Peanut Butter Banana & Jam Pops
The summer heat is on in the Northern hemisphere and we've been keeping cool with some icy treats. So today, I thought I'd share my tips and tricks for creamy dreamy nice cream and smoothie pops and a recipe for Peanut Butter Banana & Jam Pops, kind of like the sandwich but frozen and without the bread.
What is nice cream?
In case you're new to the concept, nice cream is basically frozen bananas blended into a perfectly creamy soft serve like texture. You can add other fruit to your hearts desire, frozen or fresh and other flavour add-ins like vanilla or other extracts, cinnamon, nut butter, cacao powder, and chocolate chips.
Here are my top tips for THE BEST nice cream:
Nice cream is best eaten right when it's made. That's the beauty of it after all, the instant gratification. You will however have to keep a generous amout of bananas in the freezer at all times to make it.
Nice cream leftovers can be frozen if need be, but they do solidify, making them harder to spoon out, so you'll have to let them sit at room temperature for a bit before you dig in.
The best kind of bananas for nice cream are ripe and slightly spotty as they’ll have the perfect texture and sweetness.
Peel and slice the banans into 1/2 inch slices then place them on a plate or baking sheet in a single layer and place them in the freezer until frozen. This prevents them from clumping together. Once they’re frozen, you can transfer them to a freezer friendly container until you are ready to use them.
I like to use banana’s as the base, then add frozen berries, cherries, peaches or apricots depending on the flavour I want.
Pro-tip: I prefer not to freeze in season berries, unless they're about to spoil, as I prefer to eat them fresh. So I always make sure to have at least one bag of mixed frozen organic berries from the supermarket in the freezer. It's great for nice cream but also great for topping a hot porridge, or making a quick compote for crepes, pancakes or dutch baby (recipes can be found in The HolisticNiss Pantry Guide).
Never add liquid, as it will make it runny. If you’re having a hard time blending things up, just let the banana’s thaw for a few minutes first then blend on high speed, scraping down the sides of the food processor or blender a few times, until you get a nice creamy scoopable texture. I find the heat created from blending is enough to get to that creamy texture.
Be sure to add enough fruit to the blender or food processor to get it going but don’t over load it as it will be difficult to make sure everything gets broken down and creamy at the same time.
What are smoothie pops & how do you make them?
Smoothie pops are basically a smoothie, poured into popsicle moulds and left to set in the freezer for a few hours until you have a creamy popsicle. The trick to making these is pretty simple, blend up your favourite smoothie ingredients, as you normally would, with one cavet - make it super thick with minimal liquid. The more liquid you had, the more icy they get and the less creamy they will be.
Why not just eat regular ice cream?
We love regular ice cream too. In fact, we go out for gelato and granita multiple times a week in the summer. We do live in Italy after all and with delicious options on literally every corner, we're spoiled with choice, and how could we resist. My favourite these days is pistachio gelato or lemon granita. But I digress...
I don’t consider nice cream and smoothie pops a replacement for ice cream or gelato per se, because there's always room for all of that in your life. If you want ice cream or gelato, or an icy oreo blizzard (thinking back to my childhood here) then by all means, go for it.
Nice cream and smoothie pops however are a nutritious, albeit delicious option that you can whip up at home.
The reason I love these, besides their cooling, refreshing, deliciousness is that they are loaded with fiber and micronutrients. You can further amplify their nutritional profile by adding nut butter for a dose of healthy fat and some protein.
They’re also perfect if you’re trying to reduce your added sugar intake as they are 100% whole food based without the added sugar. All the sweetness comes from the bananas and other fruits you add in - this also makes them perfect for weaning babies who haven’t been introduced to sugar yet.
So, let’s get to today’s peanut butter banana and jam “no sandwich” smoothie pops.
Peanut Butter, Banana & Strawberry Jam Smoothie Pops
Author Nissrine Boufawaz @ HolisticNiss.com
- Time 5 minutes + 4 hours to freeze
- Difficulty Easy
- Servings 4 Smoothie Pops
- Diet plant based, vegan, gluten free
- Category Dessert
Ingredients:
- 2 Bananas
- 1/4 - 1/3 Cup Smooth Peanut Butter (100% nothing added)*
- Non Sugar Added Strawberry Jam (or sub your favourite flavour)
Method:
- Add the bananas and peanut butter to a high speed blender and process until completely smooth.
- Pour the mixture into four popsicle moulds (more or less depending on the size of your moulds).
- Add 1-2 teaspoons of strawherry jam on top and swril into the mixture.
- Place in the freezer for at least 4 hours, or until completely set and you can remove from the moulds without destroying them. They can be stored for 5 days (or longer). While techinically they don't spoil after 5 days, the longer they sit, the more likely they are to get icy and freezer burnt.
Notes:
- If peanut allergies are an issue, you can use almond or hazelnut butter instead and it will be just as delicious.
- If nuts in general are a no go, then tahini or sunflower seed butter make a great option.
