Rice Krispies Ice Cream Bars

It's ice cream season! Actually I make all year round but I make more frequently during late Spring and all Summer long. 

I've always wanted to make those yummy dilly bars from Dairy Queen but my ice pop mold is not user friendly. It's difficult to remove the frozen treat from it. I might have to get a better one. I also love the Filipino version of dilly bars, called Pinipig Crunch, which has crispy puffed rice on the surface covered with hard shell, not the ice cream itself.

To make it simpler and easier to shape, I placed the rice krispies on the bottom of an 8-inch square pan, froze it for 20 minutes, then poured the freshly churned French vanilla ice cream on top. Making the hard shell to cover the bars is also very easy to prepare. 

Hard Shell Chocolate Coating/Topping

1½ cups semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips

½ cup coconut oil

a pinch of salt

• Place coconut oil, chocolate chips, and salt in a medium glass bowl. Microwave on high for 40 seconds. Stir with a rubber spatula. Return into the microwave and heat on medium power for 1 minute. Stir until mixture is smooth. Heat for another 40 seconds if still lumpy. Let cool before using. Store leftover in a squeeze bottle. Do not refrigerate.

Rice Krispies Ice Cream Bars

1 cup plain rice krispies

¾ cup Nutella

1 quart French vanilla ice cream, slightly softened if store bought or homemade

homemade hard shell coating

• Line an 8-inch square pan with plastic wrap; set aside. 
• Place Nutella in a glass bowl and heat on high for 1 minute. Add rice krispies and stir until well coated. Place evenly on the bottom of the prepared pan. Freeze for 20 minutes. 
• Spoon the ice cream evenly on top of rice krispies, smoothing top with an offset spatula. Cover with plastic wrap and let freeze overnight. 
• Remove ice cream from pan and place on a cutting board. With a warm sharp knife, cut in half and return the other half to the freezer. Cut into desired size rectangles [I cut mine into smallish 2 x 1 inch pieces.] 
• Dip each piece one by one in the hard shell coating. Using plastic forks, lift the piece and let excess sauce drip. Place on a smooth surface. The coating will harden almost immediately.
• Wrap each piece in parchment or waxed paper, store in freezer bags or see-through plastic containers. Repeat cutting, dipping in coating, wrapping, and storing the rest of ice cream block. Enjoy!