Homemade Ice Cream Recipe

It's a bit late in the season for ice cream in my part of the country, but we used this recipe over the summer with great success. I'm sure some of you live in places that stay summery well into October.

Each bag serves two kids, so I had my class of four-year-olds partner up to do the shaking. You don't need any unusual ingredients or special equipment.


Ingredients & Supplies (for two servings)

2 tbs. sugar
1 cup half and half
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
6 tbs rock salt (about a dollar for a big box at Wal-Mart)
1 pint-sized Zip-loc bag (not the newer easy sip slider type!)
1 gallon-sized Zip-loc bag (same as the small one - get the "old" type)
Crushed ice
Mittens (optional)


How to Make It

1. Put three or four cups of ice and the rock salt in the gallon bag.
2. Mix the rest of the ingredients in the pint bag. Seal it well.
3. Put the pint bag into the gallon bag. Seal the gallon bag well!
4. Shake the whole thing for about five minutes. It will seem like a long time, which is why it's good to have partners share the job and to wear mittens. Just when you're sure it's not working, the liquid will suddenly begin to solidify.

The result will be similar to soft serve, although it might be more like store-bought ice cream if you freeze it for a while. You can add chocolate syrup, raspberry flavoring, etc. to the mix. It does melt pretty fast, so eat up!

By the way, this recipe will not work with whole milk instead of half and half, and it will not work if you omit the rock salt. You can go ahead and file that under "learn from my experience." :)