Living in Texas, the summer can get a little, well…..steamy (at least for this Minnesota-raised northern girl). Don’t get me wrong, summer gets plenty hot in the North too, sometimes upwards of 100 degrees. The difference is, it doesn’t stay there….day and night for 30 (or 60 or 90) days straight (Gah!).

Despite the heat, I’ve really grown to love Texas. In fact, at this point I’ve actually lived here longer than any of the various other places in this world that I’ve called home for a season. Somehow, Texas just has this way of affecting you…..(or maybe that should say “infecting” you, ha!)

Anyway…..as a result of this insidious heat, we Texans (yes, I’ve even taken to referring to myself as a Texan now) eat a lot of frozen treats during those 3 blistering and steamy months we call summer, and Frozen banana pops have become one of our favorites.

Pretty much every food blogger out there has their own version, which might make some people think, “then why do another one?”, but not me……No, the first thing I think is that the interweb obviously NEEDS my two cents on the topic as well. 🙂

And so here it is. I’ve decide to take my love of banana pudding (which is legend in some circles) and refreshing frozen treats, and quite literally mash them together into one AMAZING recipe!

The gelatin in this recipe gives the banana pops a delightfully smooth and creamy flavor with no need to pre-freeze the bananas….which is just awesome for me because it’s pretty rare that I actually think through things ahead of time and I can be a bit of a loose cannon in the kitchen (just ask Ben….).  🙂

The recipe is simple and guaranteed to please, so dive right in and enjoy your summer!

Ingredients:

4 medium or three large bananas, sliced
1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk (Where to buy)
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 1/2 teaspoons Great Lakes Grass Fed Gelatin (Where to buy)
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon cold water
Optional: Melted sweetened or unsweetened chocolate for dipping

1. Combine the gelatin, lime juice and water in a small ramekin. Let sit for 5 minutes.

2. While the gelatin is blooming, combine the bananas, coconut milk and oil in a blender and blend till smooth.

3.Liquify the gelatin by placing the ramekin in a pot of shallow hot water (or heat it in the microwave with quick 10 second burst till it just turns liquid. The gelatin mixture should be warm to the touch but not hot.

4. Add the liquid gelatin mixture to the banana puree and pulse a few times to combine. Immediately pour into molds and freeze for 1-2 hours. I used a brownie pop mold, but you can use small paper cups, mini muffin molds, popsicle molds or whatever else you can come up with.

5. Place a paper or wood popsicle stick, or use or straws cut in half (as seen) at the center of each banana pop. With brownie pop mold this can be done right away without concern of them tipping. If needed you can freeze the mixture till slightly firm then add the stick and freeze till solid.

6. Once they’re frozen, remove them from the molds and eat as is or dip in your favorite melted chocolate. I sprinkled these with pulverized freeze dried raspberries and it was delish!Note; If the banana pops are frozen really hard just let them sit out for 1 -2 minutes before serving and they’ll be ready to go.
Enjoy!