This Milkshake Recipe Is Infinitely Customizable

All week long, MUNCHIES will be exploring, prodding, and dissecting the countless peaks and valleys that make up the modern fast food landscape, both at home and around the world. Although the sovereign of the fast food kingdom might be the burger, but you'd be a damn fool to discount the glory of the milkshake. From Frosty's to Blizzards and everywhere in between, you simply can't talk about fast food if you don't broach the countless desserts nebulously categorized as milkshakes.

Shake Shack's culinary director, the inimitable Mark Rosati, is well aware of this undeniable truth, which is precisely why the fast food guru shared with us his recipe for a truly killer chocolate shake. But this isn't just a recipe for some basic chocolate shake. In fact, Rosati's chocolate shake has room for almost limitless variations. That's because he wants you to use the recipe as a starter for the milkshake of your dreams and toss in whatever the hell you want, taking your milkshake game from great to truly awe-inspiring.

RECIPE: Chocolate Shake

Made with frozen vanilla custard and homemade hot fudge sauce, Shake Shack's chocolate shake is delicious enough to be had on its own, yet flexible enough to be customized with any number of possible add-ons. Have some leftover waffles from your brunch? Toss them in. That week-old office birthday cake you somehow were guilted into taking home? Why in the hell not? Plus, the base of the chocolate shake only takes an hour to make, so you'll never need to make a late-night McFlurry run again.

RECIPE: Spanish-Style Churros

Every abuelita out there will tell you that churros were made to be dipped in warm, gooey chocolate, but why not go with the inverse and instead throw some delightful bits of Barcelona-style churros into your chocolate shake? They're crispy enough to add some great texture to your shake, but not sweet enough that they'll leave you totally overwhelmed.

RECIPE: Peanut Butter Sauce

Contrary to what some make think, absolutely everything on this earth is made better by being seductively drizzled in a thick layer of peanut butter. It doesn't actually matter if we're talking about octopus carpaccio or banana splits, peanut butter makes the world go round. Luckily, this peanut butter sauce is not only super quick and easy to make, but goes perfectly with Rosati's chocolate shake base.

RECIPE: Chocolate Cookie and Peanut Butter Icebox Cake

Still looking for some extra peanut butter in your shake? How about adding some more into the mix? This chocolate cookie and peanut butter icebox cake would be a perfect addition to your milkshake monstrosity. After all, what's better than a chocolate shake? A chocolate shake with layers of whipped cream, Oreos, and peanut butter mousse, that's what.

RECIPE: Cookie Dough Cookies

Everybody's heard of cookie dough ice cream before, but what about ice cream with cookie dough cookies? These cookies from Christina Tosi are pulled out of the oven just a bit early, so they combine all the best elements of regular chocolate chip cookies will all the hedonistic pleasure of eating raw cookie dough like a boss.

RECIPE: Sugared Doughnut Holes

It's an indisputable fact that the world could always do with a few more doughnuts. But why relegate yourself to yet another stale Munchkin when you could make your own sugared doughnut holes and add them to a chocolate milkshake? Doughnuts might not seem like the immediate choice for an ice cream filler, but we assure you it sure as hell tastes great.

It's time to take control of your milkshake and do so in style. We know you'll do us, and Mark, proud.