What is summer without a little sand, water, and of course ice cream? Frozen treats on a hot day that cool you down and feed the soul. However, the truth is dairy is not everyone’s friend. There have been many summer lake days that my child would say they felt sick and needed to lay down after enjoying a big ice cream cone at the beach. As a mom, I wanted to find a way for him to enjoy the frozen treats of summer without feeling sick and ruining his day after. Food should energize you and make you feel amazing, not laying in bed sick.
I began to play around with a few recipes in the kitchen. There were many “failed” attempts that my kids would take one bite and say they did not like it (my toughest critiques always!). However, after some trial and error, I began to produce frozen desserts without dairy and with minimal to no added sugar that not only made them happy but I too enjoyed them so much more than conventional desserts. I am sharing with you 7 frozen treat recipes I love to make for my family on a hot day. Enjoy!
7 Frozen Treat Recipes:
#1: Avocado, Coconut, & Lime Popsicles
Fresh lime juice and avocado are like culinary BFF’s in my books. Not only will it keep the avocado fresh tasting and avoid it turning brown but it adds a pop of freshness and citrus that makes these pops perfectly to cool you down in the summer. Coconut water is a great natural electrolyte which is perfect to hydrate you and keeps you cool on those hot summer days. Full recipe and pics in the bio link below,
https://rejoicenutritionwellness.com/…/avocado-coconut-lim…/
#2: Espresso Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream
This one is amazing and so easy to make.
Ingredients:
2 cups heavy cream or coconut cream
7 oz sweetened condensed milk
2-3 tbsp espresso powder
1/2 cup dark cacao chocolate chips or sugar-free chocolate chips
1 cup of ice
INSTRUCTIONS
1) Place all ingredients together in the blender minus the chips. Blend until its mixed well.
2) Stir in chocolate chips
3) Pour into a glass or metal container (I like a banana bread shaped pan best) Pop into the freezer for 4-6 hours.
4) Remove from the freeze and let sit on the counter for 10 min to thaw a bit before serving. ** tip I do like to add in 1 tbsp of vodka to my blender which helps it not freeze so hard and makes it easier to scoop, optional.
#3: Strawberries & Cream Popsicles
4 cups of strawberries, hulled and cut into pieces
3 tablespoon honey or sweetener of your choice
3 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
200 ml of coconut milk (full fat from the can)
INSTRUCTIONS:
1) Place the strawberries, sugar, and water into a blender. Blend until well mixed. Set this mixture aside.
2) Whip the cream and vanilla together with an electric hand-whisk or with a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment to form soft peaks.
3) Transfer the cream to a pourable jug. Add the strawberry puree to the whipped cream and swirl the mixture with a spoon.
4) Pour the mixture into popsicle molds and freeze for at least four hours or until set.
#4: Coconut Blue Pea Flower Nice Cream
Yup, it’s blue! Naturally blue thanks to the blue butterfly powder. You can buy it at most health food stores or online through amazon
Ingredients:
600ml coconut milk (full fat)
350g cream of coconut (this is your healthier, dairy-free alternative for condensed milk)
2 tsp blue butterfly powder
METHOD:
1) Whip cream until thickened.
2) Add coconut cream and blue pea powder and continue to mix until combined. Transfer into a container and freeze until solid.
3) Serve on its own or with fruit or other toppings.
#5: Purple Sweet Potato Blender Ice Cream:
I gave you a funky natural blue ice cream yesterday so you know I had to give you purple too! This one might sound a little weird but don’t knock it till you try it!
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups coconut milk, full-fat from the can
60 ml of honey or sweetener of choice (I like liquid monk fruit here)
3/4 cup chopped, boiled purple sweet potatoes
2 tsp vanilla extract
Optional -1 tbsp alcohol, such as vodka to help it not set too hard.
Instructions
Mix all the ingredients, except the vanilla and alcohol, together in a blender and mix until smooth.
Pour into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Once boiling, remove from the heat and whisk until smooth and thickened.
Stir in the vanilla and alcohol.
Pour into a container and chill overnight.
Serve as is or I like to add some fresh blackberries and coconut flakes onto before serving!
#6: Healthy Frozen Banana Pops
Healthy Frozen Banana Pops are so much fun and versatile. You can dip them in ANY melted nut or seed butter you like and sprinkle whatever toppings on them you have in your pantry. Kids have so much fun eating these. I have a Full How-to Video on Youtube you can watch to see how I make them.
As well, you can read the full Blog Recipe here for the banana pops for little and big kids.
#7: Matcha Ice Cream Sandwiches
Last but Not Least! Matcha Ice Cream Sandwiches!
All the health benefits and flavor of matcha ice cream in a #glutenfree easy to make sugar cookie! Yummy.
For the Matcha Ice Cream:
Ingredients:
3 frozen banana’s
2 tsp matcha powder
3 tbsp full-fat coconut cream (the hard stuff in the can)
2 tsp honey or monk fruit (taste and add more sweetener as you like)
Instructions
-
Slice bananas into little small pieces.
-
Freeze sliced banana pieces for at least 3 hours or overnight.
-
Using a food processor, blend frozen bananas until it’s smooth
-
Add the remaining ingredients and blend until it looks like soft-serve ice cream.
-
Transfer to a container and freeze for an hour while you make the cookies.
For the Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies:
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup softened unsalted butter (you can use ghee or coconut butter if you want dairy-free)
- 1 cup granulated cane sugar or monk fruit
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 cups almond flour
- 1/3 cup milk (your choice of cow or nut milk)
Instructions
-
In a mixing bowl, beat butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla till creamy. scrapping down the sides with a spatula.
- Add flour a bit at a time with a little milk and mix. Then add more flour and milk a little at a time until a thick dough forms. Cover the bowl with wrap and place in the fridge for 30 min- 1 hour to chill.
-
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Scoop rounded 1 Tbsp amounts of dough and gently roll to form into balls. Place 2 inches apart on the pan to allow for spreading. Bake 10-12 minutes until slightly browned.
- Allow them to totally cool.
Assemble your cookie ice cream sandwiches:
- Once your cookies are cooled. I like to remove the matcha ice cream to sit on the counter for a minute to make it easier to scoop at the same time I pop the cookies in the freezer so they are good and hard before I fill them.
- Now the ice cream is easy to scoop and the cookies are a little frozen you are ready to assemble.
- Place 1/8 cup of ice cream between 2 cookies, very gently squeeze them together so the ice cream covers the cookies. I place an ice cream sandwich back into the freezer while I work on the next one so they harden before serving.
- Ice cream sandwiches will keep for 2 weeks in the freezer in a sealed container.
hope you enjoyed this fun and tasty cold treats. Enjoy your summer. If you make one be sure to tag Rejoice Nutrition & Wellness Inc. on FB or Instagram so I can see your creation.
Xo,
Jo