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Lemon Blueberry Ice Cream Bars

· Natalie 7 Comments

So there’s a funny story behind the pictures that go along with this recipe…

You see those lovely little blueberries in the pictures? Those barely made it to the shot. I had a handful of blueberries remaining after making the bars, and it happened to be lunch time for my dog. Her lunch usually consists of a cooked starch, lentils, vegetables, and fruit (yes, she is spoiled). To make some space in the fridge and get my puppy some antioxidants, I threw in the last handful of blueberries.

While she started munching, I started setting up to take pictures. That’s when it hit me: I just gave away the last of the blueberries, and I needed some for these pictures. So, I barged in on her munching, pushed her out of her bowl, picked all the blueberries back out, and washed them off. She was a little thrown, but the blueberries were perfectly usable. Moral of the story: anything goes to get the perfect shot.

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Lemon Blueberry Ice Cream Bars

★★★★ 4 from 1 review
  • Yield: 4 1x
Print Recipe

Ingredients

Scale
  • LEMON COOKIE
  • 3 cups rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup coconut nectar
  • 2 tbsps lemon juice
  • 1 tsp lemon zest
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • BLUEBERRY ICE CREAM
  • 2 frozen bananas
  • 3/4 cup frozen blueberries
  • 1/2 cup fresh blueberries

Instructions

  1. FOR THE COOKIE: Grind the oats in a food processor.
  2. Add the coconut nectar, lemon juice, lemon zest, and salt.
  3. Process until the dough forms a ball. If it is too dry, add a little water.
  4. Press half of the dough into a loaf pan lined with plastic wrap. Flip that cookie layer out onto a plate, and press the other half of the dough into the lined loaf pan.
  5. FOR THE ICE CREAM: Blend the bananas and frozen blueberries together until creamy.
  6. In a bowl, stir in the fresh blueberries.
  7. Spread the ice cream into the pan on top of one cookie layer. Lay the other cookie layer on top.
  8. Freeze for at least 4 hours before cutting into 4 bars.

Strawberry Kiwi Ice Cream Bites

· Natalie Leave a Comment

Kiwi and strawberry are perfect complements in color and flavor. I wanted to include this combo in the book in some form, but I never quite worked out the perfect way to combine them. Art class taught me that red + green = not appetizing. Brown ice cream should only be chocolate. These tasty little bites of perfection solve the color dilemma and look pretty cute doing it.

There are lots of bite-sized recipes in the book, too. Some are on sticks, some are for fingers. Bite-sized snacks can be dangerous, because they are so convenient and tend to disappear very quickly. But with these healthy, fruity recipes, there’s nothing wrong with eating the entire batch yourself, one bite at a time.

Strawberry Kiwi Ice Cream Bites

3 large kiwi

1/2 cup frozen strawberries

1 frozen banana

  1. Blend the frozen banana and frozen strawberries together until creamy.
  2. Freeze the ice cream for about 30-45 minutes.
  3. Slice the kiwi into 1/4″ thick slices.
  4. Remove the ice cream from the freezer. Scoop about a teaspoon of ice cream onto a kiwi slice and top with another kiwi slice. Insert a toothpick to hold the sandwich together. Continue for the rest of the kiwi slices.
  5. Refreeze for about 10 minutes before eating. Keep the leftovers (if there are any) in the freezer.

Caramel Core Cups

· Natalie 6 Comments

At least a dozen different fruits went into the making of my Banana Ice Cream eBook, so there are tons of fruity options. But I didn’t skimp on the cacao either. There are also lots of really decadent recipes, too.

Today’s recipe is a bit more on the decadent side, but of course there’s still plenty of fruit in there. It’s Feasting on Fruit, what do you expect? I’m taking a page out of Ben and Jerry’s book and transforming their classic Karmel Sutra flavor into a healthy banana ice cream version. We’ve got chocolate ice cream, vanilla ice cream, and a caramel core. Yum!

Oh, and the book release is getting close (Friday!!), so start stocking your freezer with bananas.

Caramel Core Cups

3 small servings

4 frozen bananas

1/2 tsp vanilla bean powder

1 tbsp cacao powder

Caramel Core

3/4 cup dates

1/2 tsp vanilla bean powder

1/2 cup water

1/4 tsp salt (optional)

  1. Blend 2 of the frozen bananas with the 1/2 tsp vanilla bean powder for the vanilla ice cream. Set aside
  2. Blend the other 2 frozen bananas with the cacao powder for the chocolate ice cream.
  3. Fill each cup with half vanilla and half chocolate ice cream. Freeze for about 30 minutes.
  4. Blend all of the ingredients for the caramel until smooth.
  5. Transfer the caramel to a piping bag or a ziploc. Snip off the tip (or one corner).
  6. Remove the ice cream cups from the freezer. Insert the tip of the bag into the center of each cup, and squeeze while pulling up to create the caramel core.

I try not to play favorites with my recipes…but this is one of my favorites.

Red Velvet Ice Cream + BIG Announcement

· Natalie Leave a Comment

I have super-duper, can’t-hold-it-in-anymore exciting news to share. On August 1, I’m releasing my first eBook all about banana ice cream!!!!!

Banana ice cream is a staple in my diet, so I think it deserves its own book. I have made so much ice cream in the past few months, that my Vitamix is tired of me and my dining room table has been nicknamed “the banana farm”. The hardest part has been not saying a word about it to you guys! Now I finally get to share!

I had so many ideas for this book that it was hard to narrow it down to just 25 recipes. I had to cap it somewhere, otherwise the book would never be finished. Maybe there will be a second volume someday. There are sundaes and parfaits and floats and cakes and bars and cookies and pops and more! All banana! Nothin’ but nicecream!

If you can’t tell by my abundant use of exclamation points, I’m really, REALLY excited.

It’s Banana Ice Cream Week! To get you in the banana ice cream mood, I have just dubbed this week Banana Ice Cream Week. Every day this week I will be sharing a different banana ice cream recipe that is not from the book.

Red Velvet Ice Cream

3 frozen bananas

2 tsps grated red beet

1/2 tsp vanilla bean powder

2 tsps cacao powder (or carob powder)

  1. Blend 2 frozen bananas, grated beet, 1/2 tsp of vanilla, and cacao powder in a blender until creamy.
  2. Clean out your blender, then blend the remaining banana with 1/4 tsp vanilla for the “frosting”.
  3. Eat immediately or freeze in a shallow dish for 30-45 minutes for a scoopable ice cream.

Raw Monkey Bread

· Natalie 2 Comments

Why is Monkey Bread called Monkey Bread?

It doesn’t look like a monkey.

I don’t think it is a major food source of monkeys.

Monkeys didn’t invent it, since they don’t bake. I don’t think monkeys even like cinnamon.

You eat it with your hands, similar to the way monkeys eat their food.

Since there’s a hole in the middle, you could hang the bread from a tree branch to resemble a monkey, I guess.

It would be ideal ammunition for those monkeys who like to throw things at onlookers.

Maybe the high sugar contents makes children who eat it act like monkeys…?

I obviously don’t know the origin of the name, but I do know that it’s tasty.

In honor of those fruit-loving monkeys, I made a fruit-filled raw Monkey Bread. It’s sticky, sweet, and messy, which is exactly what Monkey Bread is meant to be. With only three ingredients in the bread and three ingredients in the glaze, I don’t think there is an easier (or healthier) recipe out there.

Raw Monkey Bread

Makes 1 mini bundt loaf

2 cups raw rolled oats

2 cups raisins

1 tsp cinnamon (or less, I like a lot)

Cinnamon Glaze

1 cup pitted dates

3/4 cup water

1/2 tsp cinnamon

  1. Combine the raisins, oats, and cinnamon in a food processor. Process until it begins to clump together.
  2. Roll the dough into 1″ balls.
  3. If you have a mini bundt pan, then that’s perfect. Otherwise, line a 6″ cake pan with plastic wrap. Place a small jar or cup in the middle to form the hole, or just make a solid loaf.
  4. Pile the dough balls into the pan (I sprinkled in a few raisins too) and press down gently.
  5. Blend the ingredients for the glaze in the blender until smooth. Spoon on the glaze.
  6. Refrigerate for at least an hour.
  7. Pull apart your loaf into a sticky, sweet serving.

I was planning on Googling the origin of the name Monkey Bread and giving you an answer to this puzzling question by the end of the post, but no one knows!