One of the quintessential pieces of summer is ice cream, so why not send summer off with some of the fresh home-made treat this Labor Day weekend?  You don’t need an ice cream maker, or hours of time.  This home-made ice cream took me five minutes last night and was every bit as delicious as the stuff your grandma makes. It’s no-cook, no machine, and deceiving delicious.

Keep reading for full instructions!

The base of the ice cream is simple (adapted from Southern Living):

• 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 (5-ounce) can evaporated milk
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla bean seeds (or paste)
• 2 cups whole milk

Whisk all of these ingredients together and place in a gallon freezer bag.  In another gallon freezer bag, fill it 1/2 full with ice and six tablespoons of coarse salt. Make sure the ice cream bag is securely sealed and place it inside of the ice-filled freezer bag.  Seal the outer bag and cover the entire thing in a kitchen towel (it gets really cold). Shake the bags for five minutes.

That’s all.  Literally.  You just shake a bag for five minutes and then enjoy amazing homemade ice cream.  It seems too good to be true, but it’s not!

This would be so much fun to do with kids and they can all add in their own ‘mix-in’s’ to the base – chocolate chips, pretzels, strawberries… I could go on. What do you think?  Will you give it a try?

Have a great Tuesday!