Fast and Easy DIY Homemade Organic Ice Cream - No Mixer Needed!

Have fun creating this DIY organic homemade ice cream recipe - NO mixer or freezer required*!

This beautiful relationship started as a suggested summer camp activity while working at an indoor rock climbing camp. After a few tries, however, I decided to switch up the ice cream ingredients to make it fully organic, using a half & half with fewer ingredients--it was a taste revelation, the kids loved the improved flavor.

This is an easy, fun, organic ice cream recipe to make at home, or translates easily to a bigger setting. I've made this DIY organic ice cream with groups of up to 12 kids aged between 4 and 14 years old and it was a crowd-pleaser every time.

I've also led a group of adults in making this delicious, no-mixer-needed ice cream; it was a huge hit, especially with the suggested soundtrack.

Enjoy!

*Ice is needed, so I recommend buying bags of ice and keeping them it in a cooler until needed, if not making this at home.

Fun fact: This is a science experiment in disguise!

How does salt affect the freezing point of water?**

1. Water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit, and melts at any temperature higher than that.
2. Half & half freezes at a colder temperature than water. The sugar and fats in your ice cream mixture affect the formation of ice crystals, so it takes a lower temperature to get ice cream to freeze. Therefore, straight ice won't work to chill the ice cream mixture because the ice would melt before the half & half mixture was cold enough to freeze.
3. Salt is the solution because salt changes the freezing point of water and the melting point of ice. 
4. This means that creating a saltwater slush (ice cubes and salt) and packing this around your ice cream cools it more than ice alone; the ice cream starts to thicken and freeze before the ice melts completely.
5. This feels very counter-intuitive; is that slushy, half-melting salt-and-ice mix really colder than solid ice cubes? Yes, it is!
6. And the result? Easy, DIY, homemade ice cream. Mmmm, we love science.

FYI While this yummy, homemade organic ice cream can be made anywhere (I first made it at a rock-climbing gym) it's best made on an easy-to-clean table or kitchen counter as it can get messy! 

** Thanks to detailed explanations on Quora from Prabhjot Singh.

Ice cream ingredients 

• 1 cup organic half & half
• 1 tablespoon organic granulated white sugar 
• 1/2 teaspoon organic vanilla extract

(Makes one serving) 

Equipment and items

• 3 cups ice 
• 1/3 cup table salt 
• Scissors 
• 1 sandwich zip-top bag
• 1 gallon zip-top bag
• 1 set measuring cups
• 1 tablespoon 
• 1 teaspoon
• Hand towel/kitchen towel/winter gloves

Optional extras 

• Organic sprinkles (to serve) 
• Organic chocolate sauce (to serve) 
• Cell phone/laptop/other music source (for music while shaking ice cream)  

Create a quick playlist on your phone/laptop of three or four songs on the theme of shaking.  

Song suggestions: Taylor Swift’s Shake It Out; Pitbull’s Shake, Senora; Florence and the Machine’s Shake It Off; and Bill Haley and the Comets, Shake, Rattle, and Roll. 

Cut open the bag of ice at the top, taking care that it doesn’t spill out.  

Take the gallon zip-top bag. Holding the open bag upright, add three cups of ice to the bag, then add 1/3 cup of salt onto the ice. Keep the bag open but set it aside, ensuring that it doesn't tip over.  

Take the sandwich zip-top bag. Open it and pour one cup of half & half into it. Set aside the measuring cup. Place the sandwich zip-top bag carefully on a clean, hard surface, ensuring that the half & half won’t spill out. 

Add 1 tablespoon of sugar to the half & half in the sandwich zip-top bag, ensuring not to cause any spills. Set aside the tablespoon. 

Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract to the half & half and sugar mixture already in the sandwich zip-top bag, ensuring not to cause any spills. Set aside the teaspoon. 

Seal the sandwich zip-top bag, sliding the zip across the top until the bag is fully closed.

Check for leaks!

If the bag does leak, just pour the contents into a new sandwich zip-top bag and then continue to the next step.  

As the gallon bag of ice and salt has now been sitting for a few minutes, it’s a good time to check this bag for leaks, too! If it is leaking, either place it inside another gallon zip-top bag or pour the ice and salt contents into a new gallon zip-top bag and then continue below.

Place the sandwich zip-top bag into the gallon zip-top bag containing the ice and salt mixture. Close the gallon zip-top bag, sliding the zip across the top and ensuring the bag is fully sealed. 

Press play on your shaking-themed playlist.

Put on gloves (if using), or place a kitchen/bathroom towel around the gallon zip-top bag to insulate your hands from the cold.  

Holding the wrapped gallon zip-top bag in both hands, shake the bag around for 8-10 minutes or until the ice cream has a soft-serve texture. 

Dancing is optional but strongly encouraged!

Open the gallon bag and remove the sandwich bag which is now full of delectable, soft-serve style, organic, homemade ice cream.

Option a) Open the sandwich bag, pour in toppings as desired, and eat straight from the bag.

Option b) Spoon or squeeze the ice cream in a bowl, pour on toppings as desired, and eat.

Enjoy!  

Full disclosure, the edible gold glitter in the photographs is NOT organic, but I highly recommend Let's Do Organic Confetti Sprinkelz for organic, gluten-free, fabulous ice cream toppings.