Banana Popsicles – Texanerin Baking

These banana popsicles are made with simple ingredients, requiring only a handful of items that you likely already have at home. They’re healthy and nutritious, packed with potassium, protein, and probiotics thanks to the bananas and yogurt.

There’s no added sugar since the natural sweetness of ripe bananas is all you need, and you can easily make them vegan or paleo with the right yogurt.

I have a super simple recipe for you today! You just blend everything together, put the puree in a popsicle mold, and freeze.

If you’re feeling fancy, you can add one of the coatings like I did. Without the coating, these are great for small kids who aren’t eating sugar yet.

They’re basically frozen bananas and yogurt, so they’re not an indulgent treat. More like a lightly-sweetened snack.

If you’re looking for something richer and sweeter to cool down with – but still on the healthy side, then this Paleo Ice Cream, Vegan Gelato and Healthy Peanut Butter Ice Cream are great choices!

Ingredients

Here’s everything you’ll need. Nothing fancy here!

And you can skip the chocolate, coconut oil and peanuts, if you’d like, for some plain banana popsicles.

What type of bananas to use

Use ripe bananas that are fragrant and sweet, but avoid those with too many spots to ensure the best flavor and texture.

You don’t want to use bananas with lots of dark spots. Banana bread bananas are not what you want here. The popsicles would taste terrible, in my opinion.

Also be sure that they’re ripe enough. Unripe bananas wouldn’t be sweet enough to sweeten the popsicles.

Yogurt vs milk

I see a lot of banana popsicle recipes calling for milk instead of yogurt. I also tried that and thought that the popsicles were too icy and not rich enough.

Yogurt made these popsicles much, much better.

If you only have sweetened yogurt, it’ll work. Of course the popsicles will be a bit sweeter, but I don’t think it’d make them too sweet.

And if for some reason you don’t find the popsicles sweet enough with unsweetened yogurt, you can add whatever sweetener you’d like.

I’d recommend maple syrup or honey if you’re not vegan. Both sweeteners also work in these Lemon Popsicles and Mango Popsicles!

Yogurt type

Full-fat Greek yogurt provides a rich, creamy texture, but feel free to use regular yogurt if you prefer.

I’ve made them with coconut milk yogurt and cashew yogurt for a vegan and paleo version, and they both came out great.

Variations

• Add-ins – you could mix in some chocolate chips, crushed nuts, or swirl in a bit of peanut butter or other nut/seed butter for extra flavor.
• Fruit swirls – maybe add a handful of berries after blending for a fruity twist, or layer the banana mixture with a berry puree for a fun marbled effect.
• Spices – a pinch of cinnamon can add a warm, comforting flavor to your popsicles.

Coating options

The popsicles aren’t the most exciting color, so I added a coating to make them look a bit more special.

I dipped mine in melted semi-sweet chocolate and sprinkle them with chopped peanuts. But toasted coconut flakes or granola could also be fun!

You can use any type of chocolate you’d like. Or even peanut butter chips!

Chocolate, banana and peanut butter is always a great combination.

If you’re looking for something more chocolaty, these Healthy Fudgesicles call for cocoa powder, avocado, yogurt and bananas.

They also have a bit of coconut sugar to sweeten them as they’d be bitter otherwise with the cocoa powder addition.

I hope you’ll enjoy these banana popsicles if you try them out! I’d love to hear your thoughts below in the comments. 🙂 Thanks!

❀

• Prep Time: 10 min
• Cook Time: 0 min
• Ready in: 8:10 h
• Yield: 10

Ingredients

Popsicles:

• 590 grams peeled, ripe but not overripe bananas (that was 5 large peeled bananas for me or 1015 grams total with peel)
• 1 1/4 cups (300 grams) Greek yogurt or cashew/coconut milk yogurt for paleo/vegan
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• 10 popsicle sticks

For decorating (this is enough for all 10):

• 1 cup (170 grams) semi-sweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
• 1 tablespoon (14 grams) coconut oil
• 3-4 tablespoons finely chopped peanuts

Directions

Make the popsicles:

1. Blend peeled bananas, yogurt, vanilla and salt in a blender until well combined and no chunks of banana remain.
2. Pour into the 10 popsicle cavities. Mine were almost full.
3. Put on the lid and insert the popsicle sticks.
4. Freeze for 8+ hours (or overnight).

Decorate:

5. Melt the chocolate. Add the chocolate, salt and coconut oil to a very small bowl and microwave at 50% power in 30-second increments, stirring after each one, until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Or you can use a small saucepan if that’s easier.
6. Dip a popsicle into the chocolate, using a silicone spatula to slather it on. Immediately sprinkle chopped peanuts on and all around the popsicle. The chocolate hardens almost immediately, so you have to work quickly.
7. Freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months.

Notes

1. If you’re paleo or vegan, make sure your use paleo or vegan yogurt.
2. I like refined coconut oil for the chocolate coating, but you can use unrefined coconut oil if you don’t mind coconut flavor.

• This is the mold I used. It makes ten 3oz / 90ml treats approximately 3. 5″ x 2″ x 1″ in size.

Recipe by Texanerin Baking | www.texanerin.com