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Nut Milk Creamsicles with Boba

Cold, Desserts, Food, Healthy, Ice Cream
By Emma Chapman

Nut Milk Creamsicles with Boba (via abeautifulmess.com)It’s springtime, guys. And that means it’s time to get out our popsicle molds and get creative! I love making homemade ice cream and other frozen treats, but it’s so hard to get excited about that kind of thing during the cold winter months. But I’ve been able to pull out my sandals multiple times within the last few weeks, so I’m feeling the frozen treats!

Something a little different about these is we’re going to be making our own flavored nut milks as the base of these popsicles. If you’re a dairy-free person, then you are in luck today! I don’t always eat dairy free. In fact I’m probably about as addicted to cheese as I am coffee. But, I am a massive food fan, so I love anything with a lot of flavor and I love trying new flavors. I really love how these creamy treats are actually pretty healthy without missing flavor—plus the boba pearls really change up the texture!

Nut Milk Creamsicles with Boba (via abeautifulmess.com) I’m going to show you how to make two different kinds of nut milks, but I’d also like to admit that the third flavor you see (the white, vanilla popsicles) was made using Califia Vanilla Almond Milk. So, if you don’t have the patience to make your own nut milks, then you can just buy a store bought version, add a little more sweetener if you like, and freeze with boba pearls to get the same result.

How to make nut milkFirst we need to prep our nuts. Here you can see the pistachios and hazelnuts soaking. Even before this, you need to remove the skins from the nuts as the skins can cause a bitter taste in your milk. For the pistachios, I rubbed the shelled nuts together inside a kitchen towel and that pretty much removed most of the skins for me.

The hazelnuts however were being a bit stubborn. To remove the hazelnut skins, I decided to try Alice Medrich’s method (found via My Baking Addiction). I was working with 1/2 cup hazelnuts. In a pot I brought 1 cup of water to a boil, and then sprinkled in a spoonful (literally a soup spoon, no precise measurement) of baking soda. Then I added the hazelnuts and let them cook for 3 minutes. The water turned a blackish red that looked totally unappealing. The road to dessert is often strange I suppose. Then I drained the nuts, plunged into cold water (so I could easily handle them), and then easily rubbed off the skins with my fingertips. I was shocked how well this worked! So much more precise than the kitchen towel method. I’m a new convert!

Once you have your nuts ready, soak in just enough water to cover them for at least 8 hours or overnight. 

Pistachio nut milk recipePistachio Nut Milk, makes about 2 cups.

1/2 cup pistachio nuts
1-2 tablespoons honey (or other sweetener you prefer)
2 cups very hot water (nearly boiling)

After you soak the nuts overnight, strain and place the nuts in a blender. Heat 2 cups of water until very hot, nearly boiling. Add the hot water and sweetener to the blender and puree for 1 minute. Strain through a fine mesh sieve covered with cheesecloth. You can store this in the refrigerator to cool it down, but be sure to shake before use as the milk may slightly separate as it sits on the shelf.

I am curious, do any of you have thoughts on ways to put the nut meal (leftover after straining) to good use? Can you bake with it, or is it only good for compost? I’d love to hear your thoughts or suggestions.

You can easily double this recipe if you like. This will make 3-4 popsicles, so if you want more or if you just like having nut milk on hand for sipping or adding to coffee, then I highly recommend doubling this recipe.

Chocolate hazelnut milk recipeChocolate Hazelnut Milk, makes about 2 cups.

1/2 cup hazelnuts
1-2 tablespoons brown sugar (or other sweetener you prefer)
1 1/2 teaspoons cocoa
2 cups hot water (nearly boiling)

After you soak the nuts overnight, strain and place the nuts in a blender. Heat 2 cups of water until very hot, nearly boiling. Add the hot water, cocoa, and sweetener to the blender and puree for 1 minute. Strain through a fine mesh sieve covered with cheesecloth. You can store this in the refrigerator to cool it down, but be sure to shake before use as the milk may slightly separate as it sits on the shelf.

You can easily double this recipe if you like. This will make 3-4 popsicles, so if you want more or if you just like having nut milk on hand for sipping or adding to coffee, then I highly recommend doubling this recipe.

How to cook bobaOnce your nut milks are ready, all you need is some cooked boba pearls. You can find these at many Asian markets or you can buy them online. If you’ve never cooked boba pearls at home before—don’t worry! It’s really quite easy. You can read my method here. 

For 10-12 popsicles you’ll only need about 1/2 cup cooked boba pearls. Feel free to make more if you want to make a boba drink on the same day. 🙂

Nut Milk Creamsicles with Boba (via abeautifulmess.com) Pour the nut milks into the popsicle molds so they are 2/3 to 3/4 full, then add the sweetened boba. Freeze overnight.

Nut Milk Creamsicles with Boba (via abeautifulmess.com) This recipe is for lightly sweetened nut milk creamsicles. If you find that you want a little more sweetness, just be sure to taste the milk before pouring it into your molds, and you can easily add more sweetener and stir to dissolve. I leave your sweetness level destiny in your own hands. Enjoy! xo. Emma

Credits // Author and Photography: Emma Chapman. Photos edited with A Beautiful Mess actions.

67 Comments

  • I first tried boba pearls in bubble tea and I loved their texture! Have to try them in creamsicles 🙂

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  • These look amazing! I keep hearing how nut milk is cheap to make, but I think these delicious photos have finally convinced me to give it a try. (If popsicles can’t convince a person, I don’t know what would!)

    http://www.modcircus.com/

    Reply

  • I made homemade almond milk for the first time a few days ago, and I drank it so fast (it was SO good), I wish I had some leftover to make popsicles. I’ve never tried making nut milk with other nuts, but this gives me the perfect reason to experiment!

    M.

    Reply

  • I know for almonds you dry it out and it’s almond flour! I think you can do it in the oven but almost every post on nut milk (ew…) has directions on how to make the pulp into flour. Great post!

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  • i never would have thought to throw boba into a Popsicle! Loving this idea, I’ll have to try it out!

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  • What an amazing idea! I don’t eat dairy or grains so I’m excited to see a recipe like this. I’m inspired to try this with coconut milk – even a simple smoothie recipe with the boba added in as a popsicle – so many options! When you don’t eat grains, tapioca is THE best flour alternative. I encourage you to try making a bread with it, for fun, I think you’d love it!

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  • YESSSSSSSSSS. BOOOOHHHHHHHBAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH. boba everything.
    and also – i laughed way too hard at “nut milk”. I’M SORRY. i’m only human.

    Reply

  • As a vegan, I love this recipe and greatly appreciate you used nuts beyond the standard almonds.

    PLEASE share if you find ways to use the nutmeats, post-nut milk-making!

    Thanks!

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  • You can add the pulp to banana bread (or any baked good really), or use it as part of a streusel topping after toasting it lightly in a cast iron skillet.

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  • Me too! Lol!! So glad I’m not the only one. Seriously though, these looks amazing. Definitely adding them to my “Summer Treats” list 🙂

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  • Loved it!
    I have one question though. If, for example, I wanted to make flavours like strawberry, blueberry or raspberry, what kind of milk should I use? The procedures would be the same, right?
    Btw, very interesting post. Xo

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  • Love this. I’m wondering 2 things – first, where do you get the boba? and second, what exactly IS nut milk? I mean at a chemical level I guess.

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  • Oh my goodness! I nearly skipped past this post, until Boba caught my eye!! I am in love with bubble tea, and so to me these look amazing! Thank you for the recipe and inspiration! x

    Miss Imogen Smith

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  • I love the idea of making your own nut milk! The chocolate hazelnut looks so yummy, and your directions are surprisingly simple. Thank you, Emma!

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  • I think it depends on what kind of nuts you use. Some nuts are more expensive than others. But it’s pretty much just nuts and water so it can be very inexpensive. 🙂

    -Emma

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  • Yes-I saw a few that said you should dry it out in the oven. I may try that next time. I’m just wondering if it takes a long time? Might not be a super fun thing to try now that the weather is warming up.

    -Emma

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  • How cool that you show how to make the milks instead of just buying them at the store! Such a cool skill to have. These popsicles look great and I’m sure they taste just as good – in addition to being healthy! Great photos, great recipe, great post 🙂 xx

    Brooke | brookewrote

    Reply

  • Ha! Yes, “nut milk” is not so appetizing sounding. Some people use a special bag to drain the nut pulp from the water and it’s called (as you might guess) a “nut bag.” Which I can’t help but giggle at. Because I’m SO mature. Always.

    🙂

    -Emma

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  • I’m not super familiar with whole 30 (although Elsie is doing it now so I’ve been learning some from her) but I bet you’ll want to omit the sweeteners and the boba if you’re strict about it. Just FYI.

    Best of luck!

    -Emma

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  • I’ve never tried bubble tea butthese look so gooood!

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  • Yum! I love the idea of hazelnut milk. You can use almond pulp in power ball type no-bake recipes, as someone already mentioned, and there is a yummy chocolate cookie on Danielle Walker’s blog, Against All Grain, specifically designed for using leftover almond pulp. You could probably also mix it in to granola or granola bar type things before baking (I do this with the leftover coconut from homemade coconut milk too). I store it in the freezer unless using really soon.

    Reply

  • You can do it in the oven at 250degrees F- it won’t take very long just keep an eye on it – or in a food dehydrator if you have access to one of those. Once you’re done and it’s cooled off, run it through the blender or food processor, and there you have it! This recipe looks great, I never thought to try to make pistachio milk. Pecan milk is amaaaaaaazing, too.

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  • These popsicles look sooo tasty, and we’re already in the mood for summer here in Vancouver. I make my own almond milk sometimes and I always save the ground-up almond meal. I’ve added it to cookies when I’m baking, and to smoothies, I find it’s really nice in oatmeal cookies because you don’t notice the rough texture. There’s not much nut flavour left anymore, but there’s lots of fibre.

    Reply

  • You can throw the nut pulp into smoothies or toss with grains to bake as granola. If you dry it out (try a low oven for an hour or two), use it like a nut flour and replace 25% or so in bread/cookies/scones/ whatever you want!

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  • These look SO GOOD!

    I will definitely be making some of these (although honestly it doesn’t seem totally worth it to make the milk from scratch. Ill probably buy some and then just modify. I’m lazy.)

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  • I made oat milk once and also got a lot of scraps. I felt bad about just throwing it away, so I made pancakes with it! It was really good, just add an egg, some salt and vanilla and cook slowly so that they won’t fall apart 🙂

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  • I love this idea, and at last the weather is warm enough to enjoy it. Try nut cheese with the pulp! My favourite is almond ‘feta’. Just add a clove of garlic, lemon juice, herbs (I like rosemary), seasoning, and as much nutritional yeast as you like. If the pulp is a little dry, add a bit more water and leave for a few hours. I like it raw as a spread, but it’s amazing baked too.

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  • I will definitely be making these!! Plus, I’m sure I could think of other ways to use the nut milk. A smoothie sounds pretty good right about now.

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  • Excellent idea, Emma ! I love ice cream but this love seems incompatible with my crazy need to fit into my pants… Nut milk might help with that !

    Personally, whenever I prepare hazelnut milk I just use tap water, instead of hot water, and then I spread the remaining pulp on a baking sheet and put it in the oven at 350°F for half an hour max. Once it’s dry-ish and still hot from the oven, I transfer the toasted pulp into an air-tight container and use it in the following month to bake kick-ass carrot cakes, or anything that could use some hazelnut (which is basically anything, let’s be honest).

    Reply

  • These look good. A good measure to keep the hot in bay. I’m going to make it for sure. Thanks for the recipe dear. And I love your blog so much. Colorful and joyful. Waiting for your new post.

    Reply

  • Well I’ve tried adding those nut leftovers into homemade granola and it’s awesome! U may try it!

    Reply

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