Bubble tea ice cream bars, ftw!
What if you could take the creamy taste of a Matcha Latte, but make it cool, healthy, and on a stick! (Crazy, we know!) We partnered with blogger Amanda Vuu, and decided that it was possible to do. Below find Amanda's recipe for Vegan Coconut Milk Matcha Latte Boba Popsicles. And yes... they're as good as they sound.
Whether you are a fan of the amazing Asian milk tea, if you are a mochi lover, or if you are a tapioca rookie, we are here to fill you in on all you need to know about this chewy sweet and gluten free dream known as bubble tea. First made famous in Taiwan, bubble (or boba) tea is the queen of trendy hip new drinks and has been taking the world by storm. Made famous by the pretty tapioca pearls that are made from the starch of the South American Cassava plant, this tea is a true delight. Taiwanese tradition sees boba as part of a milky tea but one of the best things about boba is that you can totally make it your own.
If you want to know all about the swoon-worthy style and background to bubble tea, check out our 101 guide.
While we know boba tea comes in a whole range of flavors and with an array of different toppings, these bubble tea ice popsicles are a dream come true. Not only are they a cool and delicious treat on a hot day, but the tapioca balls start out frozen and get gorgeously chewy as time goes on. Boba tea popsicles are super easy to make and they even come with a handful of health benefits. Yes, the tea base will bring your body a bunch of much-needed antioxidants and the calcium in the condensed milk is also beneficial too. If you use the matcha green tea base you are also going to truly load up on even more health benefits as green tea is a chart topper when it comes to healthy drinks to sip. Check out our breakdown on all the amazing reasons matcha tea is so good for you right here.
Sweet & slightly salted coconut milk with matcha green tea and boba make up these deliciously cold and creamy popsicles!
Course Sweets
Cuisine American
Prep Time 25 minutes
Freezing time 4 hours
Servings 6
Ingredients
- 1 can Aroy-D Coconut Milk
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 t kosher salt
- 1 T cornstarch
- 1 T water
- 1/2 cup boba tapioca pearls
- 2 T sugar
- 2 matcha Tea Drops
Instructions
1. In a small saucepan, heat the coconut milk (you can also use condensed milk if you prefer) and the sugar on a medium heat until dissolved and bring the mixture to a simmer. A popular choice of sugar is the Chinese brown sugar as it brings a deep and delicious almost smoked caramel flavor. Add the salt. The recipe says 1/4 t but I just added two good pinches of salt. You won't mess this up, it needs salt for flavor believe it or not! Mix the cornstarch and water to make a slurry and add to the coconut milk. Cook until thickened and coats the back of a spoon well.
2. Pour the coconut milk into a container and let it chill in the fridge until cooled. This needs to be thickened and chilled for the boba tapioca pearls to suspend in it for the popsicle to look right.
3. Prepare the boba pearls by adding them to boiling water and cooking until they've plumped up about 2-3 minutes. Drain the water and add 2 T sugar. Stir and let cool.
4. Prepare the matcha tea by adding tea drops Matcha Green Tea to 1 cup of boiling water and stir until dissolved. Place this in the fridge to cool too. This is where you can also play around with flavors too. You can use black tea if you prefer the taste to matcha or green tea, or if you want a caffeine kick you can also use iced coffee instead of tea.
5. Place the coconut milk in the bottom of the popsicle mold filling it about 1 1/2" up. Add 1 T boba pearls and push them down with a spoon into the coconut milk. Freeze for 25 minutes.
6. Once the tea and coconut milk has cooled slightly, mix all the tea and 1 cup of the coconut milk mixture together. Pour this on top of the coconut milk and boba. Freeze for 6 hours at least or overnight. If your popsicle mold doesn’t have sticks, you can buy wooden popsicle sticks separately and insert them an hour or two into freezing.
Final Thoughts on Bubble Tea Popsicles
Check out our matcha iced tea and boba pack
These boba tea ice pops are enough to make you swoon. Not only are they super cute to look at but the creamy taste of the tea and the fun and frivolous chewy texture of the boba pearls just make this ice-cream a sweet summer delight. We love that the bubble tea ice cream isn’t so sweet that it sends you into a sugar crash but is just sweet enough to feel like a treat.
You can also play around with this recipe and make it your own once you get it right. Part of the fun of bubble tea is that it has a huge variety. You can change the base from coconut milk or condensed milk to a different type of milk like almond, honeydew, or even taro milk for a splash of color. You can also swap out the milk altogether and make a fruit slushie version of bubble tea for an extra quenching element. You can play with your tea base too, swapping out the usual caffeine-free matcha green tea for something with a little more kick like the Thai Iced Tea or the Spiced Chai.
Along with mixing in boba pearls you can also throw in some chunks of fruit, add in some aloe vera jelly, stir in some tapioca balls for extra chew and even weave in traditional Asian style pudding for added cream. Cross cultures and stir in some peanut butter to the milk tea popsicle base to turn the yumminess up a notch or two. Whatever you do, have fun with it because bubble tea is not to be taken seriously.
Are you going to be making these boba tea popsicles or do you prefer different kinds of tea-based delights instead? We would love to hear all your thoughts in the comments.
Medical Disclaimer: While we have delved into the research available on the health benefits of these teas, this is for informative purposes only and shouldn’t be taken as medical advice. Those who have any health-related queries should reach out to a medical professional. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This article is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
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