Lightened Up Shamrock Shake

By Ariel

It's the most wonderful time of the year! Yeah, Christmas is all well and good, but my heart belongs to all things green. Spring is slowly creeping in (as I type this from my Pennsylvanian kitchen where the thermometer covered in snow outside my window tells me it's a balmy 28 degrees), green beer is on it's way (keeping it classy, as I married an Irish man), and of course, McDonald's breaks out the Shamrock Shakes.

I found out only this year that the Shamrock Shake has NOT been nationwide until, well, this year. This is appalling and a very serious lapse of judgement on McDonald's part. Everyone should try a Shamrock Shake, and at almost 500 calories for a small, they should probably stop at just one.

SO! I took the liberty of experimenting to create a lightened up knock-off of this delicious treat. I'll admit, a few batches went down the sink (too much peppermint, nixed the vanilla extract, plain yogurt isn't a great milkshake ingredient, and so on...) but I think I have a close replica for less calories.

Let me just say, green does not photograph well in my very warm-toned kitchen. I tried a dozen different angles, but nothing short of dragging the floodlights out from the basement was going to brighten up this picture. Anyway, on to the goods!

1.5 cups fat-free frozen yogurt (this is a personal preference, I should point out; I really, really love frozen yogurt)
1 cup almond milk
2 T sugar-free vanilla pudding
1/2 cup fat free Cool Whip, plus another 1/2 cup for topping
1/2 tsp. peppermint extract (for the love of all that is peppermint, more is NOT encouraged here! I would start with maybe a 1/4 tsp and work your way up to personal preference. My throat still tingles and I think I found an instant cure for Strep throat).
3-4 drops green food coloring
Cherry to top

Mix everything in a blender except for the peppermint extract and food coloring start adding the peppermint cautiously and adjust it to your taste. I made the most outrageous mistake of throwing a whole tablespoon in all willy-nilly and I will NEVER EVER do that again! Once you have the taste just right mix in your food coloring. You can either drink now for a thinner shake, or throw it in the fridge to give the pudding mix a chance to thicken up for 10-20 minutes.

According to my ingrediants this clocks in at around 300 calories for a large shake. You could also swap soy based products to make this a treat for someone with lactose intolerance, or vegan friendly. Not me though, I'll keep my yogurt!