PB Cookie Dough Vegan Milkshake

Nothing beats this yummy vegan milkshake made with blended chocolate chip peanut butter cookie dough balls, almond milk, and vegan ice cream!

PB Cookie Dough Vegan Milkshake

There’s a vegan restaurant that we love in Chicago called The Chicago Diner. Jack and I make it a point to stop there nearly every time we’re in town. The food is really good, but the thing to get there is the vegan milkshake – the peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough milkshake to be exact. And yes, it’s as decadent as it sounds. A few weeks ago, we ate lunch there and I tried to not order one. Then Jack’s shake came to the table and I said, “I’ll just have one little sip… ok, well maybe just one more…” and before I had stolen nearly his entire shake, I decided I should re-create them for the blog.

Instead of making regular cookie dough to blend into my milkshake, I made a new version of these No-Bake Almond Oatmeal Cookie balls to use instead. So this recipe has 2 parts:

1. No-bake Peanut Butter Oat Cookie Bites, which are a delicious healthy snack on their own.

2. The milkshakes, which are made by blending a few of the cookie balls with almond milk and ice cream.

PB Cookie Dough Vegan Milkshake

Although my original cookie dough ball recipe was a delicious one, I’ve improved it for this vegan milkshake – these new cookie balls not only have a shorter ingredient list, but they’re naturally sweetened with dates and they contain no added oil. They’re also much quicker to make.

PB Cookie Dough Vegan Milkshake

To help me re-create this recipe, I used my new kitchen helper, Google Home. I wanted to keep the same overall ratio of dry-to-liquid ingredients, so it was helpful (when my hands were messy with peanut butter dough) to call out questions like “hey Google, how many tablespoons are in 1/3 cup,” or “hey Google, what’s 1 cup, plus 1/2 cup, plus 2 tablespoons, minus 1/4 cup.”

Google Home is also very useful for setting multiple kitchen timers and adding items to your grocery shopping list. Fun tip – you can also call out “play cooking music,” or “play baking beats,” which are some fun playlists to listen to in the kitchen. 🙂

PB Cookie Dough Vegan Milkshake PB Cookie Dough Vegan Milkshake

So here you have it – my “healthy-ish” yet still pretty darn decadent version of the Chicago Diner vegan milkshake. If you want to make these a little less indulgent, you can use a frozen banana in place of the ice cream and make smoothies.

Pop the extra cookie ball bites in the fridge or freezer for later.

PB Cookie Dough Vegan Milkshake

5.0 from 2 reviews

PB Cookie Dough Vegan Milkshake

 
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Serves: 16 cookie balls, 2 milkshakes
Ingredients
Peanut butter oat cookie dough balls (makes 16)
  • 1½ cups whole rolled oats
  • ¼ cup chopped walnuts
  • 8 soft Medjool dates, pitted
  • 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
  • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
  • ½ cup creamy natural peanut butter
  • 3 tablespoons warm water
  • â…“ cup chocolate chips
For the milkshakes (makes 2)
  • 6 peanut butter oat cookie dough balls + 2 for garnish
  • 1 cup almond milk
  • Big handful of ice
  • 2 big scoops of vanilla ice cream*
  • Chocolate sauce, optional*
  • Whip cream, optional*
  • Chocolate chips, optional*
Instructions
  1. Make the Peanut butter oat cookie dough balls: In a food processor, pulse together the oats, walnuts, dates, flaxseed, vanilla and sea salt until well combined. Add the peanut butter and warm water and pulse until the mixture sticks together when you pinch it between your fingers. Transfer the dough to a bowl and stir in the chocolate chips. Scoop 1 tablespoon of the mixture for each dough ball and use your hands to roll them into balls.
  2. To make the milkshakes, combine 6 cookie dough balls with the almond milk and blend on high speed until smooth. Add a handful of ice and blend until combined. Add the ice cream and pulse 2 times just to combine. Don’t melt the ice cream. Pour into two glasses and garnish each with a cookie dough ball and with desired toppings.
  3. The remaining cookie dough balls can be stored in the fridge or freezer.
  4. Makes 2 milkshakes.
Notes
To make these vegan, get vegan ice cream, vegan chocolate chips, vegan chocolate sauce, and vegan whipped cream.

To make these gluten free, be sure to use Certified Gluten Free Oats.

 

This post is in partnership with Google Home. Thank you for supporting the sponsors that keep us cooking!

11 comments

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Rate this recipe (after making it):  

  1. Tanya
    11.02.2018

    I can honestly say this is the best milkshake I’ve ever had. Most restaurants that serve milkshakes don’t seem to have cookie dough option, so the fact that I can just make this at home for me and my kids is fantastic! My kids LOVED it! They ask me to make it all the time now.

  2. Dreaming of one of these right now!! Sounds absolutely delicious!

  3. This milkshake looks absolutely delicious! Love that the cookie dough is naturally sweetened 🙂

  4. Kacy from library.uonbi.ac.ke
    06.05.2017

    Looks delicious

  5. This looks so incredibly yummy! Love the way you made it two different recipes. *eyeing cookie dough balls* Saving to try!

  6. Aidan
    06.01.2017

    Wow these look amaaaazinggg. Stoked to try! How long do you think the cookie dough balls will last? I maaaay be tempted to double the batch to have some in the freezer to munch on. 🙂

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      06.02.2017

      Hi Aidan – they freeze well! I have a stash in my freezer too :). When you’re ready to thaw – leave them out at room temp for a few minutes, or pop them in the microwave for about 5 seconds.

      • Aidan
        08.24.2017

        Hey again!

        I tried this with the ice cream – delicious as I expected. 🙂

        I want to give the smoothie/banana version a go, too. Would you just use 2 frozen bananas in place of 2 scoops of ice cream? And would you just blend the whole thing together, or add the bananas after the ice like the ice cream?

        Thank you again!

        • Jeanine Donofrio
          08.25.2017

          I’m glad you liked the milkshakes! I would do 2 frozen bananas (and maybe a handful of ice) and blend the whole thing together so that the bananas get fully pureed.

  7. I live about two blocks from The Chicago Diner and it’s dangerous. Deliciously dangerous! This recipe looks great though, so I’m going to have to try on days when I don’t want to drag my butt down the street 🙂

  8. I love The Chicago Diner! It was on my to-do list the first time I visited Chicago and now it is a MUST in our list. 🙂 Gotta try this milkshake! It looks delish.

A food blog with fresh, zesty recipes.
Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.