10 Delicious & Super Healthy Frozen Treats

On those hot and humid days in summer, there’s nothing like a refreshing frozen treat to cool you off and satisfy your taste buds. Natural Healthy Concepts rounded up 10 simple and best of all healthy recipes that your whole family will love!

Since fruit is definitely the main ingredient for these recipes, you’ll have to check out this infographic on the health benefits of 20 different natural disease fighting fruits.

Now for these 10 tasty frozen treats…

1. Pineapple Whip

This is a popular one – that’s for sure! And you only need 3 ingredients – how great is that? You will, however, have to freeze the pineapple chunks overnight – so I’d suggest being on top of the weather and whipping it up the day before you know a hot one’s coming. Chopping the pineapple and gathering up the ingredients is really all you have to do to prepare.

Ingredients:

• 1 fresh pineapple & chop it up
• 1 cup of almond milk
• 1 tablespoon Manuka honey

Then, combine the frozen pineapple chunks, almond milk and honey in a blender until it looks like sorbet! You’ll feel good knowing you’re getting bromelain from the pineapple – which is an enzyme with anti-inflammatory properties that fights infections and kills bad bacteria. Plus, the Manuka honey also delivers anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory benefits as well as being rich in antioxidants! Remember though, kids under one year old shouldn’t have honey. In that case, organic maple syrup or agave would make a good alternative. Enjoy!

2. Frozen Grapes

I’ve heard so many people rave about frozen grapes! Especially women. They compare it to the texture and sweetness of ice cream. Grapes are loaded with phytonutrients like resveratrol, which promotes anti-aging. They also only have about 100 calories per 1 cup serving and are rated low on the Glycemic index (GI).

• Read more about the health benefits of grapes from The World’s Healthiest Foods.

I’ve tried freezing them myself. And my two young boys definitely enjoyed them – they gobbled them all right up. You could even get creative and put them on a stick (frozen grape kabobs) before you freeze them. You could even make them colorful and combine green, purple and red grapes together! It will take just a couple of hours to get frozen through, but you could even leave them in overnight. Either way, you’ll probably find this easy fun treat a go-to on hot sticky days in summer. The best part of all, it’s only one ingredient – Woohoo!

3. Coconut, Lime Strawberry Pops

Doesn’t this sound and look amazing? Besides just tasting great, it’s super healthy too. They have less than 50 calories per cup and are rated low on the GI. Strawberries also offer a ton of vitamin c, loads of polyphenol antioxidants, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer benefits and plenty of other essential vitamins and minerals. Even some omega 3’s!

• Read more about the benefits of strawberries from The World’s Healthiest Foods

Plus, the nice thing about freezing the berries is that it helps to keep the nutrients at their maximum level of potency. If you’re not sure of all the health benefits from coconut, you have to see this infographic highlighting why coconut is the hero for our health.

I’ve gathered up all my ingredients and I’m planning to give this recipe a go with my kids this weekend. It’s very simple… The hardest part will be having to wait to take the first bite!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups coconut milk
• 1/4 cup strawberry puree (1 cup strawberries, 2 tbsp honey, 1/2 cup water)
• fresh lime juice of 1 lime
• 2 cups strawberries (chopped)
• Popsicle molds

To make the strawberry puree, which you’ll probably want to do first. You just heat up 1 cup of strawberries with 2 tbsp honey (I like to use YS Organic Bee Farms Pure Clover Honey) and 1/2 cup of water to a simmer in a saucepan. Next, mash up the berries and stir until it’s a saucy consistency.  Then add the puree, the coconut milk, lime juice and the other 2 cups of berries to a blender and mix it up leaving whatever size strawberry chunks you’d like to find in your Popsicle. Put the mixture in your Popsicle molds and freeze for at least 8 hours. Enjoy them, and let us know what you think!

4. Yogurt Covered Strawberries

Here’s another super easy one you’ll love! Just grab some fresh (organic) strawberries from your local farmer’s market, wash ’em (I like to use Dr. Bronners 18-in-1 Pure Castile Soap for rinsing my produce), cut the stems off, cut the berries in half, or keep them whole if you prefer) and dip them in some healthy yogurt! Place them on a cookie sheet with wax paper.

Then freeze. After a couple of hours, you’ll be able to delight in a deliciously sweet frozen treat.

Yogurt Suggestion: SO Delicious dairy free yogurt is made with organic, 100 percent plant-based and Non-GMO Project Verified ingredients. The company never uses artificial sweeteners, trans-fats, or hydrogenated oils. Check them out and look for their yogurt at your local grocery market!

5. Blueberry & Lemon Ices

I got this idea from a great blog called spoonful.com. It’s just a little bit more complicated than throwing some grapes in the freezer. This is a good one to make the rainy day before you know a hot one’s coming! The entire recipe will make a total of about 7 cups. You can serve it as a combination or separately. For some reason, the blueberry ice makes about a cup more than the lemon. But, Oh so yummy!

Natural Healthy Concepts carries a very good organic maple syrup. It’s made by NOW Foods and is non-GMO verified.  It also provides some antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits and contains zinc and manganese. If you want to use a healthier type of salt – check out Dr. Mercola’s Himalayan crystals.

• Read more about the benefits of blueberries from The World’s Healthiest Foods
• You can find the entire set of instructions for this recipe here.

6. Frozen Yogurt Dots

It’s so easy to make frozen yogurt dots! Another perfect healthy frozen treat with just one ingredient! Again, I’d recommend using SO Delicious Yogurt since I know it’s GMO-free verified, organic and just plain healthier for you. Plus, it comes in assorted flavors – so why give your dots a variety of color and flavors. It’s more fun that way!

Literally all you need to do is spoon your yogurt into a large plastic zip top bag, snip one of the corners and pipe it onto a cookie sheet. You can line it with wax paper first if you wish. After freezing for just an hour or two, scrape the buttons off the cookie sheet and enjoy!

This is one of those snacks that you can prepare and keep frozen in a sealed container and have on hand for whenever you’re feeling in the mood.

7. Watermelon Flax Pops

This frozen treat doesn’t take as long as some of these other ones to freeze – which is nice if you’re strapped for time. Simply blend up half a watermelon with a tablespoon of raw organic honey and 2 tablespoons of ground flax seed. Chia seeds could be used here as well. Then pour your mixture into your Popsicle molds and freeze for about one hour.

Did you know watermelon seeds are one of the richest sources of magnesium? Eat ’em up! One cup equals 556 mg. Watermelon itself is also high in vitamin c, vitamin a, potassium, magnesium, antioxidants, flavonoids, lycopene and amino acids. So, not only will your taste buds thank you,  all your bodily systems will too!

8. Pure & Simple Fruit Smoothie

I used to think you needed to add some kind of yogurt, milk, juice or ice to make a smoothie. Little did I know, you can make fantastic, creamy fruit and vegetable smoothies just by freezing a banana! Just peel a banana or two and cut it into chunks. Then freeze it for a couple of hours in a baggie or some sort of dish.

After it’s frozen, just add the banana along with some frozen or cold strawberries, spinach, carrots, mango, pineapple, blueberries and kiwi. You can be as creative as you want with your fruit and vegetables as well as any added nutrition. Especially when you have young kids.

Some things I like to add in from time to time are:

• Organic ground flax
• Manuka honey
• Raw Organic Chia seeds
• Plain Grass-fed Protein powder
• Probiotics for kids in a powder form
• A vanilla multivitamin & mineral powder for kids

9. Raw Banana Ice Cream

Another one ingredient, healthy treat you just might fall in love with! This raw banana ice cream is just as creamy and delicious as soft serve ice cream. All you need to do is freeze 3-4 bananas for 24 hours. Then let them sit out for 10-15 minutes and blend them up in your Vitamix or regular blender until you get your desired consistency.

• Read more about why the Vitamix is the Ultimate Kitchen Tool for Health & Nutrition

That’s it!

If you’re feeling fancy, you could add in a shake of cinnamon, a splash of pure vanilla extract and some almond or coconut milk. Top if off with some pecans too. Otherwise, after the freezing is done, you’ll have a healthy alternative to ice cream in just five minutes! So good.

10. Creamy Peach, Banana Coconut Cream Pie

On top of an almond date crust. And drizzled with raw mano honey – OMG. To die for! Vegans can use organic maple syrup instead.

Ingredients:

This is another recipe that will take a bit longer to execute – but it will be so worth it. I got this one from the blog Natalyn in the Raw. 

• You can find complete instructions for how to make this recipe here.

Thanks for a great recipe, Natalyn!

Do you have a healthy frozen and Oh so delicious frozen treat you could share with everyone? Please do in the comments!

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Image Credits:

Tracy Benjamin – frozen dots via flickr.com

Helena Jacoba – smoothie via flickr.com

Ina Todoran – banana ice cream via flickr.com

Jennifer Chait – watermelon pops via flickr.com

Maegan Tintari – featured image via flickr.com