Maple Whiskey Milkshake plus Espresso

At a glance

What stands out: If you’re ready to take your milkshakes up a notch, you have to try these maple whiskey milkshakes! The flavors of whiskey, maple, vanilla, and espresso work together in a dreamy way to make this the reliable milkshake.

How long it takes: 10 minutes
Equipment you’ll need: blender
Servings: 2

Irish Milkshake Plus!

This maple whiskey milkshake with espresso is better known as a standby milkshake ever! Seriously, Ben dubbed this the “best milkshakes he’s ever had” so we feel safe in making this claim.

We originally developed this recipe with St. Patrick’s Day in mind because we were a little tired of all the minty green shamrock shakes. Why should they get all the love? We'll take this maple whiskey milkshake any day over a minty green concoction. We have nothing against those, but this milkshake is definitely the classier, more grown-up St. Patrick’s Day milkshake, and not just for the obvious boozy reason.

Maple Whiskey Milkshake

The subtle flavors of the maple, vanilla, and espresso are there, but they are all back-up singers to the whiskey. You can taste them all if you’re looking for them, but it’s just the reliable joint effort to evenly marry all the flavors into the most dreamy milkshake. We're willing to bet that even if you don’t like whiskey, you’re gonna love this milkshake.

This combo of creamy, smooth ice cream with the sweet, boozy whiskey is pretty irresistible. We think this milkshake is worthy of being added to some sort of regular rotation. Maybe not every day, but we're gonna have to say at least every St. Patrick’s Day.

(Be sure to try our Irish coffee ice cream pie with whiskey ganache, too! Yes, you heard us correctly, whiskey ganache!!)

What goes in

• Vanilla ice cream: Choose a good quality ice cream. We prefer vanilla bean ice cream, such as Breyer’s Natural Vanilla.
• Whiskey or bourbon: If you’re a whiskey drinker, or happen to enjoy an old-fashioned, you’ll have what you need for this milkshake. Barrel-aged bourbons go evenly with the other flavors in this frozen concoction.
• Maple syrup: Please don’t use pancake syrup! Only real maple syrup made from tree sap will work here.
• Pure vanilla extract: Again, use the real thing, not imitation vanilla flavor.
• Espresso powder: Instant espresso adds all the flavor without watering down your milkshake.
• Milk: You need a little splash of milk to help your blender process the thick mixture.
• Maple extract, optional: If you happen to have maple extract on your shelf, add a drop to the milkshake to drive home the maple flavor. Don’t worry if you don’t have it; there’s plenty of flavor here without it.
• Whipped cream and chocolate syrup: If you like the way the milkshakes are garnished in the photos, you’ll want to have whipped cream and chocolate syrup.

• Yield: 2
• Prep: 10 minutes
• Total: 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups vanilla ice cream
• ¼ cup milk (whole milk is best but other types of milk can be used)
• 1 oz. whiskey or bourbon
• 1 tablespoon real maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon espresso powder
• ½ teaspoon maple extract, optional (see note)
• whipped cream and chocolate syrup, for optional topping

Method

1. Add ice cream, milk, whiskey, maple syrup, vanilla, espresso powder, and optional maple extract to blender container.
2. Blend until smooth. Add more ice cream or more milk to achieve desired consistency. (More milk = thinner milkshake, more ice cream = thicker milkshake).
3. Serve immediately topped with whipped cream and/or chocolate syrup if desired.

Notes

Maple extract: Maple flavor is likely something not everyone has in their pantry. It drives home the maple flavor, but it isn’t key to the success of this milkshake. It’s great with or without the maple extract.

Without whiskey: You can easily make a no-booze version of this milkshake. Simply omit the whiskey. The shake has plenty of flavor without it. You could add a tablespoon or two of chocolate syrup, if you wanted.