside? Psh. Unnecessary.
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45 Comments:
Why The Trial? Are you trying to say something about the difficulty of making these tacos?
Adam Kuban at 2:49PM on 02/24/09
Or shouldn't the byline to your story simply be "E."?
bobbob at 2:54PM on 02/24/09
Sorry, but did this chick smoke something before she decided to make these things? I mean, I love chocolate, peanuts and ice cream just as much as the next girl but....this just seems excessive. ; ) But they do look good.
arm1970 at 2:59PM on 02/24/09
Holy monkey bars-I forgot about these! I ate them 3 time a week in graduate school. I will give this a shot. party anyone?
savorthethyme at 3:14PM on 02/24/09
My local Home Depot has an ice cream vending machine that contains Choco Tacos. Grocery store? No. Home Depot? Yes.
Spanno at 3:34PM on 02/24/09
These look great but are waaay too time intensive. I'd be just as happy with sitting down to a "Tin Roof Sundae", made with essentially the same stuff (minus the shell) and I'd have a lot more time to sit and enjoy it...
yeah. I'm lazy.
juliebugsmama at 3:39PM on 02/24/09
I've made similar but using pizzeles as the shell, and toasted almonds rather than peanuts. I think that was faster than doing crepes and all those freezing steps. No books involved either. :D
I have not had one in ages...they had them next to the frozen Snickers and Dum-Dums in college canteen machines.
sadiepix at 4:07PM on 02/24/09
i believe taco johns sells them...mmmm potato oles!
http://www.tacojohns.com/food8-Desserts3-ChocoTaco.asp
jslander at 4:08PM on 02/24/09
i love these friggin things... Erin, will you marry me? nuthin says lovin like a Choco Taco out tha oven... haha
hookrilla at 4:23PM on 02/24/09
also, if you make me one of these, i will clean your freezer. sorry, i am an ahole hahaha
hookrilla at 4:24PM on 02/24/09
For some reason my neighborhood still has an ice cream truck, despite the fact that it's been raining like crazy here and there's not a whole lot of children in our 'hood. The ice cream truck is neon blue, the woman inside is a foxy Australian, and yes, she has chaco tacos. I guess I'm just lucky.
She also still sells grab bags, does anyone remember those? They're circus-themed paper bags and they have a couple of candies inside and a set a wax lips? They're AWESOME.
PumpkinBear at 5:06PM on 02/24/09
I ran a hot dog stand this summer and sold ice cream bars and novelties. These, I couldn't get. Torqued me off!
@arm1970, some of us don't worry about it. It's called personal taste.
LunaPierCook at 5:47PM on 02/24/09
@hookrilla: You stay away; Erin is MINE!!!
Robyn Lee at 6:07PM on 02/24/09
oh dear god i want one NOW.
luxie at 6:27PM on 02/24/09
It seems you could add some cocoa powder to the crepe batter, no?
beano at 7:12PM on 02/24/09
Absolutely brilliant.
Nick Solares at 9:14PM on 02/24/09
i am seriously considering making these right now. heh.
stadenco at 11:12PM on 02/24/09
That is amazing.
driftingfocus at 11:14PM on 02/24/09
And i thought making tamales were a lot of trouble!
old chef
old chef at 11:19AM on 02/25/09
I agree with Juliebugsmama - love me some tin roof sundae! Plus you can serve it in a waffle cone and there you have it! I've never had one of these before so I guess I don't know what I'm missing. I've seen this in the grocery store and also at home depot. I'll have to give them a try :)
ddvierra68 at 12:29PM on 02/25/09
Oh for the days of the Choco Taco at Taco Bell.
I find them at the local Walgreens these days. As a matter of fact, as soon as I'm over my current bout of a jaw-pain-inducing ear infection, I think I'll have one.
mahlookma at 3:58PM on 02/25/09
my local taco bell sell's these. i love them, to bad i gave up taco bell for lent. good thing it's only 40 days.
dearrie at 4:36PM on 02/25/09
love them, never ate one, but i know i'd love 'em.....
what a novelty dessert.... i'm gonna have to make these next time i make my tamale pie for company.....
pooch at 10:24PM on 02/25/09
God Bless America!
tampabaychef at 11:25PM on 02/25/09
This is awesome - I totally forgot about choco tacos! Those were the days.
Hillary
Chew on That
Chew on That at 10:57AM on 02/26/09
Luckily, my local Skyline Chili has a Good Humor freezer with Choco Tacos!! Chili and ice cream, what could be better!?!?!
I like the idea of using books as molds. You get a larger bottom so they are easier to fill and stand on their own. However, I would first wrap the book in non-stick foil first. Easier to remove and way more sanitary!!
Thanks for sharing.
muzzlet at 12:14PM on 02/28/09
omg i forgot all about Choco Tacos! Thank you for reminding me about these! Yum. Rivaled only by a chocolate eclair good humor bar.
nithya at hungrydesi at 2:03PM on 02/28/09
form them around a book??! that's a little disgusting.
Whitney at 6:33PM on 03/01/09
sanitary, schmanitary... they look great!
Here's a hint for stuffing the 'shells' a little easier: put that really frozen tub of ice cream into the microwave for 30 seconds(+/-). Just so it gets soft enough to dump out the whole thing onto the cutting board or plate and cut it in half, lengthwise.
Now slice each half into perfect half-moons and drop into your choco taco.
nightmoon at 8:50PM on 03/01/09
these will be great for our house warming in the next month or to...
You can also put them over a taco shell holder...
britewally at 9:23PM on 03/02/09
@Erin,
Great work. Big fan of the choco taco. Is this your #1 ice cream truck delicacy?
Did the "taco shells" stay crispy while you were eating them?
NYC Food Guy at 3:49AM on 03/06/09
I just made some coconut chewy cookies, and with a little more liquid i bet I could make a coconut-chewy taco shell...i'm getting a little drooly thinking about it.
is it possible to put ice cream in something like a caulking gun?
mmmmmm ice cream caulking gun...
garth at 2:21PM on 03/06/09
@NYC Food Guy: We ate them so fast, I cannot supply you with this info. And Big Sticks were always my favorite!
Erin Zimmer at 3:45PM on 03/06/09
Oh, wow! What a fantastic idea. I haven't had a Choco Taco in years! Definitely going to have to try this. Thanks for sharing Erin!
b_sweens at 7:41PM on 04/04/09
Wow. Committed is right, but I feel like the Lifehacker writer overestimated the amount of work it takes. Must not cook much.
cothebadger at 6:41AM on 04/05/09
It's been a long, LONG time since i've had a choco taco. And i'll tell you why:
Klondike bars (and everything made by klondike) have NO real chocolate. I refuse to eat products that only have a "chocolate flavored coating". I even heard that the FDA tried to redefine the definition of chocolate to include these vegetable based concoctions to be included. tsk, tsk.
As a child, i remember these choco tacos as so delicious, but when i came across them again, i was severely disapointed by the lack of real chocolate taste.
Also, as a slight criticism of the recipe, isn't the shell suppossed to be a waffle cone and not a crepe? (though i do love crepes)
arock at 10:05AM on 04/05/09
Well fist off great idea and thank you for sharing. I am making these as a surprise for my girlfriend Wendella. I followed the recipe as exactly as stated. This provided me with 5 normal shells and one slightly smaller shell. So I ended up with 6 rather than 12 as stated.
For the books and sanitary reasons I cleaned the book's covers with Windex (spraying the Windex on the paper towel first) then proceeded to wipe it off with a lightly damp paper towel. You should only end up using 2 books, I cleaned 12.
It appears I might have a bit excess in chocolate syrup. Though that is not a bad thing as I will use that extra to make it extra chocolaty. I am currently waiting for the ice cream to thicken then I will add the last layer of chocolate and nuts. Rather than painting my shells as I did not have a brush to use that did not have paint on it. I simply dipped my shells in then put them on a cooking pan that would fit in the fridge.
I crushed my nuts XD, in a bowl with a wooden spoon until the bowl was void of large pieces. The only variant I did was to add 1 extra spoon of coco powder to the syrup mix as well as I have added drizzled chocolate before adding the crushed peanuts.
If I can make this you can too, trust me. I just finished topping my shells I am eager to present them tonight for dinner and some action booyah. All in all this has taken me about 2hrs with clean up time.
Tips:
1) Time each crepe/shell with the stove timer at around 2min use your eye though. With flipping I found out no guts no glory do not try do ( no room for mistakes).
2) Crush the peanuts in a bowl with a wooden spoon.
3) Use a baking pan to sturdy the shells.
4) Dip the shells rather than painting if you do not have a brush.
asonofashadow at 7:03PM on 04/07/09
I think someone is trying to spoil my diet.. lol
This looks too tempting..
tacorecipes at 8:40PM on 04/14/09
Use waxed paper over book "mold"? At least do something other than saying "It's too complicated"!
ttommy3 at 12:13PM on 04/21/09
This just proves to me what I already suspected. Home Depot fucking ROCKS.
Sugar at 11:34PM on 05/03/09
Wow-my fav combo-but toooo much work! thanx for the idea.
redvelvetrox at 3:03PM on 05/20/09
Those look yummy! For those of you who don't want to make your own choco tacos and can't find them in the store, go for an ice cream drumstick. All of the same ingredients, just a different shape.
velmarocks at 7:16AM on 06/06/09
My daughter requested these for her birthday treat and I was so glad to find this recipe. However, I too was only able to get 6 shells from the recipe, so I had to double it. I am having trouble with the chocolate as well. Because of the 1 cup of water, it is so runny I can't top the tacos with it. I may end up with magic shell on the top or some fudge.
janeh at 10:57PM on 07/25/09
I just found found Klondike Choco Tacos at the grocery store. 99cents...of course I snagged one.
http://twitpic.com/ciczf
If you haven't guessed...I'm way too lazy to make them myself...very cool recipe though!
GrubGrade at 11:07AM on 08/02/09
There's a water park a couple of hours away from where I live that sells these... Such a treat!
katherinegb at 12:35AM on 01/03/10