Quick and Easy Homemade Frozen Yogurt and Ice Cream

Last updated: July 24th, 2021

Who doesn’t love ice cream? How about frozen yogurt? I’m a fan of both. This is why I screamed Y-E-S when Stonyfield Farms asked if they could send me a YayLabs! SoftShell Ice Cream Ball™ to make some delicious frozen yogurt and ice cream with!

I let this be a surprise for my kids and they were thrilled when it arrived!! What kid doesn’t want to roll a ball around and make some frozen treats? I don’t know any.

After having the kids bug me to use the YayLabs! SoftShell Ice Cream Ball™ – one million times, I finally said yes. It had been on the kitchen counter taunting them. I’d bought the ingredients for the frozen yogurt so we were ready to roll, literally.

I wanted to keep it simple for my first try.

• I used 2 cups of Stonyfield Farms Low Fat Organic French Vanilla Smooth and Creamy Yogurt. It’s one of my personal favorites. I was considering using Greek Yogurt but I love the sweet taste of the French vanilla.
• I added a tablespoon of honey but next time I’ll use two or three for some extra sweetness.
• 1 cup of fresh cut strawberries but next time I’ll cut them smaller and probably cut a few less. My ice cream ball was overflowing because I was ingredient slap happy.

The YayLabs! Soft Shell Ice Cream Ball™ comes with instructions and honestly, its super simple to use. After mixing the ingredients, you add them to one side of the ball. You add as much ice as you can fit into the cylinder side and ½ cup of rock salt. Then you roll.

That’s it.

Tips for Making Ice Cream and Frozen Yogurt with an Ice Cream Ball

I learned a few things for next time that might help you the first go-around.

1. Leave at least an inch at the top of the ball when you fill it with your ingredients. Otherwise, you’ll make a liquid mess. I filled it too far.
2. The rock salt and ice as it melts leaked a little. We closed it tightly but it still dripped. This was an outside activity and if you have any cuts on your hand the rock salt hurts. Ouch.
3. It took closer to 20 minutes to make our frozen ice cream.
4. The more the merrier for rolling. After 10 minutes the children were getting tired. This would be a lot of fun with a scout troop, for a birthday party or sleep over.
5. Tell the kids in advance no kicking, throwing or rough housing with the ball. It will crack and it’s heavy when full with the ice, rock salt and ingredients. Plus, it looks like a basketball so it’s good to make it clear what they can and cannot do with it from the beginning.
6. Rock salt is found in on the bottom shelf in the same aisle as regular salt. You can use kosher salt or sea salt but you’ll need a cup verses ½ cup.
7. Have a large heavy duty plastic spoon ready to scoop. When the ice cream forms and freezes to the side, you’ll have to do some scrapping. It’s advised to not use a metal spoon.
8. If you roll the ball in the grass, you will have grass that sticks to the ice cream ball. Wipe the ice cream ball off before opening or you’ll be eating grass along with your yummy frozen treat.
9. Check out recipes in advance. There are so many to pick from and get creative and try out new concoctions. I’m thinking chocolate next time or maybe strawberry cheesecake with Greek yogurt?

Get your own ice cream ball today on Amazon and it’s eligible for Amazon Prime! Yahoo!

View my video review and see exactly how we made our frozen yogurt, which I refer to as ice cream a zillion times.

Disclaimer: I am a YoGetter blogger and I’m compensated for my time. My opinions are my own and I really big squishy heart love Stonyfield Farms.