Since July 27^th is National Refreshment Day, we thought we would offer you a few nontraditional twists on a summertime classic, homemade ice cream. If you have an ice cream machine it will come in handy for some of these recipes, but you don’t need one to make homemade ice cream. There are several ways to make ice cream without an ice cream maker, but we chose the simplest ones we could find (one of them can be done in less than a minute!)

Let’s start with the basics. In this video, Jerry James Stone shows you how to make homemade ice cream in just five minutes without an ice cream maker. All you need is whole milk, cream, sugar, the flavor of your choice (vanilla extract is all you need to make vanilla ice cream), a couple of Ziploc bags, some ice cubes, and rock salt, Morton ice cream salt, or other coarse salts.

If you are looking for something super simple, how about ice cream that only uses two ingredients? That’s right, just two! This recipe is quick and easy, and all you need is 22 ounces of cold heavy cream and 14 ounces of cold condensed milk for your ice cream base, a large bowl, and a hand mixer. Chill the bowl before using. Whisk the heavy cream using a hand mixer until it forms soft peaks. Add in the condensed milk (make sure it is cold!) and whip to stiff peaks. (Another way to do this is to nest a small bowl inside a larger bowl filled with ice and rock salt.) For vanilla, add some vanilla extract, for chocolate add cocoa powder, for fruit flavors fold in fruit puree and/or small chunks of fruit. Freeze the ice cream for at least 6 hours before consuming.

If you want a healthier version of this favorite summertime treat, check out this video for making easy keto mint chip ice cream. Although the video shows this yummy treat being made in an ice cream maker, the video does explain how to make it without a machine. You will need cottage cheese, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, peppermint essential oil or peppermint extract, food grade vegetable glycerin, heavy whipping cream, stevia, unsweetened baking chocolate, and wax paper or parchment paper.

The quickest homemade ice cream recipe we found was 30-second low carb ice cream by Full Fat Fridays. You will need a food processor for this one, but the only ingredients required are frozen blueberries, cocoa powder, and heavy cream. The video shows how quick and easy this recipe is, and the host is very entertaining (although we definitely think you will want more than three scoops).

For some tempting taste twists on classic vanilla homemade ice cream, here are some amazing additions for flavors we know you’ll want to try from The Domestic Geek:

1. Strawberry Cheesecake (cream cheese, strawberries, and crumbled graham crackers)
2. Vanilla Latte (seeds of one vanilla bean or vanilla extract, two shots of espresso)
3. Maple Bacon (maple syrup, crushed pecans, bacon bits)
4. Matcha Mint (matcha powder, peppermint extract, pistachio nuts)
5. Pumpkin Pie (bananas, almond milk, pumpkin puree, maple syrup, cinnamon)
6. Cherry Chocolate (bananas, almond milk, cocoa powder, pitted cherries)
7. Pina Colada (pineapple, shredded coconut, bananas, coconut, or almond milk)
8. Mocha Fudge (bananas, almond milk, espresso or instant coffee, cocoa powder, fudge)
9. Peaches and cream (whipping cream, bananas, vanilla extract, chopped peaches)
10. Very Berry (bananas, almond milk, vanilla, frozen berries of your choice)

To really go “all out”, check out these 40 amazing ways to make homemade ice cream from Delish.com, and these 54 cool ice cream desserts from Southern Living. We think these ideas are enough to keep you in ice cream for the rest of the summer, so break out the spoons and enjoy!

Complete your ice cream memories with a personalized ice cream bowl from Current Catalog!