Snow Ice Cream
This is a super fun way to make ice cream without an ice cream maker by using snow! It’s a great activity to do with kids in the winter (or using crushed ice in the summer). And don’t worry, the snow never touches the ice cream so it’s perfectly safe to make with ANY kind of snow.
Ingredients
For Chilling:
- 1 gallon freezer bag
- ½ gallon snow or crushed ice
- 6 tablespoons rock or ice cream salt
For Ice Cream:
- 1 to 2 quart freezer bags
- ½ cup half and half or ¼ cup milk + ¼ cup cream
- 1 tablespoons granulated sugar or agave
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
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To a gallon freezer bag, add the snow and rock salt. Remove air, seal bag, and mix to combine. Make sure you use gloves, as this will get very cold.
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To a quart freezer bag, add the half and half (or cream and milk), the sugar (or agave), and vanilla. Mix together and then zip the bag, removing any excess air (see note).
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Place the sealed quart bag inside the gallon bag. Seal gallon bag, removing any excess air (as the excess air make the mixing difficult).
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Wear gloves or use a dry hand towel to squish the bags with your hands until the ice cream is frozen. This should only take about 5 to 10 minutes.
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Remove the quart bag and (keeping it sealed) rinse it with water to remove any salt. Then open carefully, making sure the outer part doesn't touch the ice cream (or see note for a double bagging method that is a little easier with kids).
Recipe Notes
- If you want to be on the safe side, you can put the quart freezer bag with the ice cream mixture inside another quart freezer bag. This makes it more likely that none of the salt mixture gets into the ice cream. If you are careful, you won't need it, but sometimes things get a little crazy--as in smashing bags or flying them through the air--I'm sure stuff like this never happens at your house--in those cases, double bagging is a good idea.