Ice Cream Recipes

Ice Cream Recipes

Below are two of our favorite Ice Cream Recipes. The first one is a recipe that I did in my classroom as a culminating Science activity on Liquids and Solids. It requires just a few ingredients and some shaking to make this treat. This is also one I enjoyed doing with my children during the summer. It takes just a few ingredients.
How to make ice cream.

Ingredients for Ice Cream

  • 1 box Jello instant pudding (Chocolate or Vanilla)
  • Ice Cubes
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 cups milk
  • 1 cup Half and Half
  • Salt (ice cream salt recommended, they sell this at Walmart and most grocery stores)
  • Candy Sprinkles or Chocolate Syrup

Other Materials

  • 2 Quart Heavy Duty Freezer Bags, 2 Heavy Duty Gallon Zip Lock Bags (use good strong bags for this activity or you may have leaks)
  • Whisk
  • Large Mixing Bowl
  • Ove Gloves or oven mitts (to handle the cold bags)
Note: You will want to double the recipe for a classroom.

Steps

  • Combine pudding and two cups of milk in a large mixing bowl. Beat 2 minutes. Stir in sugar and evaporated milk.
    • Making ice cream step 1.
  • Pour half into each of the 2 Quart sized Freezer Ziplock Bags.
    • Making ice cream using our easy recipe.
  • Place the quart sized bag with the ice cream mixture into each of the gallon bags. Let out as much air as possible. And about a 1/4 cup ice cream salt.
    • Making ice cream using our easy recipe.
  • Add about 2 cups of ice in the bag. Put on the oven mitts and shake, shake, shake. Shake about 5-10 minutes or until frozen. It will have a soft serve consistency. (See helpful tips below)
  • Scoop into bowls or small dixie cups for the classroom. Add sprinkles, chocolate syrup and other toppings.
  • Freeze any extra ice cream
    • The salt is the secret to making ice cream.

    Tips and Suggestions

    • Not necessary but you could chill in the freezer for 15 minutes before shaking to expedite the process.
    • It gets very cold so using ove gloves or oven mitts and shaking the bag using two hands was a lot more efficient in making the ice cream than just holding the top of the bag and shaking.
    • Line up ingredients on table to help reinforce sequencing skills.
    • Have the recipe written out and point to the ingredients and steps as you go.
    • Use a sequencing page to have children write or illustrate each step so they can take it home and try it with their parents or print the book shared below. I often had kids share their activities like these with their parents.

    Ice Cream Book

      Print our Ice Cream Shape Book here. It has the ingredients and steps on separate pages. For older students you can print just the blank page and have the children write in the the ingredients and recipe steps on their own.
      Print our free shape ice cream book.
      Print our free shape ice cream book.

      Free Printable Recipe Cards

      For the classroom I would print these cards on a piece of colored construction paper and laminate for future use. Great for visual learners. Use these pages if children are writing the recipe in their own book or work on sequencing skills.
      Print your own Ice Cream Recipe Cards Here
      Print our free recipe cards for the classroom.

      The Science of Making Ice Cream

        What is the Science behind the making of ice cream? The melting and freezing point of liquid is about the same. Water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Ice cream freezes at a lower temperature than freezing water. The sugar in the ice cream mixture prevents it from freezing at 32 degrees. Therefore, we can’t use just ice to chill the ice cream mixture because the ice will melt before the ice cream mixture gets cold enough to become solid. Salt is the "magic" component because it lowers the freezing point of water. Packing this and the ice cubes around the ice cream mixture allows it to cool enough so that it starts to thicken and freeze before the ice melts completely.

      Scientific Processes

      Observation

    • Seeing the ice cream mixture form a solid.
    • Feeling the mixture form a solid as you shake it.

      • Communication

    • Oral Lots of verbal discussion about temperatures and how salt is the key to the ice cream mixture forming a solid.
    • Pictorial Reading a book or researching online plants to grow

      • Comparing

    • Measuring the ingredients for the recipe.

      • Guri Guri

      This is another of our favorite ice cream recipes. It is easy to make and is a cross between a sorbet and ice cream with just three ingredients! It's has a texture of a sorbet, but creamy like an ice cream. Guri Guri has been a favorite local treat for many years. The original treat is made in Kahalui on the island of Maui at Tasaka Guri Guri in the Maui Mall. It is a family run business which also adds to the novelty of trying this refreshing treat. They have only two flavors but that's all they need...strawberry and pineapple. 2-5 scoops served in a Dixie Cup. This recipe is about as close as you can get to the real thing! It is refreshing and sweet and can be made with different flavors, but we like strawberry the best.
      How to make Goodie Goodie Ice Cream.

      Ingredients

      • 2 12 ounce cans of strawberry soda (or your favorite flavor)
      • 1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

      • 1 12 ounce can 7-UP

      Materials

      • Large Bowl
      • Whisk
      • Small freezer containers for individual servings (optional)
      • Makes approximately 7 cups

      Steps

      • Mix all ingredients.
      • Place in freezer for two hours and then mix thoroughly. Repeat two times.
      • Scoop into small containers for individual servings or serve into small dishes later.
      • Let freeze for 8 or more hours.

      Other Liquid and Solid Edible Experiments

      Making Butter

        Here is another activity we did in class to demonstrate Liquids and Solids. Click How to Make Butter for more details.
      Making Butter