Cocoa Peanut Butter Banana Freezer Pops

Summertime is here…time for cookouts, pool parties, and frozen treats! There is nothing my 3 year old likes more than a popsicle after a long, hot bike ride. This year I decided to buy popsicle molds so we could experiment with making our own freezer pops instead of buying them from the store. Many of the store-bought popsicles have artificial colors and flavors that we could do without.

We have made several different types of freezer pops this summer, and not one flavor has been a failure. Once you buy the molds, freezer pops are so easy to make. You can fill the molds with 100% fruit juice, yogurt, softened ice cream, homemade smoothie, and even coffee and cream (for the grown ups)!

We bought the Tovolo Rocket Ice Pop Molds, but there are many other fun sizes and shapes available as well.

This week I tried putting some of my favorite flavors together to make a Cocoa Peanut Butter Banana Freezer Pop. It was such a success that my 3 year old ate two yesterday!

Here is how we made them:

Cocoa Peanut Butter Banana Freezer Pops (makes 5)

Ingredients

  • 2 very ripe bananas
  • 1 cup milk
  • 2 tablespoons peanut butter
  • 1 teaspoon cocoa powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Just combine all of the ingredients in a blender, blend until smooth, and pour into popsicle molds (this recipe made 5 freezer pops). Freeze for at least 4 hours before serving. We had to run our frozen popsicles under room temperature water for about 10 seconds to get the mold to slide off, but it was well worth the effort!

I chose not to add any sweetener to these freezer pops because the flavors of the peanut butter and banana added enough sweetness to the cocoa for my taste. You should always check the flavor of the blended concoction before pouring it into the molds. If you want to alter the flavor, you can always add more of an ingredient or add some honey or agave nectar for extra sweetness.

We are going to keep experimenting with new flavors. I will let you know if we come up with another great one!