Homemade Ice Cream in a Bag

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With record setting heat hitting us the next few days, I thought why not give Ice Cream in a Bag a whirl!  Who doesn’t love rich, creamy, fresh churned ice cream?

With a few kids on board, take advantage of the manual labor and let them beat the heat with a fun cool treat while burning some energy.  I mean, its practically EDUCATIONAL – after all it is a science experiment!!  

Turn a few every day ingredients into ice cream in a flash!  Mix, pour & shake.  That is it! Who doesn’t love something that easy!

The first batch, we did with a baggie in a larger baggie.  It worked great, but we had trouble keeping the bag sealed.  For the second experiment we put the baggie inside a Rubbermaid container and tossed, shook & danced around with the container and found much better success.

Give it a try:

• 1/2 c. heavy cream
• 1/2 c. milk
• 2 T. sugar
• 1 t. vanilla
• 1 qt. zip-top bag
• 1 gallon zip-top bag or large Rubbermaid/plastic container
• 3-4 c. ice
• 1/3 c. salt (table salt is FINE!)

Now here is where the magic happens:

Wisk together the sugar, vanilla, and milk until sugar is dissolved.  Pour into the quart size bag.  Now seal the baggie up REALLY WELL.  Add the ice and salt to the gallon bag or the plastic container.  Place the quart bag inside the larger bag or container.  Seal it up TIGHT.

NOW, go crazy! Dance, shake, toss that bag/container around.  Keep it moving.  It takes about 5 minutes to firm up with a lot of good motion.  We took it outside and threw it around and everyone gave it a good shake when they caught it.  Make it a dance party or a game of hot potato!  If you shake it longer, it will get more firm.  We ended up going about 10 minutes total and got a very thick and frozen ice cream.

The first try with the double baggie method was not as easy.  The larger bag opened up several times making things wet and messy!  Not a terrible thing, but if you are using 2 baggies, consider this an outside activity!  My opinion is the quart size baggie in a Rubbermaid worked MUCH better!

Remember, if you are outside, it may take longer or you may need to add more ice.  Once the bag is firm and set, take it inside to serve up!  Give the quart bag a quick rinse under COLD water to get the salt residue off. Nip a corner off and serve it up in cups!

This makes about TWO 1/2 cup servings.  Top with sprinkles, chocolate or fruit!  It does melt quickly, and you could toss it into the freezer to firm up after shaking.  It is definitely a SOFT SERVE style, but tastes quite good!

NOTE: If you do not have heavy cream, you could use half & half or whole milk.  It will not have the same rich, smooth consistency but will taste the same and freeze just as fun!