Pop Goes the Banana
The moment you hear the meteorologist say the heat index will likely reach 108 degrees, you know it's going to be a scorcher. Even more than feeling horribly hot, the South Texas summer reality is also a hunger buster. Even our dogs aren't eating as much as they normally do.
As the temperatures reach triple digits, cold foods are winning foods.
Gazpacho is always a hit and I love that it gets better with time. Watermelon, cantaloupe and blueberries are also high on the list of snacks in our house. Bananas. Spoonfuls of peanut and almond butter are welcome energy boosters when you feel a little slump. But, as soon as the sun goes down, we celebrate our survival of another day of summer hell with something a little sweet that happens to be frozen.
We absolutely love making one-ingredient ice cream with frozen bananas, bananas and cocoa or strawberries, but there is something about popsicles that makes you feel like a kid again. Popsicles have the uncanny ability to turn even an excruciating(ly hot) day into something delicious.
It was a year ago when I had a garage sale and tried to sell a set of six popsicle molds. David was hoping the molds would not sell because he wanted me to make these key lime pie popsicles. As luck would have it, the popsicle molds did not sell, so, our #summer2016 popsicles are going to be these super easy banana-peanut butter numbers.
Loaded with potassium and vitamins and absolutely no refined sugars, even Nacho and Guero can get in on these cooling, creamy treats. If you're feeling the heat and need to get out of the kitchen, take these six ingredients to a blender and let these popsicles keep you cool. And happy.
For even more fun, share with friends and neighbors.
Buen provecho!
Banana-Peanut Butter Popsicles
The Cowgirl Gourmet thanks the Detoxinista for this great popsicle recipe
Print recipe
The riper the bananas are, the sweeter the popsicles will be, so let the bananas get nice and blotchy. To a blender, add your choice of plant-based milk, some peanut butter, a touch of honey and a splash of vanilla and a pinch of salt and let the freezer do the rest of the work.
If you want to change up the flavor a bit, you could replace the peanut butter with almond butter and then add a nice dose of cinnamon to make banana-cinnamon popsicles. Or sprinkle some chocolate chips into the batter and have a few dots of color and texture in each popsicle. If you want chocolate popsicles, add some cocoa to the blender.
Makes 6-8 popsicles
3 large (or 4 medium) very ripe bananas
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup plant-based milk (coconut, almond, hemp, cashew, etc.)
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste or vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon pink Himalayan salt
Place all ingredients in a blender and process until very smooth and creamy.
If needed, you can adjust the sweetness to taste, but keep in mind that frozen popsicles will be less sweet than the room temperature mixture.
Pour the batter into your popsicle molds, place a stick or the plastic stick in the middle of each mold and place in the freezer for six hours or until completely frozen. (I had some batter leftover and poured it into a ramekin which I froze and then served to happy dogs.)
To remove the frozen popsicles from the mold, run each popsicle under hot water for a few seconds and then they will loosen enough to slide right out.
As the temperatures reach triple digits, cold foods are winning foods.
Gazpacho is always a hit and I love that it gets better with time. Watermelon, cantaloupe and blueberries are also high on the list of snacks in our house. Bananas. Spoonfuls of peanut and almond butter are welcome energy boosters when you feel a little slump. But, as soon as the sun goes down, we celebrate our survival of another day of summer hell with something a little sweet that happens to be frozen.
We absolutely love making one-ingredient ice cream with frozen bananas, bananas and cocoa or strawberries, but there is something about popsicles that makes you feel like a kid again. Popsicles have the uncanny ability to turn even an excruciating(ly hot) day into something delicious.
It was a year ago when I had a garage sale and tried to sell a set of six popsicle molds. David was hoping the molds would not sell because he wanted me to make these key lime pie popsicles. As luck would have it, the popsicle molds did not sell, so, our #summer2016 popsicles are going to be these super easy banana-peanut butter numbers.
Loaded with potassium and vitamins and absolutely no refined sugars, even Nacho and Guero can get in on these cooling, creamy treats. If you're feeling the heat and need to get out of the kitchen, take these six ingredients to a blender and let these popsicles keep you cool. And happy.
For even more fun, share with friends and neighbors.
Buen provecho!
The Cowgirl Gourmet thanks the Detoxinista for this great popsicle recipe
Print recipe
The riper the bananas are, the sweeter the popsicles will be, so let the bananas get nice and blotchy. To a blender, add your choice of plant-based milk, some peanut butter, a touch of honey and a splash of vanilla and a pinch of salt and let the freezer do the rest of the work.
If you want to change up the flavor a bit, you could replace the peanut butter with almond butter and then add a nice dose of cinnamon to make banana-cinnamon popsicles. Or sprinkle some chocolate chips into the batter and have a few dots of color and texture in each popsicle. If you want chocolate popsicles, add some cocoa to the blender.
Makes 6-8 popsicles
3 large (or 4 medium) very ripe bananas
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup plant-based milk (coconut, almond, hemp, cashew, etc.)
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste or vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon pink Himalayan salt
Pour the batter into your popsicle molds, place a stick or the plastic stick in the middle of each mold and place in the freezer for six hours or until completely frozen. (I had some batter leftover and poured it into a ramekin which I froze and then served to happy dogs.)
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