Erin, the food blogger behind The Almond Eater, is back again this week to help us count down the days until summer. Today, we’re celebrating National Chocolate Ice Cream Day with Chocolate Coconut Popsicles – definitely a must-make on our summer to-do list. These Chocolate Coconut Popsicles are dipped in chocolate and just what you need to curb your sweet tooth and cool down on a hot summer day. Bonus: they’re dairy free and only 6 ingredients!

You know, for being a food blogger, I’m pretty terrible at keeping up with the food holidays. I blame it on the fact that there are several different food “holidays” every single day. With that said, I think it’s fun when you put up a recipe that happens to coincide with a food holiday.

Lucky for me, my friends over at American Eagle informed me that today is National Chocolate Ice Cream Day, so I figured, what better way to celebrate than with chocolate popsicles?

I had been eyeing a popsicle mold for two years (kind of pathetic, I know), and I finally broke down and purchased one about a month ago. Best decision ever? I think yes. Also, if you’re ever debating something for two years, you should probably just bite the bullet and DO IT.

I don’t know about you, but popsicles instantly remind me of my childhood. After spending all day out in the sun, what else was I supposed to eat to cool down? Popsicles were always the answer. For some reason, you don’t hear about adults eating popsicles nearly as much as kids, and I’m guessing that’s partially because many of the store bought popsicles are full of fake flavors and generally just not that good. Yeah, I said it. Lucky for you, these chocolate coconut popsicles are quite the opposite!

These popsicles are:

• Creamy
• Equal parts chocolate and coconut
• Dairy free
• 6 ingredients
• Sweet but not too sweet
• Practically perfect

The cool thing is that you can make this recipe in a blender, so the prep time is only five minutes, if that! Once you’re ready to devour them, you take them out of the freezer, dip them in melted chocolate and gobble them right up. But you already knew that.

Recipe

Ingredients:
1 can (13 oz.) coconut milk
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder or cacao
¼ cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips
¼ cup coconut oil

Directions:

1. Combine milk, cocoa, syrup, and vanilla extract in a blender and pulse for at least 30 seconds or until mixture is completely smooth.
2. Pour mixture evenly into popsicle mold and freeze for at least 2 hours.
3. When you’re ready to eat the popsicles, prepare the chocolate dip.
4. Heat chocolate chips and coconut oil in a microwave-safe dish for 2 minutes, stirring the mixture every 30 seconds; set aside.
5. Remove popsicles from the freezer and follow instructions on the mold package on how to remove popsicles from the mold.
6. As you remove them, dip each popsicle in the chocolate mixture and then place on a plate or baking sheet; repeat for all popsicles and then place them back in the freezer for 15-20 minutes.
7. Remove and enjoy!

What are you eating to celebrate National Chocolate Ice Cream Day? Tell us in the comments below!

Tags: food, Recipe, Summer, The Almond Eater

We’re channeling our excitement for summer’s arrival  into a master list of must-wears, must-dos, must-tries and must-haves to make the Summer of ’16 the best ever. The Almond Eater will be guest-blogging with us throughout the month, so don’t miss any of Erin’s delicious summer recipes. Today, she’s making a summer snack perfect for any picnic.

No grill? No problem! These Caprese Kebabs are made in the oven and ready in 30 minutes or less. Tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, and balsamic vinegar make up this easy appetizer–what’s not to love?

There are many kinds of foods that scream “summer”, one of them being kebabs. I also learned that there are approximately four different ways to spell “kebabs”, but this one felt the most accurate to me. Anyway, KEBABS. They’re delicious and a really simple appetizer for summertime.

I’m also certain that you love caprese anything, because how can you not? Tomatoes, mozzarella and basil combine and are drizzled with balsamic vinegar, though I must add the vinegar is optional. The best part of this recipe (in my opinion) is that these caprese kebabs are made in the oven, so even if you don’t have a grill you can still enjoy them.

One of these days I’ll own a grill, but until then, I’ll keep searching for ways to make the most of my oven. If you do own a grill, feel free to utilize that since it may be too hot out to use your oven. If you don’t, I promise these are quick so your oven won’t be on for too long.

The trick here is that you want the tomatoes to be nice and soft, but you don’t want the cheese to completely melt. I opted to cook the tomatoes first, allow a few minutes for them to cool off before assembling the full kebabs with the tomatoes, mozzarella and basil and placing all of them in the oven so everything is warm and slightly cooked. Yes, it requires a tad more patience, but if you want the tomatoes to be soft and the cheese to be somewhat melted, this is what you gotta do, and it works!

If and when you’re searching for a super simple party appetizer, these kebabs should absolutely be it!

Recipe

Ingredients:
8 kebab sticks
16 oz. heirloom or grape tomatoes
8 oz. mozzarella cheese
20 basil leaves, approximately
Drizzle of balsamic vinegar (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Place tomatoes on a nonstick baking sheet and bake for 5-10 minutes or until tomatoes are soft and slightly browned.
3. While tomatoes are cooking, break the mozzarella up into bite-size pieces and break 20 basil leaves off of the stem.
4. Remove tomatoes from oven and wait 5 or so minutes for them to cool off a bit.
5. Next, assemble the kebabs with tomato, mozzarella piece and a folded basil leaf. Repeat this process until all ingredients are used up and then place the kebabs bake on the nonstick baking sheet and bake for 2-3 minutes or until cheese has softened.
6. Remove from oven, drizzle with balsamic and enjoy!

Tags: food, Recipe, Summer, The Almond Eater