Are you looking for a fun activity to do with your kids?
Celebrate fall with them by making delicious, homemade pumpkin ice cream! Each bag can be personalized to each kiddos’ taste, making a creation all their own. Consider adding regular or white chocolate chips, Reese’s pieces, sprinkles, or other candies to customize each serving.
Pumpkin Freezer Bag Ice Cream
Ingredients
- Two zip-top freezer bags (1 quart, 1 gallon)
- Half and Half (1 cup)
- Salt (1/4 cup)
- Ice
- Pumpkin Puree (1 Tbsp)
- Vanilla (1 ½ tsp)
- Sugar (2 Tbsp)
- Ground Cinnamon (1/4 tsp)
Instructions
- To begin, pour the half and half into the quart size freezer bag. I would suggest placing the bag in a stable container as Dream Dinners has trained us (we want fun, not spills).
- Next, add the vanilla, sugar, pumpkin puree, and cinnamon to the half and half. For different flavors or colors, this is the step you would add those additional ingredients like chocolate syrup (we will add other items later on).
- Try to get all the excess air out of the bag and seal it tightly.
- In the gallon size freezer bag, add ice to fill ½ the bag. On top of the ice, add your 1/4 cup of salt.
- Next, take the first bag (the quart size bag with the "ice cream" in it) and place that sealed bag inside the gallon bag, on top of the ice and salt, then add extra ice on top. Seal the gallon size bag.
- Grab some gloves (oven mitts work great for this) and shake the large bag for 6 minutes. *Gloves are needed since the salt makes the ice extra cold. This could be a fun opportunity to explain the chemical reaction between salt and ice, but don't ask me; I am a chef, not a scientist!
- After vigorously shaking the bag for 6 minutes, take the quart size ice cream bag out of the larger bag and rinse the outside of the small bag with cold water. Make sure to rinse out the seal of the bag.
- Once you are done rinsing, carefully open the ice cream bag, trying not to get any remaining salt from the outside of the bag inside the bag. No one wants salty ice cream unless it's paired with caramel!
Notes
The ice cream will be a little icy looking to start. Use a spoon to mix it around and soften it up a bit. At this point you can add any other ingredients like chocolate chips, just make sure to fold in those extra ingredients. You can place the bag back in the freezer to freeze a bit. Otherwise, just scoop out and enjoy your delicious creation!
*Due to the different product brands you may find at your local grocery store and their varied nutritionals, we are unable to provide nutritional information for this recipe.