Ice Cream in a Bag Recipe

2 min read September 13, 2026 Missy and Kristen
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There’s nothing more fun for a kid than to actually help make, or in this case create, their very own play date snack! That’s why we thought making science-worthy ice cream in a bag would be the perfect experimental recipe for our little scientists! Follow along to see how we made homemade, delicious ice cream in a bag in only a few minutes and then make sure to see our step-by-step instructions on how to style your very own DIY Ice Cream Lab! Let’s get started!

Recipe Time
15 to 25 min
Difficulty
Beginner
Servings
2 to 4 Servings
Ingredients:
Makes 4 Cups of Ice Cream
  • 1 C. Whole Milk
  • 1 t. Vanilla
  • 2 Tbsp. Granulated Sugar
  • 4 C. Ice Cubes
  • 1/4 C. Coarse Salt
Step
1

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, have your scientist pour 1 cup of milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla and 2 tablespoons of sugar and mix. Have someone hold open the quart size Ziploc bag while someone else pours the liquid ingredients into the bag. Eliminate all the air from the bag and seal.

Ice Cream in a Bag Recipe step 1
Step
2

Place 4 cups of ice cubes into the gallon size Ziploc bag and then add 1/4 cup salt. Put the Ziploc bag full of liquid ingredients into the bag full of ice cubes and salt and seal the larger bag.

Ice Cream in a Bag Recipe step 2
Step
3

Now, comes the fun part! Have each child take turns shaking the bag. We even put on some fun music and had the kids dance while they shook. Make sure they bag is shaken for 10 minutes. The kids will be amazed how the ice cream begins to form right in front of their eyes!

Ice Cream in a Bag Recipe step 3
Step
4

The kids were so excited once they saw they had created their very own ice cream! They were even more excited when we served in a large glass science beaker on top of a Science Party Dessert Plate. They dove into our DIY Ice Cream Lab and helped themselves to a variety of toppings and candies including redbluepurplegreen, yellow, orange chocolate candies, science party frosted lollipops, sprinkles, miniature marshmallows and of course, chocolate syrup!

Ice Cream in a Bag Recipe step 4

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