Peanut Butter Swirled Chocolate Fudge Popsicles.
Guys. It has been far too long since we talked chocolate.
Far too long. I was just looking at the Half Baked Harvest home page and there’s not even one post containing chocolate. I can hardly believe it. I guess I’ve been too wrapped up in spring strawberry recipes and brunch cocktails…not that I’m complaining because I love these spring recipes.
BUT sometimes you just need some chocolate, and today is the day when chocolate returns! And because it has been so long (honestly still in shock), I figured I needed to come at you guys with a chocolate lovers kind of recipe. Yes, please! You guys, these popsicles are going to be your new (HEALTHY) dessert obsession. They’re creamy, chocolatey, swirled with peanut butter, topped with a little salty peanut “granola”, AND then, for that extra touch, dipped in chocolate.
Seriously? YUM.
The best part? Everything in these popsicles is complete health food. <–no messing around, health food…and you’d never even know it.
OkOK. I know, I just made like a lot of claims, so let me back up a little here and explain.
To be completely honest, I’ve been having such a hard time with desserts lately. I am just totally stumped on what to make. Should it be something over the top indulgent? healthy? springy? summery? full of berries? chocolate? Like what, I’m just in between on everything at the moment.
So what have I been doing? Just making the things my family and I love most. A lot of brunch recipes (coming soon) and then these chocolate peanut butter popsicles. The weather was so nice all last week, which totally had me craving sunny weather eats, meaning popsicles! As a kid, I always loved the fudgsicles my mom would buy from the grocery store. I’d eat them all the time as an after school snack or dessert after dinner.
For a while, I kind of forgot about fudgsicles, but then other week something got me thinking about them and suddenly it hit me that I should make a PEANUT BUTTER swirl version. I mean, how freaking good does that sound?
Trust me, it’s GOOD.
Let’s run through these bars ingredient by ingredient….
…creamy coconut milk. I like to used canned full fat, for extra creaminess and sweet coconut flavor. This ingredient is KEY to achieving a creamy popsicles and not a super icy one.
…PEANUT BUTTER. I mean, this one is obvious. Use a natural, salted peanut butter.
…super ripe bananas. These are added mostly for sweetness and creaminess, but I do LOVE the slight hint of banana flavor. PB + banana + chocolate = best combo.
…plump dates. For just the right amount of sweetness.
…cacao or cocoa power. Gotta get that chocolate in.
…hemp seeds. For a little protein boost. These are completely optional, so if you prefer to leave them out, no big deal.
…vanilla. Always, always gotta add vanilla.
And DONE.
Everything is added to a blender and pulsed until it looks just like a thick and creamy smoothie. Then grab your popsicle molds and layer the chocolate mix with a little more creamy peanut butter…and as if that wasn’t already good enough, I decided to finish these off with a little raw “granola”, aka oats, peanuts, and dates…salty sweet goodness. Add that to the top of the pops and FREEZE.
Patiently wait the four hours or so..and then eat and eat and eat.
Bring on the warm and sunny days, right?
Totally.
Also, I honestly did not intentionally try to make these healthy, it just happened to be that all the ingredients I used ended up being good for us ingredients. This almost never happens, but when it does, I jump for joy…and then reach for another popsicle…because hey, they’re HEALTHY!
And I swear, give these to anyone, even a super picky, non-health food eater and they’re going to love them. You’d never guess that there’s zero added sugar, zero bad for us fats, and that they’re full of protein too. These are truly just the creamiest (and I do mean the creamiest), chocolate and peanut butter loaded treat. They are SO GOOD…enough said.
Weekend plans…make popsicles…eat popsicles…out in the sun.
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Peanut Butter Swirled Chocolate Fudge Popsicles
Course: Snack
Cuisine: American
Keyword: chocolate and peanut, fudgicle
Quick to make fudgicles for a cool treat
Ingredients
- 1 (14 ounce) can full fat canned coconut milk
- 1/4 + 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 ripe bananas
- 6-8 dates + 1/3 cup pitted medjool dates
- 1/2 cup cacao or cocoa powder
- 3 tablespoons hemp seeds
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 1/2 cup roasted peanuts
- 8 ounces dark chocolate, melted
Instructions
-
1. In a high powder blender or food processor, combine the coconut milk, 1/4 cup peanut butter, bananas, 6-8 dates, cacao powder, hemp seeds, and vanilla and blend until completely smooth and the consistency of a thick smoothie.
2. To assemble, layer the chocolate mix and the remaining 1/3 cup peanut butter evenly among 10-12 popsicles molds. It's OK if the layers are not perfect.
3. To make the granola: in a food processor, combine the remaining 1/3 cup dates, oats, and peanuts and pulse until the mix is finely ground and resembles granola. Sprinkle the "granola" over the tops of the pops, gently pressing into the pops (you will not use all the "granola"). Insert popsicle sticks, cover the tops of the mold and freeze until firm, about 4 hours. To remove the popsicles run the mold under hot water for 10 seconds and then pull the popsicles out of the molds.
4. If desired, dip each popsicle in chocolate and then quickly sprinkle with the remaining "granola". Store in the freezer.
Chocolate and peanut butter, it’s just a combo you never ever tire of…love it! Happy FriYAY!
This is a truly fabulous balanced indulgence recipe. Yay for bringing back the chocolate! 🙂 Have an awesome weekend.
So happy you like it Liz! Thanks so much (:
Hi Tieghan, Happy Friday! Quick question – are you able to tell us where you got your popsicle mould from? That thing looks like the king of popsicle moulds 🙂
haha! I just bought it on amazon. here is the link:
http://rstyle.me/n/cmqyu7b9wzf
I think of chocolate everyday.
I miss chocolate everyday.
It’s as if I was in a relationship with chocolate and we broke up 🙁
I need these in my life, now!
https://bloglairdutemps.blogspot.pt/
Ah!! I feel your pain! I wish you could have them Ruth!
YUMMY!!
Thanks Charlotte!
Good morning. One photo looks like Popsicle molds..another looks like you used cups.. am I confused? if we have no molds..would plastic cups be OK ?
No hemp seeds…any suggestions to sub ?
They just look divine..
thank you so much.
Hey Leslie! I used both a popsicle mold and paper Dixie cups. Either will work, so yes, you can use small Dixie style cups. Let me know if you have questions. Hope you love these! 🙂
These look FUN!
Ah thanks Lindsay!
Going to try these for sure.
Hope you love them Mari!
love that the fudge part is just blend and go, rather than cooking it over the stove! plus, the layers of peanut butter sound delicious paired with the fudgesicle!
Yay! So glad you like it Heather (: Thank you!
WOW…just WOW!! Forwarded this to three chocolate/PB loving friends before I ever even read the recipe and post to see that they are healthy! SCORE!
Ah YES! Thank you so much Leah (:
Omg! This looks sooo good, and perfect for summer
So perfect for summer, thanks Andrea!
Ah, how fun are these pops!? Love the addition of crunchy granola on the bottom. 🙂
So happy you like them Beth (: Thank you!
YUM! I am craving chocolate
I always crave chocolate! Thanks Sara!
Oh my gosh I’m drooling! These look absolutely perfect! Peanut butter and chocolate is my very favorite combo. I need to go buy some popsicle molds now 🙂
Ah yes! The best combo!! Thanks Elizabeth!
Wow – you had me at creamy peanut butter and bananas! Printed the recipe off and am good to go for tomorrow – my family will be amazed. Thanks!
Hope you loved it, thank you Joy!
These are such gorgeous pops! I’m always about anything chocolate and that peanut butter swirl is perfection! 🙂
Right! I’m all about anything chocolate and PB! Thanks Laura!
What are plum dates?
I Linda! I like to use medjool dates. Let me know if you have questions. Hope you love these!
What would happen if I omitted the bananas?
Hey Susan! Try doubling the dates OR add half an avocado. I think either would be great, doubling the dates would create a sweater pop. You could also do half an avocado + 2-3 dates. Let me know if you have questions. Hope you love the pops!
Oh my gosh, this recipe is exactly what I needed! LOVE your healthy recipes, especially those sweetened with fruits. 😉 Happy weekend!
Yay, so happy you like it Caroline!! Thanks a ton!
Any suggestions on a substitution for the Bananas? … would love to make this but am allergic to them… could I use applesauce in place of it?
Hi Wendy! Try doubling the dates OR add half an avocado. I think either would be great, doubling the dates would create a sweater pop. You could also do half an avocado + 2-3 dates. Let me know if you have questions. Hope you love the pops!
This look absolutely amazing, Tieghan!
Can you sub the bananas for another creamy and/or sweet fruit or vegetable? I unfortunately really detest bananas. I even once ask my best friend to stop eating bananas around me, because I really didn’t like the smell…
Hey Patricia! Try double the dates OR add half and avocado. I think either would be great, double the dates would create a sweater pop. You could also do half an avocado + 2-3 dates. Let me know if you have questions. Hope you love the pops!
These pops look amazing! Can’t wait to try them this week after a grocery run. Where can I get the moulds? Looked at several places online but can’t find any like the ones you used.
Hey patty! I used both a mold and paper Dixie cups. The link to my mold is below. Hope you love these!
http://rstyle.me/n/cmqyu7b9wzf
Wow. this looks so yummy. I really want to eat it imediately!!!
Thank you so much!
Reeses peanut butter cups are always my favorite so having a super enhanced fudgicle version only seems better!
Thank you Stan!
Hey Tieghan!
I can’t get over how much fudgy they look! They must be amazing! 🙂
Hi!!! So happy you like them, thank you!
WOW! My family is going crazy over these! I didn’t even make the granola or extra chocolate yet, the pops themselves are divine.
And also delish as pudding if your patience is as short as ours was the first night. 🙂
Thanks for another winner, Tieghan!!!
Haha well I am so glad that the pudding tastes great as well! Thank you Kelsey!
These look delicious, but I have an allergy to coconut – is there an alternative you can think of that I can use to substitute?
Hi! You can try using heavy cream, I think that should work. Or Maybe even greek yogurt! Let me know if you have questions. Hope you love these! 🙂
Meu Deus! Que delícia. Suas receitas são maravilhosas.
Obrigado!
they are chillin’ in the freezer right now….
Woo! Hope you love them!
It looks delicious and a very nice idea!
Thank you Gavin!