Sweet, spicy Chai-Coconut Milk popsicles with whimsical, chewy Boba (Bubble Tea tapioca) pearls! Perhaps the most fun summer popsicle yet!
Do you have a food that just plain makes you happy? Maybe cupcakes with pink frosting? Dessert with sprinkles on top? For me, hands down, it’s Boba or Bubble Tea. Boba is large size tapioca pearl, that when cooked becomes a ½ inch diameter squishy orb taking on the flavor of the liquid in which it is cooked or stored. Generally boba are added to a tea and sweetened milk. Seeing the little balls bobbing in the bottom of the glass is nothing less than pure whimsy for me. Sucking them through the extra large straws built to accommodate their rotund size has the effect of a batting cage ball machine hurling them inside your mouth. It is a completely fun drink.
I recently started making boba at home. Dried boba is available at most Asian food stores. I found each the traditional dark boba and a very festive white mixed with pastel colors. Either follow the package directions (or the recipe below), and consume straight away or store refrigerated in a homemade simple sugar mixture (1 part boiling water to 1 part granulated sugar; mix to dissolve sugar) until using.
When boba are freshly made they are light and supple. After storing them they become a bit chewier. They are still fun but best when first prepared or shortly afterwards. If adding them to a drink any cool tea or tea/milk mixture is a perfect fit. I will warn you however, it is addictive!
When I jumped on my summer popsicle kick, making a Chai blend Boba Popsicle was one of the first thoughts. I love iced chai in the summer and really have become hooked on a local brand; Bhakti Chai. This is not a sponsored endorsement but once I tried this chai a few years ago there was no turning back. For those who have not had chai it is a spicy Indian tea that is also sweet. Bhakti Chai is very spicy and full bodied, not holding back on the flavor in the least. I’ve found since trying it most other chai tastes, well, a bit wimpy. I will add I checked their website before writing this not wanting to tease and they have a tool to find it in your area or order the concentrate online.
The combination of Bhakti Chai and coconut milk was just the ticket. Exotic, spicy, flavorful and when adding the prepared boba, I found it a full sensory delight! I love the look of little polka dots in the popsicles. When eating the icy pop the boba are still chewy and fun. This may be my favorite popsicle yet!
Recipe
Chai-Coconut Milk Boba {Bubble Tea} Popsicles
Ingredients
- 1 cup prepared Boba (3/4 cup dry yield 1 cup cooked)
- 8 ounces Chai concentrate
- 8 ounces Coconut Milk
- 10 popsicle sticks
Instructions
- To prepare Boba: Either follow package directions or if purchasing it in bulk, combine ¾ cups dried boba with 6 cups boiling water. When the boba begin to float (in just a few minutes), turn heat to medium and allow to simmer for 12 minutes. After 12 minutes, turn off the heat and allow the boba to sit in the heated water for 15 additional minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and continue with the recipe.
- Combine the boba, chai and coconut milk in a bowl or jar and allow to sit for 30 minutes.
- After thirty minutes, strain the liquid from the boba, reserving the liquid. Evenly spoon the boba in the popsicle molds.
- Place chai-milk mixture in a measuring cup or other container with a spout to make pouring easier. Evenly pour the chai into the popsicle molds.
- Place the lid of the popsicle mold on top of the filled molds. Add a sheet of foil over the lid to help secure the popsicle sticks. Insert the sticks into the molds and place into the freezer. Freeze fully.
- To remove popsicles from the molds run the molds (not the exposed top with the stick) under hot water for a few seconds until popsicles remove easily.
Notes
Nutrition
Photography note: Photograph of glass of Bubble Tea from iStock. All other photographs original to BoulderLocavore.com
sue/the view from great island says
Toni this is a brilliant idea!
Jasmine says
Does the boba get hard and lose its chewy texture when you freeze it?
Toni Dash says
It doesn’t actually. It is more stiff than when it is normally in bubble tea but its still very chewy and adds that same fun aspect to the popsicle.
Sarah says
BRILLIANT! All of my flavors all in one place. Now I need a popsicle mold!
Priscilla | ShesCookin says
There’s dried boba you can make at home – who knew! Great idea to put them in popsicles – Happy time 🙂
Toni Dash says
Isn’t that right? Who knew! And it’s sooo easy to make them. Now all we need to do is figure out how to get those stuffed germs out of the mainstream kiddy public and all will be right with the world (re: Instagram).
Christina @ Scaredy Cat Kitchen says
Oh my gosh! I am obsessed with bubble tea and now I think I may pass out a little. So many good things in this recipe!
Toni Dash says
Ha! I too am obsessed with Boba; it’s an alluringly captivating drink. Now you can make it at home and make it in these popsicles! What could be better?!
Mr. & Mrs. P says
Never tried bob a before.. So curious to try it!!!
Toni Dash says
You MUST! It is the most fun drink, and I really mean that. The tea blend itself is sweet but there is something about these boba popping into your mouth, always feeling a bit unexpected, that is fantastic. How can resist something called ‘Bubble Tea’ either? Not me.
Becky LeJeune says
Oh, boba is definitely one of those things that makes me happy as well! I’ve not tried making them myself but I’ll have to now. Where did you find the dried boba? Pom?
Toni Dash says
Hi Becky! I got them at the Asian Seafood Market on 28th in Boulder. They sell the Boba straws as well!
Katrina @ In Katrina's Kitchen says
I had bubble tea in Toronto recently and I miss it so much- I can’t get it anywhere around here in backwoods-middle-of-nowhere Ohio. Really loving this recipe!