With St. Patrick’s Day coming up, I made a healthier (but just as delicious!) version of the classic McDonald’s Shamrock Shake.
The idea of a Shamrock Shake sounds nice, but I’m not a huge fan of the ingredients. Here is some of what you’ll find in the McDonald’s Shamrock Shake: Nonfat Milk Solids, Corn Syrup, Dextrose, Artificial Vanilla Flavor, Sodium Phosphate, Carrageenan, Yellow 5, Blue 1, and Red 40.
Recreating American favorites with unprocessed ingredients in a little hobby of mine. This weekend Jenna and her family came for dinner and as Jenna shared a few weeks back, her daughter Sam is very sensitive to food dyes. I was pretty sure she’d never had a Shamrock Shake, so I put homemade, dye-free shakes on the menu. Instead of the processed ingredients listed above, we used organic ice cream, fresh mint, vanilla extract, peppermint oil, whipped cream and dye-free maraschino cherries. I wish I cold have captured the look of joy on her face!
If you like to make fun green foods for the kids on Saint Patrick’s Day, there’s no need for food dyes if you put in a little creativity. I hope you enjoy this shake recipes as much as we did!
Here are some more green St. Patrick’s Day recipes you might enjoy:
Zucchini Fritters (on page 124 of The Grain-Free Family Table)
Roasted Green Beans – Nom Nom Paleo
Green Eggs – Elana’s Pantry
Shamrock Shakes
The dye-free cherries I used contain a bit of cane sugar. While this isn’t an ingredient I normally use, I figured one cherry to top everyone’s shake was OK for a fun treat.
- Prep Time: 5
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: Makes 2 shakes
- Category: Dessert
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
For the Shake:
- 2/3 cup whole milk (or canned coconut milk for dairy-free option)
- 4 cups homemade vanilla ice cream (or your favorite dairy-free vanilla ice cream)
- 3 large handfuls of fresh mint leaves
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 drops peppermint oil
For the Topping:
- 1/4 cup whipped cream (or whipped coconut cream using this method)
- Dye-free maraschino cherries
Instructions
- Place all shake ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Top with whipped cream and a cherry. Serve immediately.
- Note: I only test the recipes on my site with the listed ingredients and measurements. If you would like to try a substitution, you are welcome to share what you used and how it turned out in the comments below. Thanks!
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