Vanilla Green Tea Protein Soft Serve

All right gym rats, fitness foodies, flexible dieters, IIFYM-er’s (If It Fits Your Macros) and workout & kitchen wizards: this HIGH-PROTEIN recipe is just for you (and also check out the other High-Protein Recipes, too!). We’re going to take protein powder “high-brow” by adding in some Matcha green tea powder and using brewed green tea ice cubes to make a frozen vanilla green tea soft serve to remedy those green tea ice cream cravings that just never seem to make it into your daily macros. All you need is a blender! Let’s DO THIS!

Now, I know you’re really just here for the grams of protein, but green tea also has a lot of health benefits. It seemed to catch on as quite the fad “miracle food” (Summer Badawi talks about this phenomenon over at Feeding My Addiction and I’m dying to make her White Chocolate & Matcha Green Tea Protein Squares, although maybe without the white chocolate because I ain’t got the carbs & fat for that, people! I’m also pretty jazzed up about Jessica’s Matcha Green Tea Fudge Protein Bars from her book DIY Protein Bars – I made her Nutella Fudge Protein Bars and was suitably impressed – they have more grams of protein per calorie than even my beloved Quest Bars!). It has more antioxidants than black tea and more caffeine than herbal teas, making it touted as a great natural fat-burner and weight loss aid. Nice perks for those “natural” cutters out there!

This recipe will take a little bit of advance preparation to get the green tea ice cubes. However, I’m sure that if you’re a fitness and/or healthy food fanatic then you’re used to a little bit of advance planning. First you need to brew some green tea. Use not-quite-boiling water to avoid singeing the tea leaves.

Let the tea cool in the fridge. Then reserve 1/4 cup (62.5mL or 60g) and pour the rest into an ice cube tray (if you’ve got more than that, you can save or drink or discard the rest).

Once you’ve got the green tea ice cubes frozen solid, you’re ready to go!

Green tea ice cubes ready to become soft serve!

It helps if you have a high-speed blender like a Vitamix, but any regular blender or food processor will do if you have patience. If your blender has a tamper, use it to press the green tea ice cubes down during blending to ensure you get a creamy, soft-serve consistency.

Vanilla Green Tea Protein Soft Serve (Gluten-free, Low-carbohydrate, Low-fat, Refined sugar-free)

Servings: 1
Time: 5 minutes + make-ahead time to freeze green tea
Difficulty: easy
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This frozen treat blends subtle flavours of vanilla and green tea. Extremely low in carbohydrates and fat, it’s a great way to get additional protein in a way that tastes like a true treat!

Author: The Golden Graham Girl

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup (62.5mL or 60g) cold brewed green tea + 8-12 large frozen green tea ice cubes
1 tsp (5g) matcha green tea powder
1 scoop (28g) Quest Nutrition Vanilla Milkshake Protein Powder* OR your favourite vanilla whey protein powder PLUS 1/2 tsp (2g) xanthan gum* (this is an optional thickener and it is not required if using the Quest Milkshake Powder, as it already contains the thickeners cellulose gum and carrageenan – check the label of your protein powder for these items)
Optional: 1/2 – 1 tsp liquid chlorophyll* for a more intense green colour (note that I did NOT use this, hence the pale green colour of my soft serve)

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Add all ingredients in the order listed above to a high-speed blender (like a Vitamix) or food processor.
2. Begin blending/processing at a low speed and slowly increase the speed until you have a smooth and creamy soft serve consistency. You may notice the blending sound gets lower in pitch as more air is whipped into the mixture.
3. If equipped with one, use your blender’s tamper throughout to press green tea ice cubes down to ensure even blending. Otherwise, periodically stop the blender/processer and press pieces down with a spoon or spatula.
4. Serve immediately.