All you need are two plastic bags, 15 minutes, and a shake of the ingredients, and you’ll have the yummiest Homemade Soft Serve Ice Cream ever.
The wonderful thing about homemade soft-serve ice cream is that all you need are six (if you don’t count the ice, really five) ingredients to make some of the most delicious vanilla soft-serve ice cream in the world.
This is what you call a dump, shake, and serve kind of ice cream. You simply dump your sugar, heavy cream, kosher salt, whole milk, and vanilla into one big bag, then add it to some ice and just shake that ice cream base for 5 minutes straight. I advise you to get helpers because this can get tiresome, and it’s much more fun with two or three than just thee. If you get tired, you can put it in the fridge for a minute or two, then shake it some more to finish it.
Now, wasn’t that easy? And now, the possibilities are endless when it comes to toppings or flavorings. Add in some orange extract and zest, and you’ll have an orange and vanilla soft serve swirl. Let your imagination roam!
Why Soft Serve Ice Cream Tastes Best At Home
Little girls, big girls, little boys, big boys, and kids at heart all enjoy soft serve ice cream. And you can make your own swirly, creamy, dreamy vanilla soft serve ice cream at home.
And then, you can enjoy your ice cream while watching your favorite show or movie, without having to eat it up right there. One likes to enjoy their ice cream with equally entrancing movies, like Harold and the Purple Crayon, after all.
I say soft serve ice cream is best served at home and not sitting in some old ice cream joint … ’cause you know you’ll have to quickly eat that soft-serve if it’s August, even in air conditioning.
And—what you’ll love about this homemade take on soft serve is that it takes the flavor of any old McDonald’s cone times 10—and your soft serve machine isn’t always broken (I know you know what I’m sayin’, cause every single time you’re really craving a cone, you get up to the drive-thru window only to hear, “Sorry, the ice cream machine’s broken down”).
So, save yourself the hassle and make it homemade, and you don’t even need an ice cream churn for this easy shake of an ice cream.
FAQs & Tips
How Do I Store Leftovers?
The reason this recipe yields only 2 servings is that homemade soft serve, lacking the stabilizers found in store-bought soft serve ice cream, is best enjoyed fresh. However, you can cover and refrigerate or freeze the soft serve for a couple of days; keep in mind it will alter the texture of the soft serve.
Great Topping And Flavoring Ideas For Homemade Soft Serve?
Strawberry sauce, chocolate sauce, miniature candy kisses, crushed bits of peppermint, caramel sauce, crushed Nestlé Crunch bars, oh, I could go on and on … peaches in syrup, whipped cream, almond slivers, walnuts, cherries, chocolate-covered cherries … As Chef Kimberly Smith always told our class, to find the best flavor combos, “you have to play with your food.”
How To Make A Gluten-Free Version Of This Soft Serve?
This recipe is gluten-free as long as you use pure vanilla extract or a certified gluten-free product, such as McCormick’s certified gluten-free vanilla extract.
Serving Suggestions
This delicious soft serve tastes so cool, creamy, and delicious, especially after some barbecued or buffaloed this-and-that. Ohhhhh, yes, ma’am and sir—hot goes to cold like salt to the sugar. So, let’s get some spiciness going on with this yummy, always-a-hit Buffalo Chicken Pizza, which is so complemented by some of these easy Oven Potato Wedges. Next, I love me some stuffed vegetables, especially if they help kids eat their nutritious veggies, and these Stuffed Zucchini Boats do just that.
If you love this recipe for soft serve ice cream, you’ll love this recipe for homemade Frozen Custard. Oh my gosh, this is so heavenly delicious.
Homemade Soft Serve Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 4 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups ice
- 1/3 cup kosher salt
Instructions
- In a sealable plastic bag, combine heavy cream, whole milk, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract. Seal the bag and shake until the sugar dissolves.
- In a larger resealable plastic bag, add ice and kosher salt.
- Place the bag with the cream mixture inside the ice bag. Ensure both bags are sealed tightly.
- Shake the bag vigorously for about 5 minutes or until the mixture reaches a soft serve consistency. Serve immediately in bowls or cones.
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