The Cereal Milkshake Combo You Can Customize In A Million Ways

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Sugary cereals are a bit controversial. Some people think they're the best thing in the world, while others think bowls of crunchy sugar are the last thing we should be feeding ourselves (or our kids) for breakfast. One thing most people can't deny, however, is that they're tasty. If your favorite cereal is too sugary to be an appropriate breakfast staple, why not turn it into a full-blown dessert?

Cereal milkshakes are exactly what they sound like — a classic milkshake with your favorite cereal mixed in. There are a few different ways to approach the recipe, but as long as ice cream, milk, and cereal are involved, you can pretty much do whatever you want. I think the first recipes I would try are Cookie Crisp and Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

It reminds me of a trend that blew up in the United Kingdom a decade ago — chocolate bar milkshakes. Milkshake shacks popped up all over the U.K. sporting walls lined with every type of candy and chocolate bar you could think of — everything from British favorites like Cadbury's to American treats like Reese's. The whole concept was to pick up to three candy bars and have them whizzed into a milkshake. My favorites were Kinder Bueno and Areo Mint chocolate.

The first thing you need to ask yourself before making a cereal milkshake is: Do you like to drink the sweet, cereal-soaked milk left over in your bowl? If the answer is yes, you should take inspiration from Guy Fieri's cereal milkshake recipe by throwing some cereal into the milk to soak before you put it in the blender. If you're not into that (I'm not), you can skip that step.

The second decision is whether you want to blend the cereal with the milk directly or mix it in afterwards. If you blend them all together, the dyes in more colorful cereals will leak into the milkshake, but the cereal will lose most of its crunch. If you want to keep your milkshake white while retaining some texture, you're better off stirring it into the milkshake afterward (you can give it a quick pulse in the blender, if you like). Once you're done, all you need to do is pour it into a glass and squirt some whipped cream on top.

The best part about this milkshake genre is you can customize it however you want. Any cereal will work (though some will admittedly work better than others). However, experimentation is part of the fun — the milkshake shacks in the U.K. were built around this feature. If you were set on mixing Skittles, chocolate chip cookies, and marzipan, they'd let you; even if it was a disaster waiting to happen.

In truth, a lot of popular cereals are basically desserts-turned-cereals, so going in the opposite direction makes sense. After all, Oreos has its own cereal, as do Reese's and Sour Patch Kids. Makes me wonder how a milkshake with Reese's in both cereal and candy form would turn out.

If you're not in the mood for a milkshake, you can just top a bowl of ice cream with cereal instead. If a satisfying crunch is what you're after, this is the best way to do it. Any ice cream will work, but if you're one of those fancy people with your own soft serve machine, that would be the ultimate combo.