Are you ready for a serious confession?
I don’t like pumpkin pie.
That may come as a surprise since I’m obsessed with things like this and this and this. Also a surprise when considering that this time of year, I spend about 85% of my available brain power trying to discover new ways to incorporate pumpkin flavor into everyday foods. See, while there’s something about mushy orange pie that kick starts my gag reflex, there’s also something entirely intoxicating about the combination of warm spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves, all strung together with sweet brown sugar and delicate pumpkin in just about anything else.
So the other day when my 4 year old and I were looking for a pre-bedtime treat, I reached in to grab the vanilla ice cream and knocked my frozen pumpkin puree off the shelf. One look at my kiddo and his cute little mouth covered in graham cracker crumbs and I knew exactly what we were about to create. That was a week ago. We’ve had these shakes about 6 times since. So yeah, just about every day. Go ahead, call the diet police. I dare you.
I purposely made this to serve 2 generous servings. I also made it to fit perfectly into my Blendtec Twister jar (which is smaller than a normal size blender jar) so you could certainly double it in a larger, high-powered blender. If you have a Blendtec, the Twister Jar works exceptionally well for things like this!
(If you’re wondering about my specific Blender, it’s the Blendec Designer Series 625, which comes in that awesome sea foam color)
In the jar of your blender, combine a little milk with some pumpkin puree, brown sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
Whip that up and then add in the vanilla ice cream. Now. It’s important to use good ice cream here. I’m not talking about expensive ice cream, just good ice cream. I call for Vanilla Bean ice cream because that tends to be the closest to a good quality homemade vanilla without a lot of extra fake-y flavors. My go-to is Breyers Vanilla Bean. Try to stay away from any vanilla ice creams that are that bright yellow-ish color. Breyers is one of the few with only a few ingredients and that’s always a good sign! I actually bought Walmart’s Great Value brand for this batch and I couldn’t believe how close it was to Breyers. Sure enough, when I looked at the ingredient list there were only a few ingredients (mostly milk, cream, sugar, and vanilla) and it was only a few bucks. So those are both great choices.
I also get my ice cream out a few minutes ahead of time so it’s just a little bit soft. That tends to lead to the perfect consistency.
Whip it up and it morphs into the most amazing smooth, soft serve consistency.
A note about blenders: Here’s the problem with making thick, diner style milkshakes at home: A lot of times you have to add so much milk to the thing to get the blender to process that it turns into a milk-slushie instead. Or you have to blend and plunge, blend and plunge, etc. You know the drill, right? So if you have any trouble with your blender, I would recommend blending everything but the ice cream first and then mashing it into the ice cream by hand (well, with a hand. Holding a fork or spoon 🙂 If your scooped ice cream sits out at room temp while you measure the other things and get them all ready, then by the time you mash it all together it should be a good consistency and it will turn out like a nice soft-serve at the end. If you want it thinner, to drink with a big straw, just add a little milk or cream until you reach the right consistency.
Sprinkle with crushed graham cracker crumbs before serving. It tastes just like DQ’s Pumkin Pie Blizzard!
Pumpkin Pie Milkshake
Ingredients
- 1/3 C pumpkin puree canned or homemade
- 2-4 tablespoons milk or cream more if needed, divided
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/16 teaspoon cloves just use a 1/8 t measure and fill it half way, or do a large pinch
- 1/16 t nutmeg
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 C vanilla bean ice cream I like Breyers
- 1-2 graham crackers
Instructions
- Set ice cream out at room temperature.
- In the jar of a blender, or bowl, combine pumpkin, 2 tablespoons milk or cream, vanilla, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and brown sugar. Blend or whisk to combine. Add ice cream and process (or smash by hand) to combine. Pour into glasses and top with crumbled graham crackers.
Notes
- Optional: after blending milkshake, stir in by hand chunks of graham crackers, baked pie crust, or chunks of shortbread cookies.
- Tip on Blending: Here's the problem with making thick, diner style milkshakes at home: A lot of times you have to add so much milk to the thing to get the blender to process that it turns into a milk-slushie instead. Or you have to blend and plunge, blend and plunge, etc. You know the drill, right? So if you have any trouble with your blender, I would recommend blending everything but the ice cream first and then mashing it into the ice cream by hand (well, with a hand. Holding a fork or spoon 🙂 If your scooped ice cream sits out at room temp while you measure the other things and get them all ready, then by the time you mash it all together it should be a good consistency and it will turn out like a nice soft-serve at the end. If you want it thinner, to drink with a big straw, just add a little milk or cream until you reach the right consistency.
Questions & Reviews
My family is addicted to these!! They are fabulous!!
This is such a tasty drink. I just had jaw surgery and am on 100% liquid diet and things get bland very quickly but I think I will be incoorperating this alot over the next six weeks, just wish I knew about it the first time i had this surgery. Thanks for sharing.
I LOVE these! I’ve made them a few times. My husband is making me one right now! I can’t wait! 🙂
To make a breakfast smoothie…
Freeze pumpkin, omit ice cream, add a bit more milk and any scoop of protein powder. I use visalus sweet cream. Next once it is blended and creamy from frozen pumpkin i add target brand pumpkin oatmeal dry right into the shake. It will need a few mins to sodten so you can add to milk before blending if you would like. Trust me when I tell you, you will never want to eat anything else ever again. And if you watch what kind of milk you use and count up cal, this is a ww point friendly shake.
If u don’t like protein powder, skip it. But the visalus is tasty.
I made your super easy pumpkin muffins last night and let my husband take all but 2 to work to feed the coworkers… I think pumpkin pie milkshakes may be in order now, since I need my pumpkin fill too!
Yum! I think we will have to try this! My family has a deep love for milkshakes and we usually go out and buy the pumpkin ones when they are in season. Making my own will save some money and be more convenient! Thanks for the recipe 🙂
This was DELICIOUS! And perfect for today (low 80’s, but dying for fall)! I like my milkshakes pretty thick, so I actually made mine using my kitchenaid with whisk attachment–worked like a charm! I also used graham cracker crumbs mixed with sugar and melted butter (my fave). Thanks so much for sharing!
This looks incredible! I love all things pumpkin and just received a blender as a wedding shower gift, so I can’t wait to make this. Thanks! 🙂
This is the 5th or 6th recipe I’ve tried from your blog, and I have not been disappointed, but this one I had to leave a comment for… WOW! AMAZING!! I will keep coming back for more great ideas 🙂
This makes such a great Sunday afternoon sweet! Thanks for sharing 🙂
My husband is out canyoneering this weekend so after a day of single-mommy-ing it, I treated myself to this tonight. I just sent a text to my husband and told him that I would give up food for an entire day just so that I could consume of much of this delight as I can fit into my belly! Holy Cow! It was incredible! We have relocated to Arizona from Idaho and one thing I miss around the holidays is pumpkin milk shakes from Arctic Circle…well not anymore! This is just as good! Thanks for the amazing recipe!
I am so trying this tonight. And I.must say your post cracked me up!!!
Just had my wisdom teeth pulled out, so have been looking for some liquid food inspiration for the next few days. Think this one might work a treat 🙂 Thanks Team!
OMg you are a girl after my own heart..I luv luv breyers ice cream..
I would like to feature this recipe on Monday as well for my menu roundup..
Thank you so much Maggie
you can see the post here
http://maggielamarre.com
I've been looking for some great milkshake recipes to try with my Ninja blender and this looks like one I'm going to try today! Thanks for sharing:):)
maopa@LusciousDeals
http://lusciousdeals.blogspot.com
This is an awesome recipe! I love pumpkin pie shakes, but have never made one at home. Thanks! I followed your directions to mix everything before adding ice cream and it worked a lot better. Perfect consistency!
I'm using my leftover graham cracker crumbs to make Reeces tomorrow.
I mentioned this post in a blog post of mine! Thought you'd like to know!
http://www.sweet-remedy.com/2010/11/pumpkin-milkshake-love/
nice work! 🙂
This looks so dreamy I featured it on my blog today 🙂 Stop by if you like.
Blessings~
Alisa
Pumpkin Pie Spice works great Laura, just add it to taste!
I am DYING for one of these shakes but don't have any cloves. Can I use pumpking pie spice instead since it is just all those things mixed together? I am just not sure how much to add . . .
I hate pumpkin pie too. It's just… gross. My sister found a new recipe though. It's like pumpkin pie but has cream cheese in it and a yummy brown sugary nut layer on the bottom. I actually really like it. You should try it next time you need pumpkin pie. 🙂
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=10000000364650
Oh, and these shakes look SOOOO good.
I just barely found your blog and love it. I've been totally looking at all of your recipes.
Thanks SO much for this amazingly yummeroma milkshake.
We are a fam living overseas and I really really miss all the pumpkin filled coffee shops and to be totally honest even the pumpkin milkshakes at Mac Donalds WOW I should be shoved off the food blogs for that one! 🙂 ANYWHO was soo good to be able to make some of the good 'ol American goodness here in the South Pacific. 🙂
Cheers!
Gretchen
Made this last night and it was a HUGE hit with the family! Thanks Sure I would buy your diet, but I want to double my order and just pay separate shipping and handling! lol
This milkshake is absolutely amazing!!! The kids and I just had it……so, so tasty. Too bad for the husband, he's at work and there isn't a single spoonful left. Darn, looks like I'll have to make more.
Sara, I don't like pumpkin pie, either! I always get weird looks when I say that. My husband loves pumpkin pie and I love ice cream, so this treat is a wonderful compromise! Thanks, I'll be adding this to my meal planner for the week.
I made this for dessert tonight, oh my gosh, AMAZING!!! My two year old devoured it, and then wanted mine. Thank you!! So good!!!
Wow, this looks AMAZING!! Going to try a ice-creamless, sugar free version for special diet needs reasons… should still be somewhat of a treat!! thanks for the idea!
Have you heard of TCBY? Its a yogurt shop (The Country's Best Yogurt) in the Midwest and each fall they used to make a pumpkin pie shake w/ frozen yogurt!! This is exactly the SAME thing… I have now died and gone to heaven! Pumpkin heaven… When we lived in Nebraska I could hardly wait until fall rolled around for the pumpkin pie frozen yogurt. When the season was over, I was crushed! Now I can have it year round!!! Woo hoo!!! Thanks for saving the day… (yes I made this already but only had this weird vanilla/lemon swirled ice cream… it was too die for!!!! mmmm mmm mmm!!!!)
YUMMMM nuf said! lol
Thanks for the reminder to vote 🙂
I am going to try this, but I think I'm going to get the canned pumpkin that already has the spices in it, it's not because I'm super lazy (which I am by the way), but my son needs a pumpkin shake recipe for cooking class and I figured that would be easier than him messing with the seasonings. Ill let ya know how it tastes!!