Winter is officially here and that means one thing to my kids… snow days! Not that long ago, my snow day activities consisted of reveling in the quiet peacefulness of the falling snow outside while binge watching One Tree Hill and sipping coffee all day. Nowadays, with kids, my snow day activities are mainly hunting for warm layers and boots that fit, picking up wet gloves that are strewn all over the house and coming up with countless games for my kids who are bouncing off the walls and need to be entertained. Fortunately, I have the absolute best snow day activity in my repertoire — the recipe for making snow ice cream! 

Four simple ingredients

Snow ice cream couldn’t be easier to make. All you need is fresh snow and four simple ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen — cream, sugar, vanilla extract and sprinkles. I used cream (because I had it on hand… and, why not?!), but you can also use any variety of milk (skim, reduced fat, almond, coconut, etc.) or even a can of sweetened condensed milk. You could also swap the vanilla extract out for vanilla bean paste if you want to get super fancy. Mix the milk, sugar and vanilla together in a small bowl and keep in the freezer while you gather your snow.

Just add snow

Once you’re ready to make the ice cream, all you need to do is pour your milk/cream mixture over fresh clean snow. Until your kids are old enough to be trusted to only get clean snow, I highly recommend overseeing this endeavor. My 4-year-old’s first attempt contained lots of grass, leaves and gravel. The recipe calls for about 8 cups of snow, but if your snow is super light and fluffy (like ours was), feel free to add a bit more to get the right balance. Mix and add more snow until you get the perfect consistency. Too much snow will make it icy and too little snow will be runny.

Enjoy!

Divvy out your snow ice cream into bowls (makes about four 1/2 cup servings) and top with fun sprinkles, chocolate sauce or whatever your favorite topping is. Make sure you eat it right away because it melts really quickly! Your kids will love it so much they might even lick the bowl clean (mine did)!

Snow Ice Cream

Makes four 1/2 cup servings

Ingredients:

1 cup cream (or milk)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Sprinkles
8 cups fresh clean snow

Directions:

Mix cream, sugar and vanilla together in a small bowl. Place in freezer while you gather your snow. Pour cream mixture over 8+ cups of fresh clean snow. Mix together until you get a rich, creamy ice cream. Top with sprinkles or your favorite topping.

Meet the Author | Sara McCarty

Sara is a lawyer, blogger and mama of two. She’s passionate about photography, hiking, polka dots, tacos, dogs, camping, birthday parties, ponytails and champagne (not necessarily in that order). She lives in St. Louis and can usually be found chasing her kids through a creek or bribing them with candy to pose for a photo. She blogs at Running From the Law (www.running-from-the-law.com) about all their travels, outdoor adventures, explorations and everyday life.

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