Hand Tossed Ice Cream For Miles & Cole

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a delicious glass of hand-tossed ice cream

My friend Kathy teaches a cooking class to elementary age kids at the local home school co-op. Again this year she asked me to help by guest-teaching once a month.  This year we have 12 students from second through fifth grade. 

One of my favorite food blogs for family-friendly recipes is Our Best Bites. That is where I found this recipe for making homemade ice cream with kids! We had such a good time that I decided to take it one step further… which you will see towards the end of this blog post.

Hint: Ice Cream For Miles & Cole

tossed ice cream ingredients

The ingredient list is simple: milk, sugar, whipping cream, and vanilla.  Additional items needed are Ziploc bags, ice, and ice cream salt.  Do yourself a favor and buy Ziploc brand bags. They are heavier duty than the no-name brand.

ice cream frozen

The ice cream ingredients are mixed up and placed in the quart size bag. The bags are then sealed with duct tape or some water-proof tape.

bagged ice

Ice and ice cream salt are placed in the gallon bags with the ice cream bag in the middle.  You want to make sure you place salt and ice around all sides of the ice cream bag.  The gallon bag is then zipped shut. You won’t tape this bag shut because while the ice cream is freezing, water will need to be drained out of this bag and more ice added.

tossed ice cream bagged ice

The bags are now ready to “toss.”  Gloves help to keep little hands from getting too cold.  The bags will get wet with condensation so toss the bags outside or in the garage is a good idea.

The bags (like kids) need to be in constant motion being tossed back and forth.  Water can be drained off as necessary and more ice and salt added.  The ice cream should freeze in about 15 minutes, depending on the outside temperature.

tossed ice cream class

The vanilla ice cream is delicious by itself or perfect for topping with chocolate, caramel, sprinkles, and any other favorites.

hand tossed ice cream friends

While preparing for the class a friend told me about “freezer balls” that are available on Amazon. The balls are made with a metal cylinder in the middle and space for the ice and salt all around.


Knowing how much my grandsons love ice cream I decided to buy one for Miles 7th birthday. We were blessed to be together for a family wedding and had the chance to play ball!


Miles and his little brother, Cole, poured the ingredients into the cylinder.

The boys added salt and ice. Making a face helps the salt to hit the hole!
The lid goes on the ball and instead of “tossing” we rolled this ice cream.
Obtaining the assistance of their mom, Grandma, and Great-Grandma Alice, the ice cream making began.

We played ball for about 20 minutes and then opened up the cylinder to find HOMEMADE VANILLA ICE CREAM!
Helping Grandma the boys couldn’t wait to get the ice cream into a bowl!


A few sprinkles on top and a frozen sweet satisfaction was enjoyed by all!

The kids were really proud they had made the ice cream.  The freezer ball made a quart of soft-serve vanilla ice cream the boys readily shared!

This freezer ball doesn’t get wet on the outside and so it is a perfect game to play inside.  I put a link to this ball on Amazon to the right of this post.  Once loaded, the ball is too heavy to toss but rolls well.  As we cleaned up the boys were already making plans for the “next time” with friends at home 🙂

Don’t wait for summer to make homemade ice cream with your kids and grandkids.  They will have a ball 🙂

~Blessings, Catherine

hand tossed ice cream upclose

Hand Tossed Ice Cream aka Kids In The Kitchen

Yield: 3 to 4 servings per quart bag
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Inactive Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

A delicious way to make hand-tossed ice cream this summer!

Ingredients

Ice Cream

  • 2 cups 2% milk
  • 2 cups whipping cream
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Supplies

  • 2 - 1 quart Ziplock freezer bags*
  • 1 - 1 gallon Ziplock freezer bags*
  • 10 lbs. of cube or crushed ice
  • 2 cups ice cream salt
  • Duct tape (or any waterproof tape)
  • Gloves - optional

Instructions

Ice Cream

  1. In a large bowl, combine sugar, milk, cream, and vanilla. Stir well until sugar is dissolved.
  2. Have one of the kids hold open one of the 1 quart Ziplock bags. Pour half of the mixture into the bag, squeezing out all the air as you seal it. Using the Duct tape fully tape the opening shut.
  3. Repeat with the remaining ice cream mixture and second bag.
  4. Place the sealed quart bag in the one-gallon size bag, filling the bag with ice and 1 cup ice cream salt. Make sure the ice surrounds the quart bag on all sides. Close gallon bag.
  5. Repeat with the second bag.

Have Some Fun

  1. Let the kids toss the bags back and forth for 10 to 15 minutes while the ice cream freezes. The bags get very cold and so using gloves is highly recommended. Also - the condensation on the bags makes everything pretty wet. This tossing is best done in the garage or outside. BEWARE if it is a hot day outside because it will just take longer to freeze the ice cream.
  2. When the gallon bag fills with water, drain off water and add more ice until ice cream is desired consistency.
  3. Soft-serve the ice cream and top with favorite toppings.

Notes

ZIPLOCK brand plastic bags are thicker than their no-name counterparts. Ziplock is a better choice for this project!

Suggested toppings include chocolate, strawberries, chopped up Butterfingers, blueberries, caramel.

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