Growing up, we made popsicles by pouring orange juice into these molds, letting them freeze and eating them outside so we didn’t sticky up the kitchen floor. But when I first bought these popsicles molds a year ago, did I put juice in them? No. I started dreaming about frozen cherry cheesecake popsicles and key lime pie paletas. I became obsessed with recreating the creamsicles of my youth, but only if the outside layer was orange and the middle was white. I began scratching out recipes for rum-mango-coconut popsicles, roasted peach and frozen yogurt on a stick and strawberry black pepper frozen ices that might taste like one of my favorite summer cocktails.
I first read about magical one-ingredient banana ice cream around the same time. If you haven’t, well, go buy some bananas. Freeze them until they’re almost quite but not completely frozen, then cut them into chunks and blend them in a food processor and you’ll have the most amazing soft serve banana gelato ever.
Of course, I couldn’t leave well enough alone. I had to fiddle, and when I did I discovered that roasting the bananas first, before freezing them, added a bit extra dimension to the flavor. And if you roasted them with brown butter, a drop (okay, two) of rum, vanilla and cinnamon and paired them with chocolate ganache with flecks of sea salt, it’s just. I cannot. It’s ridiculous.
And then summer came back again and it got hot, so hot, guys. And even though I’ve made peace with summer. Even though I was legitimately bummed yesterday when we had a freak lukewarm day that required a cardigan in the morning (who am I anymore?). Even though I love projects that allow me to be as crafty as I want in the kitchen, I looked at my ideas for popsicles and was sure I’d lost my ever-loving mind. Popsicles should not be complicated.
And so I made these instead. They have three ingredients, three ingredients that provide everything a good popsicle should — creaminess, perfect sweetness, enough indulgence that your 3 year-old (okay, and his resident 30-somethings) isn’t suspicious that you’re just trying to get more fruit into him, and for me, the essential salty crunchy that I want to contrast every dessert. And they are amazing.
One year ago: Pink Lemonade Bars
Two years ago: Tomato Salad with Crushed Croutons
Three years ago: Summer Succotash with Bacon and Croutons (Think you don’t like succotash? This will change you.)
Four years ago: Asparagus with Chorizo and Croutons
Five years ago: Nectarine, Mascarpone and Gingersnap Tart
Six years ago: Pearl Couscous with Olives and Tomatoes
Banana, Nutella and Salted Pistachio Popsicles
Can these count as breakfast? Banana, Nutella (so European, right?) and a small handful of nuts counts, right? I’m asking for a friend.
I mostly resisted my normal impulses to make things complicated, but caved on two flavorings — 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon. You’ll be fine without them, but they add a wonderful extra dimension here. So might coconut milk or rum or salted peanuts instead of pistachios or peanutella instead of Nutella but we’re not going to do that, are we?
Makes 7 1/3-cup popsicles
1/3 cup shelled roasted salted pistachios
4 large bananas, ripe but not mushy
A scant 1/2 cup Nutella or another chocolate-hazelnut (gianduja) spread
Flavorings (see Note up top), if desired
Grind pistachios to a powder. Set aside.
Peel bananas and break them into chunks. Puree them with any flavorings you might want to add. You should have about 2 cups puree.
Scoop Nutella into a small plastic bag and snip off the corner. (Trust me, fake-piping it into the narry molds is easier than trying to spoon it in.) Pour a little banana into each mold, then squiggle in a little Nutella. Repeat a couple times, trying to make sure that every bite or two will have Nutella in it, using about 1 tablespoon of Nutella in each popsicle. Fill molds to about 1/4-inch before the top, to leave room for expansion when freeze.
If using molds that contain sticks or hold wooden ones in place, snap on lids and freeze until solid, about 5 hours. If using glasses or open cup molds, freeze until beginning to set (about 1 1/2 to 2 hours), then insert the sticks until freeze until fully solid. If using instant popsicle makers, I’m jealous, just follow the manufacturer’s instructions.
Once frozen, spread pistachios out on a cold plate. Unmold popsicles and roll them all or partially in the nuts. Go outside to eat them so you don’t sticky up the kitchen floor.
Popsicle molds: I use these guys. I have the metal version, which was all that was available when I bought them a couple years ago, but the metal parts are not dishwasher safe and don’t hold the popsicle sticks in place as well as I understand the plastic ones do, so if I were buying them again, I’d opt for plastic.
So many incredible flavors – love these! Totally counts as breakfast.
These are some super-pretty pops. I finally just ordered that popsicle mold and I’m super excited! P.S. Way to give some pops stripes! Hell yeah!
Oooh, just bought bananas yesterday, molds last month, and Nutella is always in our house. Could be the key to getting my picky boys to eat a banana?
These look so delicious, and I just LOVE those Nutella streaks and the green from the pistachios. I just posted a roasted banana ice cream recipe today too – must be the day for it!
Those look pretty awesome. I wonder if it would work even half so well with Biscoff spread.
Dearest Deb,
this may not help me because I live in Canada. But, where do you get your popsicle molds? I want ones like these!
Popsicle molds — I bought them on Amazon. Mine are an older version with an aluminum lid, so they’re not dishwasher safe, which is annoying. The new ones I’ve linked to look better.
I ordered the same ice cream molds as yours just a couple of days ago and I can’t wait to get them and start making proper ice pops. I’ll probably be starting with your recipe here. They look amazing!
Do you know the Paletas cookbook by Fany Gerson? I’m in Boston, so no trips to the HighLine for a Newyorkina paleta, (or a swing-by Dough for a hibiscus cocoa nib doughnut, for that matter). I picked up a copy at The Strand last time I was in town. It’s probably cheaper on Amazon and so worth it. I actually made a Greek yogurt blueberry paleta from the book and called it breakfast.
Molly — Yes. It’s amazing. She is so talented, and was a great paleta inspiration. In the end, I went lazy, though. ;)
Oh.you.bad.bad.woman. ;-)
I see no reason why these couldn’t be breakfast ;) Seriously, these look SO amazing!
Frozen bananas might just be the perfect dessert and you went and topped that! Looks delicious!
Now Deb, you know your next post has to be for rum-mango-coconut popsicles!!! You can’t just throw that out into the universe leave us all hanging for such a treat. My mouth’s already salivating and my mind’s already taken me to on a trip to the Caribbeans.
It’s like christmas in summer :)
Popsicles are a great treat, we’ve been snacking on some chocolate nutella ones the past few days. I love the salted pistachio, it would be perfect!
I can’t handle all the awesome happening here. Inspired combination! (I wrote about the same mold last week for my coconut and vanilla bean pops–don’t you just love the classic shape?) Thank you for another great idea–you are a superstar!
As a child we had those same Popsicle molds and we did the orange juice thing too, ahh the memories that brings back :)
I’m not one of those people who bows down to the altar of Nutella (I mean, I like it but I’m not obsessed) but this sounds goooood. I like the mix of salty and sweet :)
These alone would inspire me to buy Popsicle molds – so much deliciousness going on here!
I made banana “soft serve” just like this a few days ago and have been on a paleta binge the past few weeks. Brilliant.
gosh nutella and pistachio? I adult version of my latest obsession. I wonder could The banana be omitted and avocado used in its place with some sugar too? My friend is unable have bananas, and I would love to make these for her party>
For those of us whose popsicle molds are long retired, do you suppose we could freeze the mixture into bathroom size cups then plop it into ice cream cones when unmolded and coated?
Oh my goodness! This looks amazing!!! I wanna eat one right now! Deb!!! You rock!!! :-D
These look amazing and I love the banana gelato idea too. Such great flavours combined. I better try these before it starts to rain again in Ireland! Thank you for these!
“My friend” definitely ate a toasted coconut-banana popsicle for breakfast today, I think you should tell “your friend” it’s totally acceptable, and delicious. Enjoy!
I grew up with the little Tupperware molds, and when I had kids I just had to have the same ones! Besides, my mom gave me the remaining pieces of the old set.. And when I bought the new colorful ones I found that they all fit together. Childhood dreams coming true?!
As a kid my favorite thing to so was to spoon in layers of the sweetened fruit flavored yogurts and freeze that. So simple!
Here’s the link to the Tupperware molds if you’re feeling nostalgic!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0002LGO4S/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1374855792&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX110_SY190
Today we have fun making pudding pops, or just freezing the tail end of a smoothie into a pop for later.
Omg. Literally going to go home, freeze all the bananas and do this. But with almonds instead of pistachios because I don’t have pistachios and I would like to consume this ASAP. Haha.
@Kaitlin: in Canada, try HomeSense or Winners for a good deal on popsicle molds.
Oh man, do these look good. I love the flavor combination!
Whoa! Those look and sound amazing!
Oh those look super yummy!! I will have to make a small batch for myself.
Oh. Yes. I love love love the look of these and one ingredient ice cream is the absolute best!
What kind of pistachios do you use? I can never get them to be that green, not even when chopped! I don´t even know if there are different kinds of pistachios.
Pistachios — Dry roasted, salted from Fresh Direct, a NYC grocery delivery service. They look brown on the outside (I didn’t try to rub off the skins) but are always green inside/when I grind them.
if looks could kill… these look totally delish!
Love that roll in salted pistachios!
These look delicious! Love all three of those ingredients. Memories of creating juice popsicles as a child are flooding back :)
These look amazing. Did you freeze the bananas before pureeing them?
These look great! We use the Zoku instant popsicle makers (and now the Zoku instant slushie makers) and love them–perfect for a quick fix/haven’t been to the store/kids are whining for popsicle nights…
Lately I’ve been adding half an avocado. Makes it creamier. And I’ve been on a ginger and turmeric kick.
I have to know… Did you recreate the creamsicle?? I love popsicles but do not like banana. So this post has just made me a)sad that I don’t like banana at all and b)hungry for some creamsicles!
This literally looks like the best thing I have ever seen to eat ever!! I need to make some and I need to do it now!!
Sure! If Cookie Crunch cereal and Cocoa Puffs are considered breakfast, then these should fit in the category!
OH. MY. *runs to grab bananas and nutella* making them now, should be ready for breakfast tomorrow ;)
You’re a genius, Deb! Seriously! : ) I usually likes savory for breakfast but I’ll change it up and have one of these popsicles instead any day!
wow, these look perfect! i love the pistachio crust :)
this looks heavenly – esp the pistachio crust
As luck would have it, I actually bought the all-plastic version if these molds earlier this week. Definitely putting aside boozy popsicles for my first experiment and making these instead.
Nuh uh! Stop! You can not keep doing this to my! My computer is sick and tired of me drooling on it!
We gave a Zoku instant popsicle maker to our daughter and son in law. He is so crazy about popsicles that he had them served at their wedding reception. It works great, but in our home, we stick to the old fashioned Tupperware type I got when we were first married, some 40 years ago. Your recipe looks delicious and I love the nuts on the outside of the popsicle…what a treat!
Yum. I was relieved when I got down to the actual recipe- the three ingredient part made me think ‘I can do this!’. Just made that banana ice cream last week, and the fact that I left the peels on when I froze them sort of changed the consistency, so it was more like delicious banana custard :)
Bet you’ve been enjoying the less warm days we’ve had recently!
Such a clever way to make stripe-y popsicles (that don’t involve freezing, waiting, freezing, waiting, etc.)! And nutella stripes?! Even better.
Mmmm, so delicious, perfect for a hot summer day! xx
To the person who asked about the color of the pistachios, I think these are raw. My roasted ones never come out that green.
brb, buying popsicle molds
Ummm, roasted bananas with brown butter, rum, sea salt, vanilla, and cinnamon? I need that recipe, too! Like really need… must have… you had me at brown butter.
Yes! I just bought a popsicle mold. :)
I second Jen’s request for the brown butter/rum/roasted banana popsicle!! Nutella doesn’t knock my socks off (I’m more of a cookie butter kinda girl!), but I’ve never been able to pass up browned butter! YUM!
Let me just gobble down what’s left of my one-pan farro before I rush off to the kitchen to make these. No time to wipe the oniony tomato-ey sauce from my chin. I’ll deal with that once these are in the freezer.
These look great, Deb. Just about all my favorite flavors in a popsicle. My kids would go nut for ’em, too.
I made some recently that were banans, dulce de leche and a little milk, just enough to make it pour-able. Oh and a little sea salt, of course :) So yummy!
Oh my, that looks great. I have most the ingredients minus the nutella and popsicle molds.
You are insane, and I love it.
The fact that the significant other & I are allergic to banana makes me sad. So, so sad.
this literally is the best thing i could have ever envisioned!! buying popsicle molds tomorrow morning!!!
I didn’t see if anyone mentioned Arrested Development: freeze the banana, dip in nutella and nuts. Does that work?
RG — I actually cannot believe I missed a chance to reference it here, considering that I finally got around to start watching it a few weeks ago. But I don’t think I love it as much as I’m supposed to. (Ducks.)
Wait! I want to know more about the roasted banana/rum rendition! Please???
This. Is. Genius!!!!!
The one ingredient banana “gelato” – we love it too! Considering I own a Zoku maker, I’m ashamed I hadn’t arrived at this conclusion on my own. Bad Momma. Thanks, Deb. We can always count on you.
Bananas, Nutella, DIY popsicles…mmm, they look great! Nutella (and peanut butter) can do no wrong for me!
Oh my god, woman. You are just nuts. This is unbelievable. Damn…
I had completely forgotten about those tupperware popsicle molds!
That looks so, so good. Any ideas for homemade Nutella- without hazelnuts? I can’t seem to find hazelnuts anywhere, but I want to make my own Nutella for some deep primeval reason I’ve no choice but to heed. Ahem.
Seriously, I can’t even. Looking at these brings out the 5 year old in me and now I’m looking on Amazon for Popsicle molds!
These are so freaking fun!! Lovely ice pops!
I too tend to complicate and try to add , particularly when making Popsicles. I love this reminder of how a few good ingredients are all you need. These look delicious!!
* try to add everything
Sorry!
That looks absolutely decadent.
We discovered banana “ice cream” a few weeks ago and are sooooo excited! I never thought of making popsicles! It’s just the right texture when totally frozen but it just never occurred to me to stick a stick in it.
The furthest I got was a desire to add cinnamon, vanilla, and chopped walnuts to make like banana bread ice cream. I like your idea better, I think. Pistachios!
…there’s always money in the banana stand…
Oh, I am obsessed with banana and Nutella right now – I must try these!
Mmm… I’ve made the frozen banana and Nutella “ice cream” before… never thought of making them into popsicles. The pistachios are a unique touch!
Oh, WOW…. yea!!! and YUMMM!!! I can’t wait tot try these popsicles. :-)
OMG…these elevate popsicles to another level! Sounds sooo good, even if I think I’ll be skipping the rum, since I don’t like it :)
xo, Elisa
Hi Deb!
These look great, i already have a stash of frozen bananas for smoothies in the freezer so i can definitely get behind this :)
*On a side note, I’m not sure if you have any control over this, but i have been getting ads on the site between your posts where i can “Win a new iPhone 5” that when i hovered over (accidentally) takes you to a site that floods my screen with pop ups. I just thought you might like to know :)
ohlala, 3x yes!
Oh my god I’m obsessed with this combo. These look amazing! Thank you for sharing!
OOOOH they look AMAZING :)
Wow beatiful combination of flavors. Delicious gourmet popsicle!
Not a big nutella fan, ( I know, blasphemy). Growing up, dulce de leche drizzled on bananas was a special treat, so um, yeah, I may just see how that works out. We also had the orange juice (and kool-aid) pops in the tupperware popsicle molds as kids too!
Oh, I don’t have time to read the whole post now, but they look good!! Can I have one of yours?? Was just checking in for a second to see if there was a response re the Good Reads section? I’ll check the earlier post.
oh, I just read your answer. Thanks for letting us know. I would have cut and pasted the links and emailed it to myself. I just used to check in on some of blog links from time to time assuming that it would always be on your sidebar.As has been said: Everything Changes!
Genius. I’m not a massive Nutella fan (despite living in the UK) but the whole creamsicle idea is fab. I recently posted a Frozen Banana and Almond Wakeup Shake (with espresso for the wakeup). But I have room in my heart, stomach and freezer for this even-more-frozen idea using the humble slightly over-ripe banana
After discovering chocolate covered frozen bananas at the grocery store beginning this summer I started mashing up bananas and putting them in those freezer pop molds to make my own. I love the idea of blending them with more ingredients to make something new and special!
OMG These look delicious and so simple to. I want now!
I tired the pureed banana thing but wasn’t impressed…maybe the bananas weren’t ripe enough or too ripe – don’t know but what I do know is the addition of Nutella to anything makes it better…so I’m going to give pureed bananas another try!
Un-be-lieve-able!
This is exactly what I made yesterday, dipped the stick in organic nutella and stuck it into the banana puree. Then I log on the Smitten Kitchen and here’s the same idea! I would never have thought about the grilled pistachio though, that’s brilliant! Now i’ll have to make some more….
I could easily have this for breakfast, every single day. Yum!
Love this idea! But, since I’m not wild about Nutella (I know, I know), I wonder if I could substitute ganache? What do you think about adding a little flaky sea salt to the pistachio coating?
I just came up with a no-churn ice cream so I don’t need to buy an ice cream maker and now I have to buy popcicle molds to make these yummy looking wonders.
Have you seen it? It’s your book, Deb!!!
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mackenziekruvant/housewarming-gifts-people-actually-want
8. An actually helpful cookbook.
You make me want to go digging for my old popsicle molds and bring them back! Haven’t used them since the 90’s! Great post! They look so delicious and I can’t wait to make them! :)
It’s winter over here, so I wouldn’t mind turning on the oven in service of the roasted version you mention in passing. I think I could figure the rest out, but is there any chance you could give us an approximate temperature/time for the roasting? Thanks very much, Deb- this sounds amazing.
Debbie, how do you roast the bananas with the butter, rum, vanilla, and cinnamon? What temp should I set the oven to? Thank you :)
Roasted bananas — Uh, I didn’t write it down but from my photos, I think I buttered a baking dish with 1 tablespoon butter, split the bananas lengthwise and placed them cut side down in the dish, sprinkled over 1 tablespoon rum + 1 teaspoon brown sugar, a pinch or two of sea salt. I think it was 20 minutes at 400, then I tried to flip them for another few minutes. You can add the cinnamon (just a tiny bit) and vanilla after they come out of the oven. Then you scrape everything into a container (plus all the butter drippings) and freeze it until solid. Puree, then you’ll have a rather indulgent no-longer-one-ingredient banana gelato.
Sweet and salty and only 3 ingredients. This is my kind of summer dessert. Now I know what I am making tomorrow afternoon. Once again, thanks for the inspiration. I am going to post this on my blog.
:D I just made frozen bananas (on chopsticks) dipped in melted nutella when I saw this post…the only thing I’m missing is pistachios.
I made them tonight and I feel really stupid asking, but am I the only one who can’t figure out how to get the pops out of the molds in one piece with sticks still firmly stuck in? My molds came with my Yonannas machine as a “bonus” but no instructions were included for un-molding. HELP!!!!!!!!!!!! (thanks!)
Lynn — If the popsicle sticks are coming out, it’s often that they’re not frozen enough. Or, you’re having to yank too hard because they haven’t released enough. I usually dip the popsicle molds in warm water for 5 to 10 seconds and that’s enough to get each out.
These look delicious, pretty and creative! Love the idea of fine chopped pistachios. I have the same mold…but always have problems with the sticks popping out. I end up putting them in once the ice cream starts to harden a bit. Cannot wait to make these!
Simply lovely and oh so delicious. Perfect summer treat…too good to share with the kiddos!
These look superb – cannot wait to try them. Thanks for posting!
lovely- I made cherry trifles for stargazing, with leftover brandy
These look and sound out of this world!
Do you think this will work with “fancy” ice cube molds (stars, flowers, etc.)? Add banana to the mold, pipe in nutella, freeze, roll in crushed pistachios. That’s my plan. Or, I could go old-school and freeze in regular ice cube trays and use a toothpick and plastic wrap. (Does anyone else remember those or am I totally showing my age?)
I just ordered some ice pop molds from Amazon that are BPA-free. So much plastic ware in our world has BPA in it. I have some great ice pop molds from Back to Basics called Lickety Sips that are great because they seal on top. Then when you are eating the ice pop the melting part drips into the part that goes into your mouth not all over your hands and blouse. However, I believe they have BPA in them due to them being manufacutured previous to the danger of BPA realization.
Are your ice pops BPA free Deb?
I love your posts.
oh my dear god. this is why i’ve been reading this blog for 6 years. this. right. here.
my daughter is addicted to avocado/banana/coconut milk popsicles. you should try it!
I am going to make these!!!! Such an easy and simple idea!!!
I just discovered that nutella contains palm oil so what is the substitute. Don’t kill the orangutans!
I can’t tell whether these will be delicious or disgusting….I’m gonna have to try them and find out :)
3-ingredient popsicle! And healthy too. Most ideal sweet treat even for kids.
I have yet to join the frozen-banana-as-ice-cream craze. It needs to happen soon! This may be the recipe to pull me in, popsicles have been my favorite thing to make this summer and these look amazing!
I promised the girls last night we’d make Popsicles today and here you have provided a just right recipe. BTW, I made an ice cream with day lilys (really!) that tasted very much like the cream sidles of old.
Wow! Looks soo yummy! ;)
I love, love this idea! I too have so many fond childhood memories of simple, homemade orange popsicles with juice dripping all over the place. Those were the days. I’m also curious to try the banana ice cream after roasting the bananas a bit.
IS this for real!!!, I cannot contain my excitement for these… YUMMY!!!
These look absolutely incredible. Very naughty, yet, incredible!
totally completely counts as breakfast…
actually, it will probably be mine tomorrow!
haha, I always love complicated popsicle recipes in the winter! I’ve frozen mint tea, nutella/milk, and just plain water this summer. My kids love them all. I next want to puree cantaloup or watermelon and freeze that.
My recent favorite was avocado, coconut milk, lime juice, a touch of sugar and salt, and a little grated coconut. (blogged here with “recipe:” http://thriftathome.blogspot.com/2013/07/several-cold-creamy-treats.html)
I love making popsicles out of leftover fruit smoothie, but to add some nutella…me likey!
what brand is your popsicle mold?
these look phenomenal!!! i just bought a popsicle mold, so i cannot wait to try these. have you tried these with any other nuts besides pistachios?
Hahaha I had a popsicle for breakfast today! Greek yogurt and peaches mmmm. This sounds delicious. It is true, I need more chocolate in my diet :)
Just made these – turned out amazing! When I don’t have time to make banana ice cream I just cut bananas in discs, drizzle over melted chocolate and then freeze! So quick and no blender to wash up! Perfect finger food!
Nutella in recipes makes me happy, really really happy.
These looks so delicious, nice one!
I love the addition of salted pistachio. I must try it. We’ve been making a number of various Popsicle ourselves. Strawberry-Mint in Greek yogurt worked out really nicely.
I own those molds you linked to – by the way. I made some in them just last week – I got them on Etsy – vintage.
At a quick glance, these look strikingly like the pistachio-crusted lamb pops you made a while back! But, I daresay these may be a wee bit higher on the delicious scale :)
Thanks for another delicious recipe!
I have had the same frozen pop mold for about a week. I canNOT stop making various-sicles. Chocolate ones. And peach ones. And strawberry ones. And a slightly different chocolate one. And cherry vanilla cream ones. All in a week. They fall out of my freezer onto my feet. So delicious! So fun! And so addictive!
Not sure if you’ve seen this, but you’re book (which I adore) is on this list. :)
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mackenziekruvant/housewarming-gifts-people-actually-want
Honestly Deb, these look amazing… But I just wanted to say thanks for making your recipes compatible with Pepperplate. I couldn’t figure out a better place to say this, and I haven’t seen any comments anywhere else…
I love that I can pick my favorites and import them directly without having to re-type them. Awesome. Have a good week. :-D
Hi Deb!
I absolutely want to try this recipe right away, but I don’t like bananas at all….is there any way to replace the bananas with something else? Thanks so much!!!
Love your blog <3
I hope they taste better than they look…yikes….
Absolutely delicious, can’t wait to give these babies a whirl yum yum.
Love banana “ice cream”. Love the molds. My childhood Popsicle memory is of kool-aid poured into metal ice cube trays. Use wax paper to hold while eating!
You totally just gave me an idea for a Nutella based pop. Can’t wait to fiddle around with it.
made these immediately – they were super tasty but for some reason the tops got stuck after the second nutella stripe so I ended up with lots of half pops. Still awesome – I think If I made them again I would blend the nutella in to avoid the nutella divide. Thanks Deb!
These look super delicious. Jacob is the sweetest thing, and I just love his haircut.
These look amazing, can’t wait to try!
This is absolutely amazing!!!!
thanks :-)
summer taste forever!!!
I think I’ll try this with just bananas and pistachios. I’m one of what seems to be a very few people who doesn’t like Nutella.
These look delicious! We almost never have Nutella in our house. So I will try chocolate!
Thanks Deb!:)
I hope i dont get roasted for not reading all the previous posts b4 suggestimg this, but what about adding chunks of strawberries to this?
Out of curiosity, why not just mix the nutella in with the banana while pureeing?
Nicole — You can, but I wanted bites of chocolate and bites of banana. I like popsicles that taste complicated. :)
Prissnboot — Go for it.
Shane — Thank you.
Those looking for Nutella substitutes — I know some people don’t like the ingredients in Nutella. I called it that for simplicity, but any chocolate hazelnut or Italian gianduja spread you can find or make will work. I was lucky enough to smuggle a few containers of a “Crema alle Nocciole” from Baratti e Milano brand from our trip to Rome (it was less than 4 euros! Uh, Amazon is charging $30.) I think they sell it at Eataly, if you’re in NYC, and also Bedford Cheese. And, if you go to Buon Italia in Chelsea Market (again, NYC) they definitely have other, even tastier, brands of gianduja spread. Oh, and I know the Le Pain Quotidien chain makes their own versions with white chocolate and dark, though haven’t auditioned them. (Where ARE my priorities?) Or you can make your own. Or Peanutella.
Have you ever tried Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut butter? It is crazy delicious and has 1/3 the sugar of nutella. Love ya, Deb!
Link to Justin’s on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00555H0LC/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=1535523722&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B002JG5TVS&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=09QYGAF2RZR96CMC57TA
Such an amazing recipe – I don’t know how you can be so creative with your recipes, your blog is so interesting!
Charli X
These are ridiculously delicious. I made some last night but added salted caramel as well as the Nutella and then added vanilla to the banana. May try and coat them with salted hazelnuts next time. Thanks for the recipe.
This is freezing as I type :D Made a few alterations for simplicity: pan-fried the bananas with butter and cinnamon, pureed the whole thing, stirred in a tablespoon of carob spread and spooned it in popsicle molds. I’ll skip the pistachios as they’re prohibitively expensive here, but I’m thinking salted roasted hazelnuts someone mentioned in the comments would be awesome.
Otherwise, my favourite quick ice-cream/fro-yo recipe: freeze chunks of ripe banana, puree it with some thick yoghurt and sprinkle with roughly chopped bitter chocolate. A three-minute job when emergency comfort food is required :D
I made the lazy man’s version – more chocolate/banana ratio. http://meadowscooks.blogspot.com/2013/08/pistachio-covered-frozen-banana-bites.html
And a question: when you melt chocolate, how do you keep it smooth? When I did this it started out nicely drippy and then something changed and it became clumpy. The more I tried to get it back to melted the more clumpy and solid it became.
sandra — This recipe doesn’t call for melted chocolate (maybe you meant Joy The Baker’s?) but it sounds like your chocolate “split” (i.e solids and fats got separated) from overheating. You want to melt chocolate on the lowest heat it will melt until it’s almost completely melted, then stir the remaining chunks until they finish liquefying. Or, this is the way I do it. This protects you from it overheating and becoming split, and kind of yucky. Extra heating will only make it worse one it’s happened.
Wow, yum!! What a great idea. I’ve been uninspired when it comes to summer desserts, but this is definitely one for the list. Thanks!
Is it a problem that I bookmarked these despite having absolutely no popsicle mold/machine/maker whatsoever? They just look too good to pass up! I wanted to let you know that I featured this post on my food blog’s Weekend Wrap-Up, where I share with my followers some of my favorite web finds from the past week. I’ve included the link below in case you’re interested. Thanks for another great recipe, and enjoy your weekend!
http://floptimism.blogspot.com/2013/08/weekend-wrap-up-floptimism-rd.html
These look amazing. I am not a huge fan of popsicles but I can’t wait to try them!
I am excited to use this recipe as the filling that replaces the ice cream for your ice cream sandwich recipe and roll the edges of the sandwiches in salty peanuts! Will make for the perfect dessert for my daughter’s 2nd birthday party :)
YUM!!!!!
We just bought little silicone round popsicle molds. I will have to give this a try! At our farmer’s market, they used to sell amazing fruit pops. Watermelon/mint, Strawberry/basil, Cinnamon/banana/chocolate. For folks who don’t like Nutella, I’d say chunk up a little dark chocolate and cinnamon.
Had to stop making these because they brought me perilously close to a deadly sin. But if I relapse…any tips on getting those pesky ground pistachios to stick better?
Laura — I would roll them in the pistachios as soon as I unmolded them, i.e. right after dipping the molds in warm water, so the outsides were ever-so-slightly soft and took to the pistachios with no problem. It also helps to have the pistachios well ground. You could also just have the popsicle out (once unmolded) for a minute to get just warm enough that they stick well.
These feature all of my favourite things! Love salty and sweet combos. I reckon they count as breakfast…
I just made these last night when I got home from work. They weren’t quite frozen solid when dessert time hit so I left them until tonight. I can’t WAIT to try them!!!
stop. i can’t. this post just got better and better with every word that I read! bananas, roasted bananas? nutella? Mindblown. I will be making these when I get home!
wow. these look incredible. cannot wait til sydney warms up and we can start having these summery goodies :)
These absolutely count as breakfast. Bananas, pistachios and a tiny bit of nutella, that’s healthy (and delicious).
Love the pop mold. I’ve been using the old-school, DIY version of foil-covered paper cups to make pops.
wow awesome yaar.!!
Deb- you may have answered this already, but should the bananas be frozen when you purée them?
Making these on Friday. Can’t wait!
Terri — No, no need to here. I just attempted to make the recipe as confusing as possible by first describing a banana frozen dessert technique that you didn’t even need to make this. :)
I’ve just discovered your blog, and laughing all the way through reading! These look and sound soo delicious. I might have to try your baked version too… So I’m off to buy new popsicle moulds (the ones I bought from IKEA were deceptively small – and who wants TINY popsicles!?)
One of my favorite ways to eat bananas is as a frozen treat. Have you tried Vietnamese banana ice cream bars with roasted peanuts and shredded coconut? Easy to make, no mold or food processor needed. They are delicious and brings me back to my childhood.
What is brand name of mold you are using? I’m in C-bus, Oh. My fella LOVES banana Popsicles mostly unadorned, so I thought I’d share my stache of frzn bananas I save for smoothies.
Your book is on my Dear Santa… list.
Popsicle molds: I use these guys. I have the metal version, which was all that was available when I bought them a couple years ago, but the metal parts are not dishwasher safe and don’t hold the popsicle sticks in place as well as I understand the plastic ones do, so if I were buying them again, I’d opt for plastic.
My goodness. Pure decadence. Do you deliver? :)
Just got some molds from amazon after seeing all of you popsicles. I tried these out first so easy so delicious! I used your recommendations on cinnamon and vanilla extract, then added 1/8th tsp nutmeg and a tbs or so of Baileys. They are so good! Thanks for sharing, I am making the butterscotch ones latter this week!
I love a new idea for frozen bananas besides banana bread or cooking them into oatmeal. I have been using the Jello/Kool-aid recipe for all flavors of fruit popsicles but since neither Jello nor Kool-Aid comes in banana flavor, I will be anxious to try this recipe. I’m thinking too, maybe this banana puree would blend well with vanilla yogurt to make a banana yogurt popsicle. Thanks for the inspiration.
Hi Deb, I’ve been reading this blog for years and years and never commented yet! Me and my family are HUGE lovers of your blog & book.
Delicious popsicles, I’ve actually got a slight alteration to the recipe. Because I’m using a Zoku popsicle maker, it freezes the popsicles completely and the pistachios don’t stick! So I lightly melted some Nutella and added a drop of milk, then dipped the popsicles in that, and then rolled them in pistachio. Thought your other readers using schmancy machines might like to know :)
– Fan from London :)
Man, ok, I know I am late to this party, but like, can we all take a moment to appreciate that today, at the time I finally discovered this recipe, Trader Joe’s cookie butter is now a thing that exists. Let’s all do the math. HELLO. Not sure if banana is the exact right perfect anchor for that though? Other ideas? I’m sure there’s a genius combo out there to be invented…blueberry? GASP. Pumpkin? (I. Do. Not. Care. That it’s not fall.)
Something seems to have gone awry in your recipe index section of the website. If I click on the link to “bacon and corn hash” under Summer, I get directed to this recipe, every time. It’s the same with a number of other recipes as well, they get misdirected.
Cecilla — Hm… I’m not getting this. Is it still happening for you? The only thing I’m thinking is that we had a bit of downtime around the time you commented yesterday and I wonder if that was causing the wonkiness. Or, I hope that’s all it was.
I’ve made these several times, sometimes taking the time to roast the bananas and sometimes not. (I even roasted them once with some bourbon. Delicious.) I often make my own chocolate filling by simply melting chocolate chips with a tad bit of coconut oil and using that in between the layers.
I also recently discovered that while the Tupperware molds that I bought a yard sale come with plastic sticks/handles to insert into the lids, they also work with the regular old wooden popsicle sticks. That means that I can make several batches in a relatively short time, rather than having to eat my first batch before I can reuse the sticks.
Hey,
First of all, thank you for great recipes!
I have lots of frozen Bananas in my freezer.
Can I use them to make the popsicles or must I use fresh bananas? Just because it would mean to freeze twice, I don’t know if it might hurt the texture.
If it is possible to use the frozen ones, should I thaw them completely or just let them soften a bit before put them in the blender?
Thank you.
You can use the frozen ones and skip the roasting step.
Just popped these in the freezer! A friend was due to return from vacation just after a travel ban went into effect, sigh, so the bananas I bought her were going brown. Thankfully she also had some popsicle molds I could borrow… I used melted peanut butter and chocolate mixed together for the layer since I’m not a milk chocolate/Nutella fan. I didn’t have creamy pb, but hey, they’ll be rolled in chopped nuts, so hopefully it won’t be weird to have pieces of peanut IN the creamy frozen desert! Thanks for the idea :) I’ll post photos once they’re done!
I made these with cinnamon and vanilla extract added as flavor, while pureeing the bananas.
Added banana puree and nutella alternately in the molds.
Did I miss something or are these supposed to be bit icy?
I just made these for the second time. It’s a favorite for one of my grandsons – Owen. I found working with the Nutella (even in a bag) very frustrating and I wasted a lot. I think that may be a sin! Ha! Anyway, this time I dropped dollops of the Nutella in a small bowl of the banana mixture. Then it was very easy to just spoon the dollops into the molds!