Copycat Shamrock Shakes

Here's a fun fact about me: I love McDonald's Shamrock Shakes.  They are one of my favorite things.  Unfortunately, moving to Japan meant "bye bye, beloved Shamrock Shake" (though it also meant "hello, Sakura McFlurrie", but that is getting off topic).  You can then imagine my joy and excitement this year as Shamrock Shake season rolled in.  The first day that they were available, I drove myself right to one of my local Mickey D's.  After waiting in the drive-through for a while, I finally pulled up to order and, tragedy of tragedies, they didn't have the Shamrock Shake.  I was so sad and ended up buying food that I really didn't want/need but enjoyed none the less since I had already waited so long.  Flash forward several days.  I decided that my local McDonald's should have had enough to get my shake in stock.  But thinking ahead this time, I called before going and low and behold, they didn't have my shake.  So, I called a different McDonald's and they didn't have my shake either.  I finally asked if there was any McDonald's in the area that did carry the Shamrock Shake.  And now I'm sad because all of the McDonald's in my area are owned by the same guy and so they carry the same items and my area apparently doesn't believe in the magic of the Shamrock Shake.

So, after going through the five stages of grief, I finally decided I'd just have to make my own.  I'd done it in the past and so I'd do it again.  And as I was preparing my shake(s), I figured this would be something to share with you all in case someone else out there in the world of the internet has to live their life without the Shamrock Shake (or else is in withdrawals since Shamrock Shake season is over for the year).

The shakes are really easy to make.  They are basically a mint milkshake, but I like to think of them as a mint-chocolate milkshake.  Here are the ingredients you will need: mint chocolate chip ice cream, milk, green food coloring, and whipped cream (you can totally make your own, but I'm all about the simple).

For making one serving, I used 3 scoops of the ice cream, about 1/4 c milk, and four drops of the food coloring.  And make sure you use the liquid food coloring, not the gel.  The gel is great for things like frosting, but it does mix well when added to liquids.  Blend them all together well (using a good blender is important: I love my Ninja blender, but I don't think it's the best for things like smoothies and such because of how the blade moves it doesn't get all the pieces as tiny as I'd like [in the case of this milkshake, it won't get your chocolate chips really small to suck through a regular size straw]; since I was making a single serving today, I used my Nutribullet and it crushed all of the chocolate chips really well.  However, this isn't an endorsement of either, so use what you have and like).  Once, you get them to your desired consistency, pour into your serving cup, add a nice dollop of whipped cream, and enjoy!