Have you heard of Ice Cream in a Bag? I had heard of it before, but I had never tried making it until just last week. I thought it would be a great activity to do with my girls (ages 3 and 18 months), but it didn’t really grab their attention. We I shook the bag for a good 15 minutes, but it was still liquid after all that! The taste of our ice cream “soup” was perfect, just like ice cream. Unfortunately, I think we’ll have to wait a few years before we try that experiment again.
Tastes Just Like Ice Cream Smoothie
Since we really loved the taste of our ice cream in a bag, I decided to try the recipe in a different form…as a smoothie. I added some fruit and voilà! We had a wonderful ice cream smoothie, which is different than an ice cream shake, by the way.
Here’s how you make a smoothie that tastes just like ice cream and will knock your socks right off!
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup half-and-half
2 T. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 banana
1-2 cups of ice (preferably crushed)
Add all the ingredients to the blender in the order listed. Blend for a minute or until all the ice chunks are completely crushed. Enjoy!
Makes about 24 oz. (I was able to feed myself and my daughters with this recipe).
Other flavor combinations you might enjoy:
- Use 1/4 tsp. vanilla and 1/4 tsp. coconut extract, and replace the ice with frozen mango chunks. Delish!
- Try with 1 banana and 2 peaches as well as the ice. Yummy!
- Frozen berries in place of the ice would be delightful!
- Make it using 1/4 tsp. vanilla and 1/4 tsp. banana extract. A truly banana-flavored treat!
Recipe adapted from Ice Cream in a Bag found on Blueberries WA and Food.com.
Cost to Make an Ice Cream Smoothie
Milk – $0.06
Half-and-half – $0.32
Sugar – $0.01
Vanilla – $0.03
Banana – $0.25
Total cost – $0.67
What a great deal for this smoothie. That’s only 22 cents per serving!
It wasn’t until I made this smoothie a few times that I realized my husband has been making this for years! He calls it licuado (Spanish for blended beverage), and the only difference is he doesn’t use half-and-half or vanilla. He has also recently been adding already crushed ice and it actually makes the smoothie colder and tastier. If you have crushed ice or don’t mind crushing your ice with a mallet, try it that way.
So when the summer sun is beating down and you don’t have any ice cream in your freezer, make this refreshing and super tasty smoothie. There’s no ice cream scoop or ice cream machine required!
Have you ever tried to make Ice Cream in a Bag?
Tastes Just Like Ice Cream Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup half-and-half
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1 banana
- 1-2 cups ice preferably crushed
Instructions
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Add all the ingredients to the blender in the order listed. Blend for a minute or until all the ice chunks are completely crushed. Enjoy!
Charlee Flaminio
You had me at half & half 🙂
Tehehe. If I were you, I’d just replace the milk with half and half, too. 😉
Ice Cream Smoothie? Oh c`mon! That sounds great. I want this.