This easy homemade ice cream in a bag recipe is a must-try this summer! You only need 5 ingredients to make this homemade ice cream. Kids will love seeing how quickly they can make their own ice cream. Don’t forget to add your favorite toppings like sprinkles or fruit!
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How to Make Ice Cream in a Bag
This is such a fun activity for kids in the summer! And if you’re low on ice cream in your freezer, it’s a great way to make your own treat! Kids can help shake the bags and of course finish off the ice cream.
Ice Cream in a Bag Ingredients
You only need 5 ingredients to make ice cream in a bag:
- Half and Half – OR you can use 1/2 whole milk and 1/2 cream. We have also made it with whole milk and it will still turn out but the ice cream won’t be as creamy
- Salt – the type of salt doesn’t matter. We used regular table salt. But the chunkier the salt you use, the less chance you’ll get salt mixed into your ice cream by accident.
- Ice
- Artificial or Imitation Vanilla
- Sugar
Can I use Whole Milk?
Yes! You can still make this recipe with whole milk. The ice cream won’t be as creamy but will still be tasty. For an even creamier version use cream and whole milk instead. You can experiment with different proportions until you find it to be a texture and flavor you prefer!
How to Prevent Salty Ice Cream
This is important – because there’s nothing worse than shaking the bags and then having salty ice cream. You want to make sure that the bags you are using are quality bags. Typically no name brands won’t give a good seal to keep the salt out.
Make sure you properly seal the bag that has the half and half mixture in it. You don’t want salt accidentally getting into this bag. To be safe, you could double bag this also. Once you’re done shaking, rinse off the little bag with cold water (including the top part above the seal) before opening it up to eat the ice cream. This will ensure that any salt on the outside doesn’t leak in.
If you use chunkier salt, this will also help prevent the salt from getting into the little bag.
Finally, be extra careful when taking the ice cream out of the bag. If there is any salt still on the outside of the small bag, it will mix with the ice cream.
Ice Cream in a Bag
Video
Ingredients
- 1 cup half and half
- 1/2 tsp artificial or imitation vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp sugar
- ice
- 1/4 cup salt
- Ziploc bags 1 Small, 1 Large
Instructions
- Pour 1 cup of half and half into a small ziploc bag.
- Add 1/2 teaspoon of artificial vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon of sugar.
- Seal the bag firmly and get any excess air out.
- In the larger ziploc bag, fill it about 1/2 way with ice. Add 1/4 cup of salt.
- Then add your small bag and fill with extra ice on top. Seal the large bag.
- Get gloves for shaking and shake for 6 minutes. *Gloves are needed since the salt makes the ice extra cold.
- Take the small bag out of the large bag and rinse the outside of the small bag with cold water. Make sure to rinse out the top part of the bag also (above the seal).
- Once done rinsing, carefully open the small bag to not get any remaining salt from the outside of the bag inside the bag.
- The ice cream will be a little icy looking to start. Use a spoon to mix it around and soften it up a bit. Scoop out and enjoy!
Nutrition Estimate
Notes
- Properly seal the bag.
- Rinse off the little bag after shaking.
- Double bag if still salty.
Your kids will love making their own ice cream! Mix in some chocolate syrup or add your favorite toppings to make it even more delicious!
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See these other favorite recipes for kids:
LOVE THIS!
great. i did it
very good
You’re talking rock salt right?
You can use rock salt too but regular salt also works.
How many kids can eat from the baggie-full??? Would you suggest one baggie per pair of kids or one per kid??? My class voted this option for part of our year-ender party! A favorite memory of mine!! 🙂
You can get two smaller portions from each batch. You could also halve the amounts and do 1 batch per kid.
I’ve made this recipe before when in girl scouts and brownies and have come across an easier way to do it if people do not want to mix things together.
use pudding. pudding mix or even those little pudding cups.
portion it out into your bags and pop in a cooler for bigger gatherings.
a few of our kiddos couldn’t do sugar in large amounts and her mother brought the premade sugar free pudding cups and they did frozen ice cream as nice as the pudding mixes we had ready for the kids.
in case people are looking for an easy mix/fix.
we also bought a big things of those brown jersey gloves for the kids to use because oh my do the bags get cold lol. but this is a favorite summer activity in our area.
my personal favorite is the banana pudding then once you squeeze it out-add crushed up nutter butter cookies or the peanutbutter girl scout cookies crushed up.
So good! This actually works and it tastes like real Ice Cream!!
great and easy recepe
Could I let this sit in the freezer for a couple of hours? If I made it, put it in the freezer in the morning, and then took it out in the afternoon would that be okay?
I think that would be fine. It might get a little icy so just let it sit at room temperature for a bit before you eat.
Can this be done with lactose free “milks”?
Yes it should still work.
Yes because lactose free milk IS milk. (the lactose is just removed and sugar is added)
it was the best!!!!!!!!!!
It was AWESOME, but how do you make it look so smooth and creamy and not too chunky?
If you want it to be smoother, use a higher fat milk.
amazing
Tasted so good. I am so glad i found this site. My and my family made 5 batches for our 13 children and us parents. It was plenty and we had a bag for leftovers. We added sprinkles and it was so good. Great way to start off the spooky season.
This worked!!! Soo good and fun for everyone!!!!
it was delicious
I was craving ice cream tonight and i knew i could make a quick batch in a bag. Found this recipe and added fresh smashed blueberries. Shook for 6 minutes (could have gone longer) but it hit the spot and was delicious! I did use mostly whole milk and a tiny bit if almond milk. Reading everyone’s other posts, I’m going to try other flavors! Im glad i found this page!
This made me so happy! I have really bad lactose intolerance and have been endlessly disappointed (and often disgusted) at what passes as “ice cream” substitutes on the market for us lactose-free people. I was absolutely craving ice cream and wondered if I could make my own at home with my lactose-free milk and lactose-free cream. Lo and behold, I found your recipe here and in 6 minutes, I had a delicious, wonderful cone full of REAL ice cream, in my opinion much better that store bought hands down! First real ice cream in many years since becoming lactose intolerant (came with age). I did add 2 TBSP sugar instead of 1 and it was the perfect sweetness for me.. 1 didn’t quite cut it when I tested the mix before shaking. Can’t wait to make it again and play with different add-ins! Mmmmmm!!!
I like it!!!! Nice!
Cool recipie man!!
I have made this in elementary school and I am really craving icecream right now and I am so happy that I can make icecream again it’s so good!