How to Make the Best Milkshake Ever

How to make the best milkshake ever

Milkshakes are one of the world’s most iconic desserts. They’re refreshingly cool, slurp-ably sweet and come in pretty much any flavour you can imagine. A single sip gets us dreaming of old-school diners and hamburger stands on a sultry summer day, and just a few more satisfy any sweet tooth.

But you don’t need to reserve a vinyl booth to enjoy this delightful dessert. Making a milkshake from scratch is simple. If you’ve got a tub of ice cream on hand, you’re halfway there. Follow along as our test kitchen shows how to make the most flavourful milkshake. (Don’t miss these brain-boosting dessert recipes.)

You’ll need:

• 1/3 cup milk. You can use 2%, whole milk, or a blend of milk and half-and-half.
• 1-1/2 cups ice cream (vanilla makes a good base for most shakes, or you can use a flavour like chocolate)
• Delicious mix-ins! Think a swirl of chocolate syrup, peanut butter, a chopped banana or other fruit, a handful of chocolate or butterscotch chips (we could go on and on…)
• A blender, of course. You can use a classic stand blender-or an immersion blender if you want to make it right in your glass.

Step 1: Combine the ingredients

Send your ingredients straight to the blender. For best results, put in your milk first. That will get the blender mixing quickly. Be sure to let your ice cream soften before scooping. If it’s too hard, you might end up having to add more milk, which thins the shake.

We’re going to make a strawberry shake, so we’ll add 1/2 cup frozen unsweetened strawberries and 1 tablespoon strawberry preserves.

Pro tip: For an ultra-rich shake, use whole milk or milk with a little half-and-half cream. But never use heavy cream. If you send that through the blender, it’ll create little bits of butter.

Step 2: Blend ’til smooth

It’s time to blend away. You’ll want to keep an eye on the consistency. This recipe creates a Goldilocks-style shake: not too firm and not too soft (runny). Of course, you can always customize it either way. Use less milk for a thicker, spoonable shake; more for a thinner, sippable one.

Step 3: Enjoy!

Pour your milkshake into a chilled glass to serve. It tastes great straight-up or topped with a tower of whipped cream. Feeling fancy? Layer on toppings like chocolate syrup, sugary cereal or rainbow sprinkles.

Now that you know how to make a basic milkshake, try some additional variations:

• Low-fat milkshake: Substitute frozen yogurt or sherbet for the ice cream, or fruit juice for part of the milk.
• Make it a malt: It’s easy to mimic those old-fashioned malted milks you get at a restaurant. Simply pick up malted milk powder from the store. (It’s usually found near the breakfast and chocolate milk mixes.) Add 2-4 tablespoons per 1 cup of milk.
• Old-fashioned soda: Stir in ginger ale or soda after making the milkshake. Just make sure not to blend; it’ll cause a fizzy mess!

Next, check out the beautiful dessert that’s been pinned over 270,000 times!