I was feeling a little nostalgic the other day for some old school after school treats, I decided to make these red bean popsicles. Red bean desserts were always a favorite of mine growing up, and especially the red bean popsicles of my childhood.

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After school we’d rush to the nearest ice cream “uncle” who would push his ice cream cart from location to location. Apart from the usual cornetto chocolate chip ice cream cones or fruit flavored popsicles, I’d go for the “potong” ice cream (which literally means “cut” in Malay). These were hand cut blocks of red bean or sweet corn ice cream wrapped in wax paper and handed to you with a bamboo skewer! Occasionally I’d opt for the potong ice cream to be served up on a piece of plain white bread…that was our childhood version of ice cream sandwiches!

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What if I can’t find raw red beans or adzuki beans?

I’ve found that many Asian supermarkets these days do carry raw red beans. At the very least many of them will sell either ready made red bean paste or canned red beans. Either of these options will work and you can proceed with the recipe by blending the paste or cooked canned beans with the milks in a blender.

This red bean ice cream couldn’t be easier to make, blending cooked red beans, coconut milk, regular milk and condensed milk and pouring the resulting milkshake into popsicle molds. Definitely give it a try. I’m just glad I made a double batch as these were polished off just as quickly as I could plate them.

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