The Easiest Way To Infuse Milkshakes With Dark Chocolate Flavor Without Cocoa Powder

If you're a milkshake lover, you might stick to drive-thrus or diners to pick up your favorite, like Chowhound's top-ranked milkshake-serving fast food chain, Smashburger. But if you make them at home occasionally, too, you might have experimented with ingredients that bring out the best flavor in your shakes. For dark chocolate milkshakes, that ingredient traditionally has been known to be cocoa powder, which blends up nicely. But it turns out, it's not necessary to have cocoa powder on hand to enjoy a delicious dark chocolatey-flavored shake, milkshake expert Lindsey Baruch, content creator and recipe developer of @‌lindseyeats, told Chowhound exclusively. 

Baruch says that while cocoa powder can work nicely for a dark chocolate shake (just add it to the blender at the same time as your other ingredients), you can use melted chocolate, chocolate syrup, or ganache for a richer taste. "Ganache will make your milkshake very decadent and chocolate-y if you don't use cocoa, so this will work!" she explains. "If you want to use chocolate syrup, just a little will do, as it may be too sweet." 

Lindsey Baruch's other secret for making the richest, best chocolate milkshakes at home? Add in some strong coffee to bring out the chocolate flavor. "You can opt to add a shot of espresso or a little bit of brewed coffee to intensify the chocolate flavors," she says. Besides coffee, Baruch recommends a few other additions to make your milkshake extra flavorful, including flaky salt and vanilla extract. "Another fun add-on could be something like Nutella," she says. 

As for the best ice cream to use, social media users have strong opinions on which type and flavor, especially when it comes to which premium ice cream brand to opt for. When asked which ice cream is best for a chocolate milkshake, a post on the r/UK_Food subreddit had plenty of responses, with some saying that classic Häagen-Dazs vanilla (our favorite vanilla ice cream brand) worked great as a neutral, creamy base, while others swear by bolder, chocolate-flavored options. "I would use [Ben and Jerry's] chocolate fudge brownie for the ice cream," a Redditor wrote. Another user recommended Tillamook's Malted Moo Shake ice cream, which contains malted barley and might remind you of an old-fashioned malted milkshake. Trying that might cause you to ask what the difference is between a malt and a milkshake, anyway? (It's the malted milk powder!)