Create the Perfect Milkshake

With the exception of taking shots of melted butter or being hooked up to an IV of rendered bacon fat, there is no quicker way to put on pounds than to tussle with a restaurant-style milk shake. Think about it: ice cream, heavy cream or half and half, and a flood of different syrups and sweeteners, all whizzed together until you have a 1,000 calories or more than can be sucked down in 5 minutes flat.

But nobody is telling you to abandon the delicious genre entirely (well, at least we aren’t). By making your next shake at home instead of grabbing it on the run, you’ll not only save a few bucks, you’ll save 500 calories or more per serving. Just follow these simple rules (or try one of our recipes) and you can have your shake and sip it too.
 

Rule #1

Build a Better Base

Most shakes start out with a high-fat, high-sugar base, either in the form of lackluster ice cream or the dreaded “dairy base,” an amalgam of strange sweeteners, thickeners, and stabilizers. You’ll save hundreds of calories simply by switching to frozen yogurt, or sticking with a reliable low-calorie ice cream brand, such as Breyers All Natural. More than that, you’ll have a milk shake that is every bit like a shake was in the 1950s, back when they were made with just ice cream and milk. (Today, places such as Baskin-Robbins use 50 ingredients in some of their most diabolical concoctions.)

Rule #2

Master the mix

Milk shakes fail because most are made from 90 percent ice cream (or from an ice cream-like substance) concentrated in a drinkable form. Find other ways to stretch the shake and lighten the caloric load. Frozen fruit, 100 percent juice, ice, Greek yogurt: All will help you get more mileage out of your milk shake. Ultimately, you want no more than 1 cup of ice cream or frozen yogurt in your shake, and, to ensure the right consistency, no more than a half-cup of liquid. Also, it’s essential to have a strong blender. A weak one will melt the ice cream and make for a watery milk shake.

Rule #3

Skip the Sweeteners

Ice cream and frozen yogurt are sweet enough, so no need to grab for sugar or honey or anything else that will boost calories any higher than they already are. That also means go light on the cookies and cut out the candy bars. If there’s one thing all of the worst shakes  have in common, it’s the inclusion of nougat-laced candy bars and cream-filled cookies. Want a cookies and cream shake? Skip the Oreos and use cookies and cream ice cream instead. Three Oreos will cost you 140 calories, but an upgrade from vanilla to cookies and cream ice cream should run you no more than 30.

Rule #4

Sneak in Some Nutrition

Just because it’s dessert doesn’t mean you can’t conjure up some benefits in that frosty glass. The easiest way is to turn to the frozen banana: Not only does it add natural sweetness and a serving of fruit, but the frozen fruit also gives the milk shake a rich, creamy body and will help you cut back from the total ice cream allotment. The texture of frozen mango and peach chunks both pair beautifully with ice cream and fro-yo as well. Even the smaller flavor add-ins can be relatively healthy. Peanut butter, fresh mint, and almonds all qualify.