It’s summer time! And that means it’s time for ice cream. But ice cream isn’t necessarily a healthy snack. It’s jam-packed with sugar, colorings and anything else that isn’t too good for you. When I was little my mom would thus make us popsicles with yoghurt, banana and instant lemonade. I have very vivid memories of these fruity delectable treats and so when I bought myself some ice lolly molds from IKEA last year, I immediately made myself some. Come this year, I’ve brought them back and and decided to show you the process so you can make your own healthy snacks for hot summer days.
Ingredients:
- 1 can of coconut milk (find the one with the fewest additives)
- 1 cup of fresh strawberries (rinse and cut off the greens)
- 1 banana
- 1 cup of frozen blueberries (you can use fresh ones if you’d like)
You can of course use yoghurt (pick whichever you want), and even water to make these. You just need a liquid to make sure you can blend everything. I prefer coconut milk as it makes for a very creamy texture and also has a bit of a naturally sweet taste to it. I add banana to sweeten things up. When you make frozen foods the freezing will take away some of the flavor, so to make sure these still taste a bit sweet when eating them, you need to add something. Plus the banana will make for a firmer texture as well.
Tools:
- Blender (if using frozen fruits, make sure your blender can handle that)
- Ice lolly molds (mine are from IKEA and are the only ones that fit into my freezer)
Step 1:
Add the fruit to the blender. Start with the frozen fruits if you’re using that, it’s easier on your blender. Finish off with your liquids, wait a bit for it to reach the bottom.
Step 2:
Blend until smooth. I ended up with way too much of this, but that’s okay: you can simply drink it as a smoothie.
Step 3:
Fill up your molds. Dont’fill them all the way to the top. My molds have a little stripe to where you should fill them up. Freezing liquids will expand so you need to give your popsicles some room else they might spill in your freezer before settling properly.
Step 4:
Pop in the tops and place in freezer. It takes a few hours for them to freeze completely. Your best bet is to leave them in overnight or up to 8 hours to ensure they are solid. You remover the mold by running it under hot water for a few seconds.
Et voilá! Perfect sugar free and dairy free popsicles. Obviously these will NOT be as sweet as traditional ice cream that you buy at ice cream parlors or from the store. However, they are still tasty and make for a great summer treat. If you made these and don’t find them sweet enough, you can always add in a bit of honey or maple syrup to give them a bit more of a kick.
You can use any fruits you like to make these. From peaches to apricots to kiwifruit to pineapple to mango to well anything you like really. Another option is to only blend some of the fruit and leave some fruit whole or in chunks and add them to the mixture later on or add them to the molds first and pour on the mixture. This will make for a pretty picture. Another option is to use different additives such as cocoa powder or shredded coconut for different flavors and textures. In other words: just be creative!
My advice: make these and eat them while chilling to this (even if it rains):
What’s your favorite summer treat?