Nut-Free Vegan “Shamrock Shake” Ice Cream

Yay! It’s free from gluten, peanuts, tree nuts, dairy, egg, soy, and all the other top 9 major allergens! Note: This post contains affiliate links, so any purchases made on Amazon through the links will help support Yay, It’s Free From This!

Since I was a teenager, getting a McD’s Shamrock Shake every year was a personal tradition of mine. I liked mint chocolate chip ice cream, but hated the hard chocolate chips and I would pick around them. So I thought the Shamrock Shake was a dream come true. Smooth, minty, vanilla sweetness…and somehow the bright light green color made it extra special. It’s been over a decade since I’ve had one and of course due to all the severe food allergies we manage, we can’t eat at McD’s at all. I still associate St. Patrick’s Day to the shake, so to celebrate this weekend, I wanted to make a dessert that would give me that nostalgic flavor and experience.

This recipe is based on my easy vanilla oatmilk ice cream recipe with the addition of peppermint. Also, the process here is slightly different, I think it’s even easier. Instead of heating the sugar with a bit of water, with this recipe you heat the sugar and milk together. You just have to wait a bit longer for the base to cool.

Just a Few Ingredients

Like the vanilla ice cream recipe, this only requires just a few simple ingredients:

1. Full-fat oatmilk
2. Palm oil shortening
3. Vegan organic cane sugar
4. Vanilla extract
5. Peppermint extract
6. Fine sea salt

I get almost all of my spices online from The Spice House. I find the quality of their products to be excellent. Because the ingredients are so simple, both of the peppermint and vanilla extracts are the key to making this ice cream shine.

Make the Ice Cream Base

Measure and pour the sugar into a medium-sized sauce pan. Add the milk and heat over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Add the shortening and salt, then stir gently until these are melted. Turn the heat off and add the extracts.

As with all my ice cream recipes, blending the base before chilling is necessary. I recommend an immersion blender, for the convenience of it, but if you don’t have one, you can use a regular blender. If you’re looking to get one, however, I have a old version of this Braun Immersion Blender that came in a set and it still works amazing. Blend briefly until the melted palm oil is fully integrated into the mixture. You can see the difference in the photos before and after blending.

Add just a teeny smidge of gel food coloring. I use Americolor gel paste, and have a six-pack kit. If you want natural food coloring, however, I recommend Whole Foods’s 365 plant-based food coloring. Blend again after adding the coloring.

Pour the base into a large container and place in the refrigerator to chill thoroughly, about 4 hours. I churn this in my ice cream maker for 18 minutes, but refer to your ice cream maker’s instructions for how long. Then place in the freezer until set.

I topped this with Whole Foods’s 365 oatmilk whipped cream, and added a free from clover shaped sugar cookie. A creamy, minty, completely safe and allergy-free ice cream dessert that is pure happiness in a bowl! Happy St. Patrick’s Day, everyone! 🌈☘️