Chocolate-chia-raspberry popsicles recipe

chocolate chia raspberry popsicles | pamela salzman

This is the last hurrah before school starts and then the recipes start getting more serious.  Throughout the summer, I’ve assembling more than cooking, presenting meals at irregular hours, winging it a bit.  But with the first day of school looming, I know I have to get my act together and have a plan for three well-balanced meals a day.  But until then, we’ll keep eating these popsicles for breakfast or to cool off in the afternoon.

chocolate chia raspberry popsicles | pamela salzman

I’ll let you in on a little secret:  my weakness (beside guacamole and chips) is ice cream.  I hardly ever eat it anymore, even the clean recipes I have on my site for dairy-free, refined sugar-free cashew ice cream.  Once I start, it’s hard for me to stop, so I try to stay away from ice cream altogther.  But I still crave it, especially ice cream with chunks of something tucked inside like chocolate chips, nuggets of banana, a swirl of peanut butter or a salty almond.  Now look what I’ve done.  I’ve gotten myself all worked up.

chocolate chia raspberry popsicles | pamela salzman

A homemade popsicle is my answer to an ice cream craving.  It’s sweet, cold and creamy.  It takes a little longer to eat.  It’s a reasonable serving size and therefore an acceptable calorie count.  And I can make it the way I want.  My kids and I have been devouring these chocolate chia pudding popsicles.  I got the idea from seeing Martha Stewart on The Today Show.  She took a small container of plain yogurt and swirled some fruit into it and then stuck a popsicle stick into it and froze it.  I thought that was a clever breakfast to-go for the warmer first days of school.  We eat a lot of chia pudding for breakfast and snacks.  My son prefers the chocolate version which I make with raw cacao powder and the next day we’ll add in fresh fruit or shredded coconut and the like.  Chia seeds are really high in protein, fiber and good fats, so they make a great breakfast or substantial snack.  So I took some leftover chocolate chia pudding, stirred some fresh raspberries into it and poured it into popsicle molds.  Voila!  Delicious and a truly healthful treat!

chocolate chia raspberry popsicles | pamela salzman

I think these are like a chocolate popsicle with texture.  I kept the sweetness pretty low, but if you want this to feel more like a dessert, it would be super easy to make it sweeter.  Just add a little honey or maple syrup to the pudding before freezing and you’ve done it.  Or use more dates if that’s how you’d like to go.  I love the combo of chocolate and raspberries, but you can keep these straight chocolate or add coconut or chopped cherries or strawberries or even raw cacao nibs if you’re a hardcore superfood junkie!

chocolate chia raspberry popsicles | pamela salzman

One message I am always trying to get through to my students is that so many recipes are just formulas that you can tweak into dozens of other recipes.  Chia pudding is one of those.  Once you know the basic ratio of chia seeds to liquid to sweetener, you can change it to any number of flavor combinations, like strawberry-basil, blueberry-almond or mango-coconut.  You can blend fruit into the almond milk if you don’t want chunks.  Or just stir pieces into the pudding if you want the texture.  Or mini chocolate chips would be nice.  And then there’s peaches and raspberries.  Or lemon.  Or banana.  I can do this all day.  Savor these popsicles in case they’re you’re last ones until next summer!

Chocolate Chia Raspberry Popsicles | Pamela Salzman

Chocolate-Chia-Raspberry Popsicles
Author: 
Serves: 5-6 popsicles
 
Ingredients
  • 1 ¼ cups unsweetened almond milk or a combination of coconut milk and almond milk
  • 3-6 pitted dates or sweetener of choice, to taste
  • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2-2 ½ Tablespoons raw cacao or unsweetened cocoa powder, depending on how chocolaty you like it
  • ¼ cup chia seeds
  • ¾ cup fresh or frozen raspberries
  • 4-6 popsicle sticks
Instructions
  1. Place almond milk, dates, vanilla and cacao in blender and process until dates are pulverized. A Vitamix does a great job with this. If your blender leaves the dates too chunky, you can strain the mixture before adding it to the chia seeds.
  2. Pour chia seeds into a medium container and add almond milk mixture. Stir immediately to combine otherwise you may end up with blobs of chia seeds. Allow to sit on countertop and stir every 5 minutes. After 15 minutes, it should have thickened.
  3. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.
  4. When the pudding mixture is completely thickened, stir in the raspberries. Divide the pudding into popsicle molds and insert a stick in the center of each. If your molds hold 3 ounces of liquid, you should be able to get 5-6 popsicles out of this recipe.
Notes
The sweetness is to taste, so taste the mixture before refrigerating and adjust accordingly. If you don't want to use dates, try Grade A maple syrup, honey, coconut sugar or whatever you prefer.

 

Grain-free Chocolate Zucchini Cake Recipe and VIDEO

You’re either going to love me or hate me for this post.  Why?  Because this grain-free chocolate cake which just so happens to have zucchini in it is AMAZING.  You will love how rich and chocolaty it is,  how moist and tender.  You will be utterly amazed that this cake has no flour of any kind and that there is zucchini in it.  Zucchini!   It is sweetened with maple syrup and that’s all.  After your first bite, you might exclaim, “Three cheers for Pamela!”

All the ingredients -- one bowl

Orrrrrrr, you will find this cake, which is more like a cross between a brownie and cake, completely irresistible and TOO amazing.  You will walk by it on the countertop and find the uncontrollable need to even out all the edges until you are left with a mere crumb.  But you’ll convince yourself it’s healthful!  It contains almond butter and zucchini.  Zucchini!  And you will not be able to stop eating it.  The next time you make it you will freeze most of it so that you are not tempted by its chocolaty goodness and inhale three-fourths of it before the kids get home.  But you cannot stop dreaming about this cake so you find out it even taste good FROZEN because there is no waiting when it comes to this cake.  And after you eat all of the frozen cake, you might exclaim, “I curse the day I met Pamela!  Darn this chocolate amazingness!”

Batter

 

Grain-free Chocolate Zucchini Cake | Pamela Salzman

And that’s what I’m talking about.

Even Mr. Picky himself went crazy for this cake.  I actually came clean and told him there was zucchini in here and he didn’t care!!  If you are nut-free, don’t sweat.  Substitute sunflower butter in an equal amount and it will work perfectly.  Sunflower butter does have a slightly nuttier flavor, almost like peanut butter.  But I when I made the cake with sunflower butter for some nut-free people, they couldn’t detect it.  Make it.  Devour it. Love it.  Share it.  Tell me all about it.

Grain-free Chocolate Zucchini Cake | Pamela Salzman

Grain-free Chocolate Zucchini Cake | Pamela Salzman

5.0 from 23 reviews
Grain-free Chocolate Zucchini Cake Recipe and VIDEO
Author: 
Serves: makes 1 8 x 8 or 9 x 9-inch cake
 
Ingredients
  • coconut oil or butter for greasing pan
  • 1 cup creamy, unsweetened, unsalted almond butter, raw or roasted, or sunflower butter for a nut-free cake
  • ⅓ cup pure Grade A maple syrup or raw honey
  • ¼ cup raw cacao or cocoa powder
  • ¼ teaspoon fine ground sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon instant coffee powder (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 ½ cups of shredded zucchini, about 2 small
  • 1 cup dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8 x 8 or 9 x 9-inch pan. If you want to remove the cake from the pan in one piece, line it with unbleached parchment paper as well.
  2. In a large bowl combine the almond butter, maple syrup, cacao powder, salt, coffee powder, egg, vanilla, and baking soda until smooth.
  3. Stir in zucchini and chocolate chips.
  4. Pour into prepared pan and bake until just set and a toothpick comes out clean or with dry crumbs. Do not overbake. A 9 x 9 pan will take 35-45 minutes. An 8 x 8 pan will take 40-50 minutes. Allow to cool before serving.
Notes
Notes: You can also add ½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans to the batter.