I made 4, 3 of us ate one each and then fought over the 4th 🙂 They are that good !! Make sure you use a nice creamy vanilla yogurt; one that tastes like ice cream. I love Turkey Hill brand. This is just one of those perfect desserts !
Nilla Parfait
4 servings
270 calories per serving
2 cups vanilla frozen yogurt, softened (I like Turkey Hill brand)
8 Nilla Wafer cookies, crushed well
1 1/2 bananas, sliced
1/4 c chopped toasted pecans
In small dessert cups or parfait glasses or even in wine glasses, layer ingredients and then freeze at least half an hour. Here are the layers:
Yogurt
Banana
Nuts
Yogurt
Banana
Nilla crumbs
Nuts
1 slice of banana for garnish
The first batch of these did not quite hit the spot. With a little tweaking, the recipe has become a great chilly treat for a hot summer day. I usually make them two tiered with halves of both the cantaloupe and honeydew melons.
Melon Pops
6 servings (8 oz. pops)
59 calories per serving
2 c diced honeydew melon
1/3 c plain nonfat yogurt
Juice of 1 lime
Grated zest of 1 lime
1 T honey
1 T Splenda
Mix 2 c of melon with yogurt, lime juice, honey, Splenda and zest and blend until smooth. Fill the pop molds, insert sticks and freeze at least 6 hours.
Canteloupe – As a variation, replace honeydew with cantaloupe.
You may want to make both variations and make a layered melon pop. If you do this, freeze the first ‘layer’ for 1 hour – then add the second and insert the sticks and freeze at least 6 hours.
This is one of those good old fashioned tasting desserts. So refreshing, so simple. This mildly tart sorbet is great served with seasonal berries.
Buttermilk Sorbet
4 servings
206 calories per serving
2 c low fat buttermilk
1/4 c sugar
1/4 c light corn syrup
3 c mix of seasonal berries (I used sliced strawberries and blueberries)
Mix buttermilk, ¼ c sugar and corn syrup and place in an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer instructions. Freeze for an hour or until firm then place in serving bowls and cover with fresh berries.
You can use the popsicle ‘molds’ you get at the store, or even more fun is placing the mix in Dixie cups, adding a stick, and then peeling away the cup just before serving. Simple, simple to do and a very tasty evening treat. At only 82 calories per creamy pudding pop, I might just have one every night 🙂
Bananasicles
7 servings
82 calories per serving
3.4 oz. package of instant banana pudding mix
2 c skim milk
1 banana cut into small pieces
7 T sugar free chocolate syrup (the type you use to make chocolate milk)
Place 1 T of chocolate syrup into the bottom of each cup. Combine pudding and milk until thick then stir in banana pieces and divide mix into 3 oz. paper cups. Cover with foil and poke through popsicle sticks and freeze 3 hours. Peel away cup to serve.
This is not your run of the mill ice cream ! It is filled with MUFA, is sweet and tasty, and will definitely turn heads ! Give it a try next time you are ready to make some ice cream.
Avocado Ice Cream
8 servings
224 calories per serving
1 ½ c avocado puree (about 3 avocados worth)
1 ½ c water
1 1/3 c sugar
¼ c lime juice
1/3 c tequila
Lime zest garnish
Puree avocado and add water, sugar, lime juice and tequila and pulse until well combined. Refrigerate the mix from 1 hour to overnight. Place in ice cream maker and freeze according to instructions. Garnish with lime zest.
So extremely yummy and so easy to put together – you buy a prepared angel food cake, mix up an orange juice syrup and add some fruit – feel free to mix it up and use whatever is the freshest at your market. This week I added fresh blackberries !
Angel Food Cake and Fruit
8 servings
205 calories per serving
1 small angel food cake
1 cup orange juice
1 orange, peeled and cut into slices and then cut in quarters (or one small can mandarin oranges, drained and rinsed lightly)
1/3 c Splenda
1 T plus 1 t cornstarch
1 large banana, sliced
2 kiwis, peeled and cut into pieces
Mix OJ, Splenda and cornstarch and blend to dissolve cornstarch. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and thicken the sauce cooking a few minutes. When done, stir in the bananas and kiwi and stir to coat. Add oranges and mix then serve the fruit mix over cake.
Add some Cool Whip Lite for a great indulgent dessert.
This is so completely and utterly delicious ! You won’t even miss the CREAM in this ice ‘cream’. The yogurt and sugar make a great, sweet and creamy base and then the minced up frozen strawberries just take over and you have an explosion of flavor with each bite. This is an award winner. And at 70 calories per serving – soooooooooooo guilt free !
Strawberry Ice 'Cream'
4 servings
70 calories per serving
1 lb. frozen strawberries
1 c 2 % plain Greek yogurt
¼ c sugar
½ t vanilla extract
In food processor pulse 1 c frozen berries until finely chopped and then transfer to a metal bowl (a metal bowl will get colder quicker in the freezer). Process yogurt, sugar, vanilla and the rest of the berries – move to metal bowl and stir with the other strawberries. Cover and freeze 1 hour (do not let get too hard).
I recently got a Zoku Quick Pop Maker. BEST THING EVER ! I love making pops but hate the wait time. Now I have ‘em in 7-9 minutes 🙂 This is one of the recipes I pulled from the Zoku book – of course, I’ve tweaked many of the recipes to suit my own tastes, bring down calories, and to get creative with the pops, but some are in their original goodness.
You can make any of these recipes in traditional pop makers – each pop here is 2 oz. so adjust accordingly. And if you love pops like me, then do yourself a favor and get a Zoku 🙂
Zoku Quick Pop Maker
6 servings
265 calories per serving
1 c water
2 1/3 oz. bittersweet chocolate (I used ghiradelli bittersweet morsels)
1/3 c sugar
1 pinch salt
1/3 c skim milk
1 T fat free half and half
½ c very thin banana slices
6 T Magic Shell chocolate shell for ice cream
3 T chopped peanuts
In a saucepan whisk chocolate, sugar, water and salt and cook until completely melted, about 5 minutes. Let cool about 10 minutes in the fridge and then whish in the milk and half and half. Then return to the fridge and cool completely (about ½ hour).
Working in 2 batches – Place bananas on the sides of the maker molds then pour in the mix. In 7-9 minutes you’ll have creamy, fudgy goodness with a bit of banana thrown in for interest 🙂
If you are using traditional molds, you can suspend the bananas by filling the molds half way. Freezing a bit, then adding the bananas and the rest of the mix. Or you can just let the drop to the bottom – it will still taste dandy ! Freeze 6 hours.
This is sooooo refreshing. Between the tart lemon, the sweet tea and the cold, cold temperature, you’ll turn down the heat in any room when you serve this summery dessert.
Tea and Lemon Sorbet
8 servings
68 calories per serving
2 c boiling water
4 Earl Grey tea bags
1/2 cup sugar
¾ c fresh lemon juice
1 c ice water
Boil 2 c of water and then steep the tea bags for 6-8 minutes. Remove bags and stir in sugar. Add lemon and 1 c ice water then chill 2 hours. Pour into an ice cream maker and freeze. When done, place in a container and freeze one hour before serving. If you do not have an ice cream maker, you can make this mixture into ice pops using molds or into a granita by following these instructions:
Place a metal bowl in the freezer to chill. Combine ingredients and pour into the bowl and place in the freezer for 30 – 60 minutes. When ice crystals form on the edges, stir with a fork being sure to pull away all the frozen pieces around the edges and freeze another 2-3 hours stirring every ½ hour. Best to serve right after the initial freeze time, but if you let it sit overnight, be sure to defrost for 15 minutes or so before serving.
