5 min Homemade Snow Cones {with sweetened condensed milk}

All you need is a blender, some FROZEN ice cubes, a can of sweetened condensed milk and some fruit to make your own refreshing snow cone to please any kids on a hot summer day!

If anyone has ever seen me in the last….lets say, 3 years, I have MOST likely had a blender jar in hand, chowing down on my freshly shaved snow cone ice.

And let me tell you, I’ve got many things in my life that may spark a good conversation, but for some reason, the blender jar of white blended/shaved ice always trumps whatever other crazy thing is going on around me.

I mean, for the past 2.75 years, I have forgotten that it may not be socially acceptable to carry around a blender full of shaved ice. In fact, WHY wouldn’t it be? It’s hydrating, it’s refreshing, AND it carry’s PERFECTLY PERFECT on any mode of transportation I may be using at the time.

IE: a bucket bike, a stroller, my hand, my childs scooter etc.

So what’s the big deal people?! I actually think everyone is kinda jealous after they take a good look at my set-up….blender jar of shaved ice hanging on to my handle of whatever I’m pushing.

Now I’m going to tell you how YOU can have your shaved ice too!! It’s so easy and I promise I can get you hooked!

The one question that always comes first is “why don’t you put any flavoring on that?” as if the color of my crushed ice is what makes me look like a WEIRDO. ha!

And to answer you, NO I actually don’t need any flavoring on my crushed ice! Just the ice will do thank you very much!

So here are the EASY steps. But all are very VITAL to the success of your homemade crushed ice. I have been doing it daily for years now and have really buttoned it down to a science. And if you violate any of them, I take back my guarantee of you having your perfect crushed ice at home. So please, do just as I say….

STEP #1:

Buy a blendtec! (ok ok you don’t really have to. It will just work best. But when in a pinch, I have used other blenders and they do work fine and give you a good shaved ice if you use smaller batches of ice.

STEP #2:

Make sure your blender jar is COMPLETELY dry! If it is wet, the ice will not shave appropriately.

STEP #3:

Use ice that is ALSO dry and cold. If it is wet, it will clump and then stick to the sides. And there is nothing worse than clumpy ice when you are so looking forward to dry shaved ice.

I either use ice from ice cube trays or from a refrigerator.

*Important to note: pebble ice is not always ideal as it melts very quickly and may not shave well. My parents have a pebble ice machine and although I LOVE pebble ice, it doesn’t work for my shaved ice addiction so I have to use the ice in ice cube trays or down in the basement fridge. ha!

Fill your blender jar to about half. This is something you may have to experiement with. Depending on your blender and your ice.

STEP #4:

Blend until all ice is shaved! On a blendtec, (most models), there is an ice crush button. Use that! On all other blenders, just blend!

STEP #5:

Decide whether or not you are going to use a flavoring.

My mother served a church mission in Taiwan in the 70’s. A great memory she has and brought home to share with her family was the delicacy of Baobing. On hot days in Taiwan, she would stop on the side of the road to enjoy one of these! It is shaved ice topped with cut up bananas or mangos and drizzled with sweetened condensed milk.

I have been enjoying Baobing since I was young and am so happy to share them with my children!

Oh man, and once you try it, it will be hard to enjoy just the shaved ice alone again….until your pants don’t fit. Then you may go back to simply just ice. But who knows.

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