One Monday evening my kids were begging for a sweet treat, but there wasn’t anything readily available. It sounded like too much effort to mix and bake cookies or cupcakes (even if my daughter did it), and I didn’t feel like driving everybody through the McDonald’s drive through for a 59 cent ice cream cone.

Instead, I did a little experimenting and came up with something of a dirt-cheap, copycat version of a Wendy’s® Frosty®. (Laziness is the real mother of invention.) A whole blender full costs less than a single shake, and it takes less time to make than finding shoes for all the kids. Unfortunately, they now regularly ask me to make a couple batches.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • pinch of salt
  • 2 Tbsp. cocoa powder
  • Enough ice to bring everything to the 32 oz. marker on the blender

Directions:

  1. Blend until smooth.
  2. Serve immediately.