Easy Homemade Ice Cream Recipe in a Bag

Making homemade ice cream doesn’t have to be hard! My easy homemade ice cream recipe in a bag takes only 10 minutes to prepare and doesn’t require the use of an ice cream machine. Come visit me at the lake and learn how to shake your way to a perfect cup of ice cream.

I seriously can’t wait for this weekend to officially begin. We made it to Memorial Day weekend, friends!

I don’t know about you, but I could definitely use a three-day weekend. I’m planning on having tons of lake time fun, a BBQ or two, and most importantly, taking some time to honor all the men and women who lost their lives fighting for our country.  

If you’re a parent, the month of May is a pretty hectic time. It’s almost up there with the month of December. Am I right?

I don’t know how people with multiple kids are still standing! It’s hard for me with just my one child to keep everything in line. All the End of the Year activities plus having to stay on top of the normal day to day responsibilities is completely exhausting.

Parents, you’ve definitely earned yourself a homemade strawberry margarita on the rocks this weekend…just saying.

Because I want you to try and take it easy this weekend, I’m sharing a super simple recipe that’s not only pure deliciousness but also doubles as a fun summer activity for kids and adults alike. I promise you’ll be making this easy ice cream recipe all summer long with your family once you try it out.

I’ve personally been making this easy homemade ice cream recipe in a bag since Zach was in preschool. I was introduced to it by one of my Kindergarten teacher friends who made it in her classroom every year with her students. If a classroom of twenty 5-year-olds can make this recipe on their own, I know you can too!

The first time I made it with my son, Zach, I was blown away at how simple it was. I was equally thrilled that my 4-year-old at the time was able to make it on his own with very minimal help from me. The best part of all, at least in my opinion, is that same 4-year-old who is now finishing his last two school days of his Sophomore year in high school still gets a kick out of making his own ice cream in a bag.

And truth be told, his mom kind of finds it pretty entertaining as well!

Besides the ease of making this recipe, I also love the fact that it’s just the right amount of ice cream to cure your sweet tooth without feeling like you’ve overindulged. Technically, I guess you could always double the ingredients for a bigger portion of ice cream but I prefer to just add toppings to give my treat a little more pizzazz.

Easy Homemade Ice Cream Recipe in a Bag

Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe:

1 cup of milk (preferably whole milk), 2 tablespoons of sugar, ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract, ½ cup of ice cream salt, 4 cups of ice (you might need more), 1 gallon-sized Ziploc bag, 1 quart-sized Ziploc bag, toppings of your choice

In your quart-sized Ziploc bag, add the milk, sugar, and vanilla.

Close the quart-sized Ziploc bag shut making sure to get rid of any of the extra air inside it.

Next, add the ice cream salt and ice into the larger gallon-sized Ziploc.

Place the sealed quart-sized Ziploc bag inside the gallon-sized bag and close it up.

All that’s left to do now is shake, shake, shake! You’ll want to continue to shake the bags for at least 7 minutes or until the ice cream has hardened. *I highly recommend doing this outside if at all possible. The condensation from the bag is pretty intense after 7 minutes of shaking! 

Here’s a visual of what you’re looking for to determine if your ice cream is done. The Ziploc bag scrunches up and the milk mixture becomes solid.

It’s completely solid at this point.

Once the ice cream has come together, transfer it to a bowl and top it with whatever you see fit! I highly recommend adding my one-ingredient dulce de leche sauce and some sweet summer berries for the perfect homemade ice cream experience.

Zach and I sang songs and walked around the backyard and dock area while shaking our bags like crazy. It helped to pass the time away! We even got Patriotic with it by singing The Star Spangled Banner, Yankee Doodle, and This Land is Your Land. I mean, it is Memorial Day weekend after all. 

I promise you that this easy homemade ice cream recipe in a bag is one your family and friends will go crazy over. It’s pretty darn cool to make your own ice cream on a hot summer day! It’s so much more than ice cream, it’s an experience. Try making this with your kids this Memorial Day weekend and let me know what you think. I can pretty much guarantee you’ll be making a memory your children will remember forever.

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