Cooling Summer Desserts
Author: be well™ with Big Y® Registered Dietitian Team
The unsung heroes for nourishing summer treats: freezer meets fruit.
As heat waves pass through and summer proves it has finally arrived, you may find your craving for cold treats come on strong. This is the perfect time to lean on your freezer and whip up nourishing alternatives to traditional ice cream and ice cream novelties.
From mashed frozen banana “nice” cream to homemade yogurt pops, kids of all ages will surely enjoy making (and tasting!) these cooling summer desserts:
Nice Cream
This treat is based on a recent fad thanks to frozen bananas. As simple as it gets, you blend frozen bananas in a food processor until they reach a creamy consistency. That’s it! You can keep your “nice” cream as is or try different add-ins like a drizzle of local honey, sprinkle of cinnamon or touch of milk.
Experiment outside the banana peel and learn what other frozen fruits blend into crave-worthy nice cream. Maybe mango with coconut milk or peaches with a dollop of yogurt?
Frozen Pops
Whether you’re using an old-school paper cup with a popsicle stick, a standard rectangle with round top plastic mold, a fun zombie mold made from flexible silicone or picked up a pack of freeze pop-style plastic baggies, there’s so much more to be done with frozen pops than when we were kids. Here are a few of our favorite combinations:
The Classic
100% juice made with straight up orange juice or an apple-grape juice blend.
Nothing but Fruit
Take your favorite fresh, frozen or even canned fruit, blend them up alone or in combination and freeze. You end up with chunks of sweet goodness for a frozen, chewy treat.
Smoothie-rific
Think smoothie but in frozen pop form. Whether you make a batch strictly for freezing or repurpose leftovers from morning smoothies, freezing combinations of fruit blended with veggies, juice and ice adds a fun tasting twist to your typical pop.
More Than a Pop
Turn your pop into a snack by adding a source of protein and dab of fat. Blending in cow’s milk, yogurt, protein powder, nut butter such as almond butter and seeds like chia and flax, will provide nutrients perfect for satiating a hungry appetite in between meals.
There are endless combinations of fruit-based frozen desserts to create during the weeks of summer. The best part is trying out different recipes until you find the one that hits the sweet spot. Either way, it’s a tasty endeavor for staying cool while you #HaveAPlant!
Published 7/4/2022