Easy Homemade Ice Cream

Nothing says summer like a bowl of sweet ice cream.  My children love all different kinds of this decadent treat.  (Except for the youngest who refuses to eat anything other than vanilla.)  I try to buy it sparingly since it can cause a slight uproar when we have it in the house.  Even when I try to limit portions there seems to be an unspoken competition about who can eat the most in the shortest amount of time.  In other words, it doesn't last very long around here.  And don't delude yourself into thinking that you'll have a nice little bowl of ice cream tomorrow--there won't be any left.

In a back issue of Family Fun magazine I came across a recipe for making homemade ice cream in a bag.  I thought it would be a fun activity to try and to also avoid the typical ice cream mayhem around our house.

The ice cream starts out with just 3 ingredients:

2 T  sugar
1 c  heavy whipping cream or half and half
1/2 t  vanilla extract

Also needed:

1  gallon size freezer zip-loc bag
1  quart size freezer zip-loc bag
1/2 c  salt
ice cubes

First pour the sugar, cream and vanilla into the quart size zip-loc bag and seal well.  Knead the bag gently with your fingers until the ingredients are mixed.  The Family Fun recipe called for half and half but I didn't have it on hand the first time I made it and substituted heavy whipping cream instead.  It turned out great.  I've made it both ways now and like the heavy whipping cream much better.  (My husband did not like it, so there you go.)

 Next fill the gallon size bag with the salt and the ice.  Place the smaller bag of cream inside and seal it well.  (The bag needs to be about 1/3 to 1/2 full of ice.)  Now you just shake it like a Polaroid picture.  Within about 5 minutes or less the ice cream should be ready and be the consistency of soft serve.

Remove the ice cream bag from the larger bag of ice and rinse the salt off the bag before opening.  Then just eat the tasty goodness right from the bag.  (It's not something that you would serve at a posh dinner party-- just a fun activity.)  It makes a modest serving for one or a few spoonfuls each to a group of excited children.

Enjoy!


(photo credits: top picture- hawtvintage.tumblr.com via pinterest)