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Matcha Milkshakes are super easy summer treats that give you an energy boost for your day! With your favorite non-dairy milk and coconut-based vanilla ice cream (or any), this matcha dessert is great as a snack or a breakfast side. Just plop 3 simple ingredients in a blender, pour, and enjoy.
Hey Internet, whenever we need a little pick-me-up, matcha powder has been our go-to source of caffeine. It's a special green tea powder that is made by compressing green tea leaves into blocks or cakes.
Originally invented in China, Matcha got its distinct color from the Japanese, who chose to grow the tea plants in shade instead of full sun. This causes the leaves to produce more chlorophyll, giving matcha its iconic green color that is found in matcha lattes and green tea ice cream.
Matcha has various grades of quality ranging from culinary, which is yellower and has slight bitter notes, to the fresh, subtle flavors of premium quality, to the distantly bright green of ceremonial quality. The flavor quality, the amount of caffeine, and the various nutrients of the powders greatly increase with quality, though so do the costs.
We really like ceremonial grade matcha for not just the flavor, but it adds such a spectacular green to our matcha recipes. We used it in our Matcha Pound Cake, Vegan Matcha Cookies, Vegan Matcha Mug Cake, and our Vegan Iced Matcha Latte. They are quite beautiful!
This vegan matcha milkshake recipe is really easy to make. At its core, our creamy milkshake is a three ingredient recipe; with soy milk, vegan ice cream and matcha powder. All you need is a high-speed blender and a cup and you're good to go.
It's also easy to customize this recipe. An addition of maple syrup and/or fresh mint can really boost the flavors of the matcha green tea milkshake and don't really add any additional prep time.
So now let's get into these frosty matcha milkshakes.
Why You'll Love These Matcha Milkshakes
- CAFFEINE: We really prefer matcha over other caffeine sources. It wakes us up, but doesn't make us a wired as coffee or energy drinks. It can be a great part of a morning routine to wake you up.
- Simple Ingredients: Add non-dairy milk, such as soy or almond milk, vegan ice cream and matcha to a high speed blender. It's that easy!
- Easy to Customize: You can easily sub other ingredients to make this recipe work. Replace the 1.5 cups vanilla ice cream with frozen bananas for a lighter drink or switch from soy milk to coconut milk for a super rich experience.
Ingredients
Pick up these simple ingredients the next time you're at a grocery store. See the recipe card at the bottom of this post for full ingredients, instructions, and accurate nutritional information (to the best of my ability; please consult your physician or healthcare professional if you have specific dietary needs). I give substitutions for the ingredients in the section below this one, so most people can still make this recipe!
- 1.5 Cups Vegan Coconut-Based Ice Cream (about Three Scoops): You can use whatever vegan ice cream you want, but the richness of a coconut-based ice cream provides much more creamy shake. This really helps make each milkshake feel like a treat.
- 1.5 Teaspoons Matcha Powder: We personally go with high quality ceremonial matcha for the color and flavor, but it can be a bit expensive. We link this brand of matcha that we use when we are watching our budget.
- 0.5 Cup Non-Dairy Milk: We used soy milk for our shakes. It's lightly sweet which plays into the milkshake aspect of this drink.
Substitutions and Customizations
- Coconut Ice Cream: Most other non-dairy ice creams will work for this recipe, such as almond or cashew-based ice cream. You could also replace the ice cream 1:1 with frozen ripe bananas (I recommend peeling and cutting your bananas into smaller chunks, and choose bananas with skin that is covered with brown spots as it is much sweeter and creamier than plain yellow bananas).
- Soy Milk: Almond milk, pea milk and almost any other non-dairy milk should work. Just note that the fat content will affect the richness level of the shake you make.
- Make it Sweeter: 2 Tablespoons of pure maple syrup or Agave will give you a sweeter matcha milk shake.
- Make it More Interesting: Add a handful of fresh mint or a ½ teaspoon vanilla extract to add more flavors to your shakes.
How to Make Matcha Milkshakes
- Add to Blender: Place you coconut ice cream, matcha powder, non-dairy milk, and any customizations into a high speed blender.
- Blend: Start your blender on a slow speed and then gently increase the speed to max. Blend it for about 20-30 seconds.
- Serve: Pour your matcha milkshakes into glasses and enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
If that happens, you'll want to stop your blender and scrap down the sides of the blender with a spatula. Then resume the blending.
While you could add an additional ½ cup vanilla ice cream or so, consider adding ice to adjust the temperature. It's cheaper and will not affect the total calories! Alternatively stick the matcha milkshake in the freezer for 15 minutes.
Add a quarter to a half cup milk to the blender and blend again. It should be much better now!
Other Great Vegan Drinks
Matcha Milkshakes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 2 Milkshakes 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Matcha Milkshakes are super easy summer treats that give you an energy boost for your day! Just plop 3 ingredients in a blender and enjoy.
Ingredients
- 3 cups Vegan Coconut-Based Ice Cream (about Three Scoops)
- 2-3 Teaspoons Matcha Powder
- 1 cup Non-Dairy Milk
Instructions
- Add to Blender: Place you coconut ice cream, matcha, non-dairy milk, and any customizations to a high speed blender.
- Blend: Start your blender on a slow speed and then slowly increase the speed to max. Blend it for about 20-30 seconds.
- Serve: Pour your matcha milkshakes into glasses and enjoy!
Notes
- Note 1: If any of your matcha powder sticks to the sides, stop your blender and scrap down the sides of the blender with a spatula. Then resume blending.
- Note 2: Wondering what matcha powder to use? There are so many brands out there! We personally go with high quality ceremonial matcha for the color and flavor, but it can be a bit expensive. We link this brand of matcha that we use when we are watching our budget.
- Note 3: For a sweeter matcha milkshake, add a tablespoon or two of pure maple syrup or your favorite sweetener to the blender with the rest of the ingredients.
- Note 4: For a fresh and interesting flavor, add a handful of fresh mint leaves to the blender. A delicious addition! If you rub the mint leaves briefly in your hand before adding them, it makes the mint flavor a bit stronger.
- Note 5: For a lower calorie and more whole food plant based option, swap the ice cream for frozen ripe bananas! You can use the same amount. You may need slightly more non-dairy milk, but use what you like.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Dessert, Drink, Snack
- Method: Blender
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: Matcha Recipes, Matcha Desserts, Easy Dessert Recipes, Plant Based Recipes.
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