Matcha Green Tea Vegan Ice-cream

My toddler made me pretty proud. His teacher told me that they colored ice-cream for a lesson at school and when she asked if his was green for mint chocolate chip he said "No, it's green tea". I am so happy that he's learning to associate healthy items with food and he knows what natural colors are. 
Of course I wanted to reinforce this lesson so I decided to make some green tea ice-cream. I have only recently tried matcha when our local tea shop started offering it 'bullet proof' style. It is so delicious and creamy, I like regular brewed green tea, but I love matcha! I made this recipe extra healthy by sweetening it with fruit. Matcha has some caffeine in it so we've been enjoying this treat earlier in the day. It is very rich and creamy so a small serving goes a long way. Enjoy!

Matcha Green Tea Vegan Ice Cream

Vegan, Gluten Free, Nut Free Option
Makes about 3 cups 

1 can full fat coconut milk
2 tablespoons matcha powder
1 cup dates*
1 cup water
2 tablespoons creamy unsalted almond butter (optional)

1. In a sauce pan over medium heat whisk together the coconut milk, water, matcha, and almond butter until the matcha and almond butter are dissolved. Do not boil.
2. Add the dates and turn the heat off.
3. Let the mixture sit for about 45 minutes so the tea flavor develops and the dates soften.
4. Add the entire pot to a blender and blend until completely smooth. I blended on high for about 1 minute. It will just depend on the power of your blender.
5. Let the mixture cool in the fridge for several hours or pop in the freezer for an hour.
6. Pour into an icecream maker per the manufacture instructions or if you don't have an icecream maker pour directly into pop molds, although it won't be quite as creamy.

Notes and Substitutions

• *I used deglet noor dates, a cup is 16-20. If you use medjool dates it will be 10-12. You can taste the mixture after you blend and add more if its not as sweet as you like.
• The almond butter is optional but it adds a nice layer of flavor and complements the grassy notes of the matcha. You can try a different nut or seed butter or leave it out to make it nut free.
• Here is an affiliate link to the ice-cream maker I use. 

Whisk together everything but the dates over medium heat.

Add dates and let the mixture sit for 45 minutes

Blend until smooth

Chill and then pour into icecream maker

Enjoy!

Do you like matcha?