Matcha Green Tea Nice Cream

Hannah Sunderani
Jun 13, 2018
4 min read

Matcha Green Tea Nice Cream! I hope you're as excited about this ice cream treat as me! The time of year has come where we can prioritize frosty sweet treats again! Time to make those dinners plates a tad smaller to make room for that extra large scoop of ICE CREAM! Or, how about ice cream for dinner? I scream hell yes! (see what I did there?)

If you don't know what Nice Cream is (perhaps you've been living on planet Mars for the past few years having just returned to this popular summer fad), I'm about to let you in on a little vegan secret for making the creamiest, dreamiest and smooth dairy-free ice cream of all time:

F.R.O.Z.E.N. B.A.N.A.N.A.S.!

That's right! All you need to make that instagram worthy, soft serve, dairy-free nice cream. The frozen treats that are blowing up our Instagram discovery feed at this very moment are frozen bananas. It's the super ingredient to making luscious vegan ice creams of all flavours. This in turn means that it's that time of year again where we have to buy extra bunches of bananas at the market, regardless of the suspicious looks as to whether we are hiding a heard of monkeys in our basement. I'm talking 3 or 4 bunches per week! All to be frozen and packaged into the freezer for nice cream making shenanegans. Just go ahead and ignore the concerned onlookers, who think you may have gone a bit, well....bananas. Trust me, it's worth the freezer full.

Learning how to make my own nice cream has truly been a blessing, because it's a sweet treat I missed so much after turning to a plant-based diet. Although the transition opened so many new avenues for cooking delicious wholesome meals, it closed doors on some of my favourites ones - such as my beloved frozen summer treat. Some struggle to give up cheese, but my achilles heel was ice cream. Turns out, there is still much to do on the vegan front for ice cream...The store bought ones are often so hard, and they don't have that creamy smooth texture that regular ice cream offers. Not to mention the choices are limited. I long for the day where vegan nice cream parlours are as popular as Starbucks on street corners; ones that offer dozens upon dozens of flavours and combos. But thank the stars that I discovered the magic of frozen bananas to create dreamy vegan ice cream at home, with no ice cream maker needed, and in a matter of minutes. Not to mention, frozen bananas is such a healthier alternative to traditional ice cream. Open the gates of Troy, it seems the plant-based diet is ready for battle!

To make nice cream it begins, of course, with frozen bananas as the base. From there you can add whatever ingredients you like to flavour. The options are endless! I like frozen peaches, cherries, peanut butter or matcha. Simply toss the ingredients into your food proccessor, blend together, and in minutes you've got smooth and silky vegan ice cream that will have the ice cream truck running for its money.

This Matcha Green Tea Nice Cream blends frozen bananas with a bit of coconut milk and some quality matcha for a premium green tea ice cream. The flavour is aromatic, rich and the perfect sweetness. It's creamy and smooth, with that lasting desire for another bite just after you've swallowed. You won't even believe that something so easy could taste so good! To make Matcha Green Tea Nice Cream I recommend using a quality brand of matcha. Matcha is one of those ingredients where you get what you pay for. At least in my experience, the cheaper matchas have a really bitter taste and chalky texture. No good for tea, nor ice cream. Nobody wants to bite in to a cold bitter ball, amirite? For this nice cream recipe I've used matcha that was sent to me as a gift from the The Matcha Reserve. It is my new favourite matcha hands down - being naturally sweet, aromatic and smooth. You can order off their website, or try buying your matcha from a larger quality tea shop like Davids Tea or Kusmi. They also have great matchas, and are a little more accessible. I promise the extra few bucks for a premium matcha is worth it, both for tea and this gorgeous vegan ice cream.

So go (frozen) bananas for this Matcha Green Tea Nice Cream, and get those frozen summer treats flowing! I've no doubt that you're gonna love this one, SO MATCHA!

Matcha Green Tea Nice Cream

Serves: 2 | Prep Time: 20 mins| Freeze Time: 0 mins, or 2 hrs (for solid serve)

Ingredients:

2 heaping cups frozen bananas, chopped
1 shot (1.5 fl oz) coconut milk
2 tsp quality matcha green tea

Directions:

Push frozen bananas through your food processor using the shredding disc.
Remove shredding disc from food processor and push in the standard S-shape blade. Add 1 shot coconut milk and matcha green tea powder. Blend nice cream mixture until smooth (approx. 3 minutes).
For soft serve style ice cream serve right away. For a harder ice cream transfer nice cream to a parchment-lined freezer-safe container and cover loosely with foil. Place in freezer to chill for 2 hours. Set out at least 20 minutes before serving for easier scooping.

Note: Nice-cream will keep in freezer for up to one week, but best when fresh.

Approvals: