Since it's been sizzling outside, I bought I popsicle maker! I love popsicles, but I noticed that even the "healthy" popsicles at the store aren't so healthy and they're expensive! Those "fruit bars" they sell and look healthy have sugar and water as the first two ingredients. So, I figured I could do better! Of course, now that I've gotten it I'm doing all sorts of frozen treat experiments. Enter the Chocolate-Amaretto Fudgesicles/ice cream/mousse or whatever else you might turn this into. These are not low-calorie at all (though reducing the amount of nuts would reduce the calories, but also the richness). However, pretty much every ingredient (except the alcohol) is something that on it's own seems like healthy food to me!
Chocolate Amaretto Fudgesicles
This makes about 14 ounces of deliciousness.
~1/2 cup nuts (I used cashews, but almonds also go with chocolate really well!)
1/2 cup milk of choice (I used unsweetened soymilk)
1 large frozen overripe banana, broken into pieces (the more spots the better, heck it can even be almost all the way brown on the outside-the riper, the sweeter, and it reduces the banana taste)
1/2 tsp vanilla
2-3 Tbsp good quality cocoa powder (I used raw cacao and it was amazing)
dash of salt
alcoholic version:
3 oz amaretto liqueur
nonalcoholic version:
2 tsp almond extract
if needed, add sweetener or more banana
Directions:
1) Add nuts to food processor and puree until it forms a ball/paste. It should be a pretty smooth consisitency, but it's ok if it's not as smooth as store-bought nut butters. If the mixture is too dry, you can add water or oil 1 tsp at a time while processing. Note-depending on the size of your food processor you might need to add more nuts for this to work. You can keep the extra nut butter in the fridge for a delicious spread or to use in other treats!
2) Add the other ingredients. Blend blend blend! If desired, stir in extra pieces of nuts or chocolate.
3) Pour into molds or use the batter for something else delicious.
4) Freeze overnight for fudgesicles. The batter really needs to be completely frozen, not just soft, or else it won't stay on the stick. The alcohol also means this takes longer to freeze completely than other popsicles.
