Homemade Ice Cream In a Bag

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Summer is all about leisurely mornings, exciting adventures both near and far, plenty of splash time, and lots of ice cream…sometimes twice a day! Now that we have an ice cream maker, it’s relatively easy to make fresh sorbet, gelato, and other frozen treats, although it typically takes at least an hour, not including the prep time.  Wouldn’t it be nice to enjoy fresh ice cream in 15 minutes without ever having to turn on a machine?

Earlier this week, while sorting through some magazines and papers, I pulled out a children’s recipe I had clipped from Dripstik for Homemade Ice Cream In a Bag.  Growing up, my father and I spent a lot of time putting things together and exploring how things work, so I thought I’d try this craft-recipe-science experiment with my kids. To be honest, I wasn’t even sure if it would work, but after reading an article about the science behind this easy ice cream-making method, I was thoroughly convinced.

I like to find opportunities to educate my children as we do everyday activities, so I explained to them in a very basic way that when salt is added to ice, it makes it that much colder which then freezes the milk, creating ice cream. While regular table salt can be used, larger crystals take more time to dissolve in the water around the ice which allows for more even cooling of the ice cream. For a more technical explanation, visit About.com.

Since ice cream in it’s most basic form is simply milk or cream sugar, and vanilla, this is a great way to allow children the opportunity to indulge in a sweet frozen treat without the added chemicals you find in most store-bought ice cream.

Here is what you’ll need for Homemade Ice Cream In A Bag (everything is available at your local Walmart):

1 gallon-sized Ziploc Freezer Bag

1 pint-sized Ziploc Freezer Bag

2 Tablespoons Rock Salt (aka Ice Cream Salt)

1 small bag of ice

1/2 cup milk, cream, half & half, or almond milk

1-2 tablespoons of sugar (unless you are using flavored milk such as chocolate)

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Fill the gallon-sized bag with ice and rock salt so that it is 3/4 full

Pour milk, vanilla, and sugar into pin-sized bag and seal shut

Place pint-sized bag inside gallon-sized bag and seal shut

Shake bag for 15 minutes or until the ingredients freeze into ice cream (use a hand towel to shake the bag, since it will be very cold)

My kids, especially my son, were absolutely delighted with the idea of making ice cream in a bag. To make the project even more exciting, I purchased some fun toppings including sprinkles, chocolate chips, M&Ms, gummy bears, and fresh fruit and we had an impromptu ice cream bar in our backyard.

Probably one of the best things about this method of making ice cream is that my son can now have almond milk ice cream in a variety of flavors.  I was surprised at how well it froze!

Have you ever made ice cream in a bag?  I’d love to hear about your experiences.

Images:  Rockin’ Mama

Projected adapted from Dripstik

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Caryn Bailey

Caryn is a NICU nurse by day, blogger by night and mom 24/7. She savors the warm Southern California sun and loves to travel, shopping, baking, reading and frequenting her local tea room. Caryn created the column Lavishly Green for Peekaboo Picks Magazine to share her best tips for going green in style, she is the Former editor for Family Review Network, former OC Family Magazine online contributor, former Orange County Moms Blog contributor, former Evenflo Savvy Parent contributor, former member of the Totsy Advisory Board and former freelance writer for CBS Los Angeles.

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