Thai Tea Popsicles (vegan/dairy-free)

Hey there, friends! I saw someone post that this week is Popsicle Week or something like that, but I can’t seem to verify that anywhere. So is it Popsicle Week or not? If it’s not already, I suppose we can make it Popsicle Week. So yeah, happy Popsicle Week! Let’s celebrate with these Thai Tea Popsicles!

I must admit, I’ve run into some real dilemmas on occasion since going dairy-free. Here’s one of them: Thai tea.

I love the stuff. I was first introduced to it at the Thai restaurant we had in my college town, and let me tell you, that stuff is SWEET.  The amount of sugar in it lends it a taste not unlike melted ice cream. Between the sugar and the dairy and the orange food dye, it’s certainly not the best thing for me to be gulping down by the quart.

Typically Thai tea is made creamy and sweet by adding sweetened condensed milk, but I’ll be making a couple of adjustments here to lighten it up a little.

First of all, we’ll substitute the creaminess with nut milk. I used a coconut-almond milk blend, which I love for when I want something a little more thick & creamy than almond milk, but I don’t want to go for full-fat coconut milk flavor.

To sweeten it, I wanted to experiment with coconut sugar. Essentially it’s dehydrated coconut palm sap. On its own, I think it has sort of a caramel flavor. There are all kinds of claims about it having a lower glycemic index than refined white sugar as well as trace amounts of nutrients. And I’ve concluded that perhaps it’s slightly less bad for you than white sugar, or at least slightly less processed.

But guess what. It’s still sugar. And it’s still best in moderation. Coconut sugar is not some kind of miracle food that’s going to allow you to eat sweets all day with no consequences. So take this all with a grain of salt (or sugar) and experiment with it as you see fit. Personally, I wanted to try it out, and these Thai Tea Popsicles seemed like a great recipe to use it in, as far as flavors go.

If you’re looking for Thai tea, here’s the brand I have, though I’ll be honest–it was probably far cheaper in Thailand. This cheaper one also looks sort of promising. Your best bet might actually be to check out a local Asian market if you have that option. And maybe grab some ingredients for sushi and Thai curry while you’re there… 😉

No worries if you can’t seem to find the Thai tea bags anywhere! Essentially, it’s black tea with a hint of vanilla & spice flavor, plus orange food dye.

Without further ado, here’s the recipe!

You might also like: Chai Concentrate

If you try Thai Tea Popsicles at home, I’d love to hear what you think! Share pictures with me on social media by tagging @thesavvyplate on Instagram or Twitter or by mentioning my page The Savvy Plate Blog on Facebook!

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Thai Tea Popsicles

A dairy-free and lightened up version of restaurant Thai tea, but frozen in popsicle form!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American, Asian, Thai

Keyword popsicles, thai tea

Servings 6

Author Savannah

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups water
• 2 individual Thai tea bags
• 3 tbsp coconut sugar (brown or white will also be fine)
• 1/2 to 1 cup nut milk (I used an unsweetened coconut-almond blend.)

Instructions

1. Boil your water, and pour it over the tea bags. Steep for 10 minutes.

2. Remove the tea bags, and stir in sugar. Let stand another 10 to 15 minutes to cool.

3. Evenly distribute sweetened tea into popsicle molds, then add nut milk to fill line.

4. Freeze for 6 hours. If your popsicles need a little assistance in removal from the molds, try running the molds under hot water for a few seconds.

Recipe Notes

Each of my popsicle molds holds about 1/3 cup of liquid. You might want to measure yours first and adjust ingredients accordingly.

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