I tried 4 celebrity chef's recipes for chocolate milkshakes, and the best was filled with spices

• I made milkshakes with Sunny Anderson, Duff Goldman, Bobby Flay, and Trisha Yearwood's recipes.
• Some chefs made the chocolate shakes malted, others added minty cookies or spices.
• Anderson's chocolate-chai milkshake was my favorite. Goldman's chocolate malt was a close second.

Celebrity chefs like Sunny Anderson, Duff Goldman, Bobby Flay, and Trisha Yearwood all have their own takes on a classic chocolate milkshake.

I tested all four of their recipes to find the best one. Here's how it went:

Anderson spices things up with a chocolate-chai milkshake

I was excited to try this recipe from Anderson because I love anything chai-flavored.

It starts with several warm spices I already had in my pantry, plus milk, chocolate syrup, and vanilla ice cream.

The recipe requires extra preparation time, but it's worth the wait

The chocolate-chai recipe required about an hour of preparation. I started by steeping milk with cinnamon, pumpkin-pie spice blend, nutmeg, cardamom, fennel seeds, and black peppercorns on the stove for 20 minutes.

Then I strained this mixture into a mug and popped it in the fridge to cool. The recipe said to let it chill for 30 minutes but it still felt too warm so I left it in for 40.

From there, I blended half the spiced milk with chocolate syrup and plenty of vanilla ice cream until smooth.

The spices gave this classic chocolate shake a major upgrade

I could not stop sipping this shake. It wasn't overly chocolaty or rich. It had a nice amount of spiciness to it. I mostly tasted cinnamon, but it went so well with the chocolate. The texture was perfect, too.

This milkshake was thick, but it still came up through a straw with ease. I definitely plan to make this again.

It would also be amazing blended with a little espresso for a fancy frozen coffee drink.

Goldman tops his chocolate malted shake with cookies

I was nearly salivating when I saw that Goldman tops his malted shake with homemade whipped cream and his famous chocolate-chip cookies, which I make several times a year.

I couldn't find instant malt powder at nearby grocery stores so I ordered a standard version of it online.

The other ingredients were simple. I needed chocolate ice cream and milk for the shake, the cookie ingredients, and heavy cream, sugar, and salt for the whipped cream.

I made the cookies, then got started on the milkshake while they cooled

The cookie recipe is easy and takes just 20 minutes. Once the cookies finished baking, I cooled them on a wire rack.

Then I set out some chocolate ice cream to soften. I whisked the whipped-cream ingredients in my stand mixer on high until stiff peaks formed.

Since I didn't have instant powder, I had to dissolve my malt powder into hot water before blending it with the milk and ice cream.

I filled a glass with the shake, then topped it with a generous portion of whipped cream and half of a cookie.

This tastes like a classic milkshake

Although it's technically a malt, this tastes exactly like what I'd want from a milkshake. It was rich and chocolaty with a thick texture that made it difficult to suck up through a straw.

On its own, the whipped cream was fluffy and not too sweet, making it a perfect pairing with the decadent shake.

The cookie on top was aesthetically pleasing and it tasted delicious.

Flay layers marshmallow cream throughout his double-chocolate milkshake

Flay's milkshake recipe features chocolate ice cream and chocolate syrup, plus a cream that is blended with store-bought marshmallow fluff. The cream is layered throughout the milkshake and used as a garnish.

This was one of the easiest recipes to make

I started by blending heavy cream, marshmallow fluff, and vanilla extract in a stand mixer until smooth. Then I combined chocolate syrup and milk, added ice cream, and mixed.

I built my drink by layering marshmallow cream and chocolate milkshake. Then I topped it with marshmallow fluff and dark-chocolate shavings.

The milkshake is an ideal summer treat thanks to the layers of chocolate and marshmallows

This rich and decadent milkshake is the best for chocolate lovers.

The cream didn't turn out as thick as it probably should've been, so next time, I'd add more marshmallow fluff to thicken it.

I think crumbled graham crackers would be an amazing topping since this almost tastes like liquid s'mores. It was very indulgent, though, so I could only drink a little bit.

Yearwood mixes things up with peppermint

Yearwood's mint-chocolate shake recipe includes both vanilla and chocolate ice cream, heavy cream, milk, and peppermint extract. Like Goldman, she also tops it off with cookies, which are also blended into the shake.

She recommends garnishing with Thin Mints or another mint-chocolate-flavored cookie. I used Oreo Thins with a mint-flavored filling.

This was another simple recipe with a lot of minty additions

All I needed to do was dump every ingredient into a blender, then top with cookies to garnish.

I would've preferred more chocolate flavor in this shake

I liked that this recipe was so easy to make, and how the cookies gave the shake a thicker texture. But the final flavor was overwhelmingly minty from the peppermint extract and cookies - so much so that I didn't get much chocolate flavor.

I'd consider making this again, but I'd probably skip the extract and just rely on the mintiness from the cookies. I'd also use slightly less vanilla ice cream and a little more chocolate.

The chai milkshake was my favorite, but Goldman's malt is a close second

It was hard for me to put down the chai milkshake. Anderson's recipe takes extra work, but it pays off. The spices complement the chocolate so well and it didn't need any special toppings.

Goldman's was a close second for me. I loved the thicker texture and chocolaty flavor, which wasn't too rich. Plus having my favorite chocolate-chip cookie on top was a bonus.

Click to check out the other celebrity-chef recipes we've put head-to-head so far.