Monkey Milkshake

Eons ago, my husband and I took a very late honeymoon to Mexico. We had been married almost 2 years. We stayed at an all-inclusive resort outside Cancun and ate & drank to our heart's content. The drinks were so good I took a picture of the menu to bring home with me in an attempt to recreate them at home.

My favorite drink from this vacation was called the "Dirty Monkey" and consisted of bananas, coconut cream, chocolate and of course rum, blended with ice. It had fruit in it so it must've been healthy, right?

I've recreated a version of it at home but wanted to create something my kids could also enjoy. This sweet treat takes all the delicious flavors of the Dirty Monkey, minus the rum, and blends it up with vanilla ice cream.

• Vanilla ice cream - Good quality is always best for the creamiest milkshake. Any variation like New York Vanilla, Vanilla Bean or French Vanilla will work fine.
• Bananas - Yellow with some brown spots work best and provide the best flavor. Aim for the same ripeness as you'd use for banana bread.
• Cream of coconut - This is what really sends the milkshake over the top. It's sweet, coconut-y and so, so good! It also replaces the use of regular milk used in other milkshakes.
• Chocolate syrup - The flavor combines perfectly with the banana & coconut.

This Monkey Milkshake is so simple to make and only requires 4 ingredients. Here's how to make it:

Step 1: Grab your ingredients. - I love recipes that I can count the ingredients for on one hand. You want to collect everything you need before beginning so you can get to enjoying this milkshake sooner rather than later!

Step 2: Blend. - To make the shake, simply combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Step 3: Garnish & serve. - Pour milkshake into a tall glass. Top with a generous helping of whipped cream, drizzle with extra chocolate syrup, and serve immediately!

• Ice cream - It can be hard to measure ice cream precisely, but luckily it doesn't have to be exact. You are looking for about 1 ½ cups, which I've found to be about 4 nicely-sized scoops.
• Bananas - Whenever I have extra bananas that get a little too ripe, I stick them in the freezer. They work great for banana bread, Banana Oatmeal Cookies and this milkshake! Frozen bananas will help to thicken the milkshake as well, but either can be used.
• Coconut cream - It's usually found in grocery stores or liquor stores by the drink making stuff, like margarita mix and ginger beer.

Coconut cream is the cream from coconut milk and is naturally unsweetened. Cream of coconut is a sweetened version that is essentially a coconut syrup, similar to sweetened condensed milk. You want to use cream of coconut for this recipe. Find more info about the differences here.

Absolutely! Turn this milkshake into a dirty monkey milkshake by adding a shot (or two) of white rum to the blender. Warning: if you drink too many, you may start acting like a monkey!

Dairy free options of ice cream and milk can be used to make this milkshake dairy-free.

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