Use Horchata As The Base For Your Next Milkshake And Thank Us Later

If you've tasted a homemade Mexican horchata recipe, you understand the spicy, sweet deliciousness this beverage delivers. Made by soaking rice and cinnamon for several hours before blending with sweeteners and added flavors like vanilla, this creamy drink is served over ice and commonly garnished with cinnamon or nutmeg powder. Instead of dumping regular milk into your blender to make an old-fashioned vanilla milkshake recipe, this nutty, sweet, and flavorful drink can be used as a replacement. 

While the ingredients in horchata can vary, the sweet and lightly spiced milk-based drink can be customized to your liking — and that includes adding splashes of booze for mature palates. Experiment by pairing horchata with different flavors of ice cream, like no-churn dulce de leche, 4-ingredient peanut butter ice cream, or eggnog ice cream. With horchata building extra dimensions of taste to your milkshakes, you can add milk powder or a spoonful of tahini to create the frothy sipper of your dreams. Topped with honey whipped cream, drizzles of chocolate syrup, and flakes of dark chocolate, this smooth sweet treat is sure to bring everyone to the yard.

Since making horchata requires time — soaking rice with cinnamon sticks can take hours (for those who crave even more intense flavors, an overnight bath is recommended) – and effort toasting almonds, blending ingredients, and straining your creations, you'll need to plan accordingly should you want to use the drink in your next milkshake-making attempts. You may want to make more horchata than you think you'll need so that you will have enough to serve both in beverage form and to splash into smoothie and milkshake recipes.

Once you've started adding horchata to your blender, you may be sneaking the liquid into the batter for pancakes, waffles, and muffins, and we cannot fault you for this move. With a pre-spiced and sweetened beverage at the ready, options are endless when upgrading usual recipes. Horchata may even wind up into your next homemade ice cream, so you can easily double down on the flavor with an ice cream scoop and the drink itself for a milkshake sure to brighten any mundane midweek afternoon.