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If you woke up to fresh snow outside, this is your sign to make Snow Cream! This old-fashioned winter treat is something I only make about once a year, which somehow makes it even more fun. All you need are a few pantry staples, a bowl of clean snow, and about five minutes!
It’s simple, customizable, and perfect for a snow day with kids – or honestly, just for yourself!
Why you’ll LOVE this easy recipe
- A true snow-day tradition
- Ready in 5 minutes
- No cooking required
- A fun way to use fresh snow!
- Easily customizable (vanilla, chocolate, dairy-free)
Ingredients needed to make snow cream
The ingredients for this recipe are listed fully down in the recipe card but let’s briefly go over the pantry staples needed including a few substitutions you can make as desired!
- Milk or cream – Regular milk, heavy cream, or non-dairy milk all work. I often use oat milk!
- Sugar – Sweetens the snow cream; you can adjust to taste after mixing.
- Salt – Just a pinch to balance the sweetness.
- Vanilla extract or cocoa powder – Choose vanilla or chocolate depending on your mood!
- Fresh, clean snow – Light and fluffy snow works best :) Avoid the yellow stuff.
- Great toppings – chocolate syrup, sprinkles, caramel drizzle, mini chocolate chips, etc!
Ingredient Substitutions & Variations
- Use maple syrup or honey instead of sugar
- Swap in sweetened condensed milk or evaporated milk for a richer, creamier version
- Use protein milk for a higher-protein snow cream
- Any non-dairy milk works for a vegan version
How to Make Snow Cream
Just a reminder that you can find the FULL homemade snow cream recipe down in the recipe card, but I want to quickly go over how to make them with visuals for you :)
- Start out by collecting about 6 cups of snow. In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients, minus the snow, and mix until combined!
- Add in the snow 1 cup at a time to the milk mixture, continuing to stir. Add the next cup once the previous cup has been fully incorporated. Continue until all of the snow is mixed in. Compress the snow cream down into the bowl and scoop it out!
Snow Cream Variations
- Vanilla Snow Cream – Classic and nostalgic sweet treat
- Chocolate Snow Cream – Add cocoa powder for a rich chocolate version
- Sweetened Condensed Milk Snow Cream – Extra creamy and indulgent
- Dairy-Free Snow Cream – Use almond, oat, or soy milk
- High-Protein Snow Cream – Use protein milk for a fun twist
Frequently Asked Questions
Light, fluffy, freshly fallen snow works best. Avoid icy or compacted snow, as it won’t mix as well and can make the snow cream watery.
Snow cream can become watery if the snow is too wet or if the liquid ingredients are added too quickly. For best results, add the snow gradually and stir until each addition is fully incorporated.
No – snow cream is best eaten right away. It melts quickly and doesn’t store well in the fridge or freezer.
You can use shaved ice in a pinch, but the texture won’t be quite the same. Fresh snow creates a lighter, fluffier snow cream compared to ice.
How to Make Snow Cream
Ingredients
- 1 cup of milk or cream, non-dairy milks will work just fine as well as I used almond milk for this one
- ¼ cup of sugar, can add more later if you decide you want it sweeter
- pinch of salt
- for chocolate: heaping tablespoon of cocoa powder
- for vanilla: 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 6 cups of snow
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients, minus the snow, and mix until combined.
- Add in the snow 1 cup at a time continuing to stir. Add the next cup once the previous cup has been fully incorporated. Continue until all of the snow is mixed in.
- Compress the snow cream down into the bowl and scoop it out like you would normal ice cream. Serve with your favorite ice cream fixin's and ENJOY!
Notes
Your fur babies are so cute. I love snow cream, my grammy used to make it for us when we were growing up. For folks who have never had snow cream and would like to try it but they don’t get snow. Mayfield makes a snow cream that’s pretty close to the actual stuff.
Very cool! Experimenting and determination and wisdom will get you anywhere. In the right moment when seizing an opportunity. Even in your kitchen! Great photos of a delicious outcome from nature itself, totally embraced.
You have a adorable fur babies. I’m going to use your recipe.
When I was a kid in East Texas, the few times it snowed enough to do so, my mom made snow ice cream.so yummy.
The only thing was the leftovers got HARD. So, I think I will put the leftover in ice trays for snow cream pops.
WOW!!!!!!!!!!
You really should not eat snow! It’s full of pollutants and harmful chemicals from smog and what not that it collects as it falls through the atmosphere. Not safe to eat, especially in such a large quantity. http://www.iflscience.com/environment/snow-sponge-toxic-car-exhaust-particles
I’ve read similar stories (including many scientific ones) before such as this and upon reading about 20 other articles, the majority of them said that it’s totally okay in moderation. Thanks for linking the article though! I’ll leave a couple of these (including the one you linked to) above so that people can read about it!
Lexie and Zorro were obviously in dog heaven! I’ve never had snow cream probably because I grew up somewhere with very little snow ever :)