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Roasted Peach and Vanilla Bean Matcha Popsicles
Summer kicked off this week, we’ve had a killer heat wave in Southern California and wait for it…it’s also #popsicleweek!! ‘What is popsicle week?’, you ask. It’s just an epic celebration with basically ALL the food bloggers of the entire internet participating. OK that may be a bit of an overstatement, but whatevs, it’s over 100 popsicle recipes brought to us by our friend Billy of Wit & Vinegar. That’s right, for the fourth year in a row, the king of popsicles has declared a whole week dedicated to this summer-inspired frosty goodness on a stick.
So, this week is awesome and the popsicle week party is pretty much the be all end all of summertime frozen goodness. For my first popsicle recipe of the season, I bring you these beautiful, tasty Roasted Peach and Vanilla Bean Matcha Popsicles. Loaded with vibrant color and flavor.
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Coconut Apricot Cardamom Bourbon Popsicles {Vegan}
Thankfully it has since broke, but this past week, we had the most insane heat wave here in Southern California. After living here just over a year, I haven’t felt anything quite like this. Several days of right around 100ºF and many days even a few degrees more. Now, we don’t get any of that nasty humidity I am used to from my days on the East Coast, but mugginess or not, 100 degrees is DAMN hot.
Early in the week, we had been in the desert, in Palm Springs, on a much needed anniversary getaway and we came home ready to work our butts off on the various projects we have going on in our cooler beach breeze town of Long Beach. Instead, without any air conditioning and not a breeze to be found, we found ourselves doing a lot of laying around in undergarments, drinking tons of water and we planned lots of meals at restaurants in air conditioning. Seriously guys, I sweat in places this week, that I didn’t even know was possible.
After our lovely organic farmer, Tony, dropped off our CSA box on Wednesday afternoon, I took a peek inside at the goodies and saw some beautiful freshly picked apricots and I instantly thought that they would be perfect for some boozy popsicles for the next day, that might help take my mind off of the furnace we were living in.
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Roasted Balsamic Fig Popsicles – (Gluten-free & Dairy-free w/Vegan Option)
I know to many of you, sharing a popsicle recipe in September might seem silly, it seems everyone has already made the switch to fall foods, but we had some seriously hot weather out here in Southern California last week, it was in the 90s for several days in a row. Even in spite of that, I am not looking to rush summer off so quickly. I love it, we have plenty of months ahead to enjoy pumpkin recipes and hot soups, let’s enjoy this while we have it.
We are back down to more manageable temperatures this week, but I am sure we will get more of that heat again before we totally settle into fall, so treats like this will be perfect. A great way to enjoy what is fresh and in-season, but appropriate to the temperatures. In the midst of that heat I was still picking figs from our tree and although I have tons of baked goods and other delicious recipes for the figs lined up, I wasn’t in the mood for any of them. I wanted something light, cooling and sweet. I was able to roast the figs for this recipe early in the morning when it was still cool out, so it didn’t affect the temperature of the house too much, you could also roast them at night and place them into the fridge until the next day.
After the popsicles had set and were totally frozen, I ended up waiting until mid-afternooon the next day to enjoy one outside on the deck in the sun, during the hottest part of the day and it was heaven! These popsicles are so creamy and rich, the perfect amount of sweetness with a lovely robust and almost savory flavor from the balsamic roasted figs. You could also roast the figs with a red wine or liquor, such as Grand Marnier, Chartreuse, or Cointreau, you just might want to take down how much honey you add, though, so they aren’t too sweet. Read the rest of this entry »
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Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Popsicles – Gluten-free + Refined Sugar-Free
If someone tells you they couldn’t devour a large amount of chocolate chip cookie dough, if given a chance, they are lying. There is no way around it. It has to be some of the yummiest stuff that man has ever created. So how about some summer-ready chocolate chip cookie dough, without the flour or raw eggs, the heat of the oven and the mess in the kitchen?
A week or two ago a vegan friend of mine posted a link to some chocolate chip cookie dough popsicles made with whole milk and two kinds of refined sugar. He mentioned wanting to figure out how to make them vegan. I of course decided to help out and veganize the recipe. Yeh, I wanted to help him, but selfishly as soon as he posted the link, I was unable to get them out of my mind and I couldn’t wait to get a cookie dough popsicle into my tummy! Read the rest of this entry »
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Strawberry Coconut Frozen Fruit Pops / Smoothie – Gluten-free, Vegan + Sugar-free
This week as part of my ongoing Restricted Diet series with Free People, I created a simple Strawberry Coconut Smoothie recipe featuring the beautiful fresh strawberries that are in season here in California right now. I still cannot believe how much earlier in the year they are in season here, they are everywhere and so delicious.
When I made the smoothie to photograph it, I wasn’t in the least bit hungry so I didn’t want to drink it, but I obviously also didn’t want to just pour it out, so I was thinking of what I could do with the mixture. Then I recalled the popsicle molds I got for Christmas from my mom and dad. Perfect!
I just poured the mixture in and let it freeze up. Later that night I was ready for a treat! Here’s the original post on Free People highlighting the smoothie, but I couldn’t let these frozen fruit pops go ignored!
Since there is no sugar or sweetener in these, when they freeze up they aren’t overly sweet. Just the perfect amount sweetness from the bananas and strawberries and just a little tartness, too. If you like things to be a bit sweeter, you can add a little honey or maple syrup, or even try blending 1 or 2 dates into the mixture. Also, depending on how much coconut you add to the mixture, if you decide to, you will see pretty white flecks of coconut in the pops. I didn’t think to add any until it was too late, but next time I certainly will.
[print_this]Strawberry Coconut Frozen Fruit Pops / Smoothie – Gluten-free, Vegan + Sugar-free
makes 6 frozen pops or 1 large smoothie
1 cup fresh organic strawberries, hulled
1 frozen organic banana
3/4 cup Unsweetened Organic Coconut Milk(light or full fat)*
1/2 cup ice cold cold water
1 tablespoon Chia Seeds
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, optionalAdd all of the ingredients to your blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Pour into a glass and serve for the smoothie. If you are making the frozen fruit pops – pour the mixture into your popsicle molds and chill for a minimum of 4 hours or until completely solid.
I use these popsicle molds – Tovolo Groovy Ice Pop Molds
*Note – Look for a non-BPA containing canned coconut milk, if you can.
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