Four Healthy Treats to Keep You Cool This Summer

Serving up delicious frozen treats is a summer requirement. When it comes to summer desserts, ice cream is a top choice, but it’s not always the healthiest. These refreshing frozen treats will satisfy your sweet tooth all summer long without ruining your healthy diet!

Strawberry Kiwi Vitamin C Ice Pops

Equipment needed:

Popsicle mold

Blender

Popsicle sticks

Ingredients:

5 medium kiwis, peeled

4 cups strawberries

1 cup orange juice, fresh or refrigerated

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 1 medium lemon)

Directions:

1. Slice 3 kiwis, reserve 12 slices.
2. Wash fruit. Add strawberries, juices and remaining kiwi to blender. Puree until smooth.
3. Slide a kiwi slice into your popsicle mold (lightly press it to the side), fill molds with strawberry mixture and add a popsicle stick. Freeze for 4 to 24 hours or until frozen solid.

Lemon Blueberry Sorbet

Ingredients:

3 cups fresh blueberries

2 tablespoons raw honey (add more for extra sweetness)

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 teaspoon lemon zest (for best results, get the zest before juicing the lemon)

1/3 cup water

Directions:

1. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Pour the rinsed blueberries onto the parchment paper and separate as much as possible. You may need to remove some stems from a few of the blueberries.
3. Place the blueberries into the freezer and freeze overnight, or for at least 4 to 5 hours, to fully freeze.
4. When ready to make the sorbet, add the frozen blueberries to the bowl of a food processor, followed by the raw honey, fresh lemon zest, freshly squeezed lemon juice and the water.
5. Process the mixture until the blueberries become crumbly, pressing down the mixture with a spatula as needed.
6. Continue to process until the mixture becomes smoother and evenly processed.
7. Once everything is smooth, taste for sweetness and add additional honey if desired.
8. You can serve this sorbet immediately or transfer it to an air-tight container and freeze for a couple of hours for a harder consistency.

Peach Strawberry Yogurt Popsicles

Equipment needed:

Popsicle mold

Blender

Popsicle sticks

Ingredients:

3 cups strawberries, pureed to 1 1/2 cup

3 cups peaches, peeled and sliced, pureed to 1 1/2 cup

2 tablespoons honey, divided

2/3 cups vanilla Greek yogurt

Directions:

1. In a blender, puree strawberries with four teaspoons honey then set aside. Clean blender, puree sliced peaches with two teaspoons of honey, set aside.
2. Layer the popsicles as follows: 2 tablespoons strawberry puree, 1 teaspoon yogurt, 2 teaspoons peach puree and repeat. Make a fruit puree your last layer.
3. Tap the mold of the counter to make sure all of the layers settle. Use a small spoon to drag vertically from the bottom to the top of the mold a few times to create a swirled pattern.

Frozen Yogurt Bites

Ingredients:

Yogurt (all plain, or half plain, half flavored)

Your choice of mix-ins: nuts, seeds, fruit, granola, dark chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Mix everything together in a bowl.
2. Spoon into ice cube trays.
3. Use a knife to gently pop frozen cubes out of the mold and store in an airtight container in the freezer.
4. Let sit for a couple of minutes before eating if they’re too hard to bite into.