Homemade Shamrock Shake

A few days early, but Happy St. Patrick's Day!  I didn't make any overtly Irish food this year because Dave and I are finally going on our honeymoon (only 3 1/2 years late) in May and we'll be headed to Ireland!  I'm looking forward to trying some different foods straight from the source, so I didn't want to ruin it by making my own, likely inaccurate, version first.  So to pay homage to the holiday, I whipped up a couple of frosty, creamy, minty dessert in just the right shade of green. This recipe is a great knock-off of the fast-food version of a shamrock shake, taking a thick and creamy vanilla milk shake and giving it a touch of mint and green for a little festive treat.

I've been making this recipe from Michelle at Brown Eyed Baker for a couple of years.  In high school I worked at an ice cream shop and learned to make a pretty mean milk shake.  But we had mint ice cream.  So when I saw Michelle do the simplest thing of adding mint extract and green food coloring to a vanilla milk shake, I just laughed. How had I not figured it out?  No bother because now I whip these up whenever I need a little bit of cold, minty refreshment.  Top it with whipped cream, green spinkles and a cherry, and someone might just kiss you, whether or not your Irish!

Homemade Shamrock Shake

Ingredients

3 cups vanilla ice cream
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon mint extract
green food coloring

Place ice cream in the blender, then add milk and mint extract.  Add enough food coloring for desired shade.  Note: You can always add more food coloring to make a deeper green.

Blend until smooth.  Pour into glasses.  Top with whipped cream and other garnish such as sprinkles and cherries as desired.

Makes 2 milkshakes.

Happy Baking,
The Cookie Princess

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