Dripping with chocolate syrup and nostalgia, homemade ice cream is a great way to celebrate the bittersweet end of summer. I’ve got a few homemade ice cream tricks to share, and none of them require blood, sweat, tears or an ice cream maker.

Electric ice cream makers are all right, but they’re kind of a pain to store. From my experience, the bowl of the maker has to be stored in the freezer, and I am just not willing to give up that precious space. So instead of making memories turning a crank, my kid is learning to make homemade ice cream with plastic bags and bananas. This is not sorcery but truth.

In that space in the freezer that could be taken up with the bowl of an electric ice cream maker, start collecting overly ripe chopped bananas. Maybe you already have a collection going for making banana bread. Perfect. Toss them in a food processor and puree them until they are the consistency of soft-serve ice cream. Ta-da! Of course, this “ice cream” will always be banana flavored, but it does the job when you’re craving ice cream but don’t want to indulge. Throw in a little almond butter and a few chocolate chips for some pizazz. Top it with sprinkles. Sprinkles go a long way in making things taste better than they really are.

Kids love to make their own serving of “hand-churned” ice cream in zip-top plastic bags. The basic vanilla tastes exactly like the homemade ice cream of my youth, and it only takes a few minutes to make. The best part? You make only a serving at a time, so there’s no chance to overindulge and each person is in charge of their own ice cream destiny. Too runny? Their fault. Too icy? Their fault. Too vanilla-y? Their fault.

Two-ingredient ice cream is a real treat. The base is whipping cream and sweetened condensed milk, so it’s not winning any ribbons in the healthy category, but it’s really yummy. Heavy whipping cream alone is about 38 percent fat. Because it’s one of only two ingredients, it makes some seriously rich ice cream. The upside is it’s homemade, so you know exactly what’s in it and you really are satisfied with a smaller amount. It’s an intense ice cream experience.

Send the kids off to school with a bang by whipping up these recipes for homemade ice cream. Then sit back and celebrate with a bowl for breakfast. Being an adult isn’t so bad.

Go to www.joplinglobe.com to watch me whip up these recipes for homemade ice cream. It’s a no-cranking zone.

Ice cream in a bag

1/2 cup half and half

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup salt

4 cups ice

Small zip-top bag

Gallon-sized zip-top bag

Pour the half and half, sugar and vanilla in the small bag and seal, removing as much air as possible. Put the ice and salt in the large bag, then place the smaller bag inside and seal the large bag, removing as much air as you can. Wrap a towel around the bag or wear gloves, then shake it for a few minutes or until the ice cream is the consistency of soft-serve. Remove the small bag, rinse off the salt, cut a corner off the bottom and squeeze the ice cream into a dish to serve.

Two-ingredient, no-machine ice cream

14 ounces sweetened condensed milk, cold

2 cups whipping cream, cold

Optional add-ins: vanilla or your favorite extract, fruit, caramel, chocolate, nuts, cookie bits

Beat cold heavy cream on medium in a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or using a hand mixer) until stiff peaks form. Turn down the speed a little and pour the condensed milk into the whipped cream. (Stir in vanilla extract now if desired). 

Turn up the machine speed again and whip until your mixture is thick and to stiff peaks. Stir in optional add-ins, then pour ice cream in a container with a lid and freeze for at least six hours or overnight. 

Recipe adapted from www.biggerbolderbaking.com

Stone writes for the Joplin, Missouri, Globe.