When I was growing up, one of the ways that we celebrated St. Patrick’s Day was by enjoying a minty “Shamrock Shake.”  However, since my children have food sensitivities, I cannot take them out to the local fast-food restaurant to do the same for them.

Several years ago, I began searching for a recipe to create my own shakes at home, and I’ve tweaked it to accommodate each individual family member’s needs.  It’s an easy and fun activity that your children can help with, and it gives them some practice with measuring.  It makes three to four servings.

• 4 cups of vanilla frozen oat dessert (we like Oatly or Planet Oat brands)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon peppermint extract
• 1½ cups oat milk (or almond or coconut milk)
• Optional:
  • For green color, add 1 cup of spinach, kale, or peppermint leaves
  • For a sweeter shake, add 1 tablespoon of sugar
• Blend well and top with non-dairy whipped cream (we prefer Reddi-Wip coconut or almond)

There’s a variety of non-dairy “milks” on the market to choose from these days, but my adult son previously worked as a barista and at a smoothie bar, and he swears by the consistency of oat milk in blended beverages.

We personally do not add any sugar to ours.  The original recipe that I found called for it, but we find it to be sweet enough for our taste without that addition.

After we have our corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick’s Day, we’ll be finishing our celebration of Christianity being brought to Ireland with our homemade shakes.  I hope you enjoying making them with your family this year as well!