PB&J-sicles for Smart Balance Battle of the Bloggers Recipe Contest! (2024)

Summer’s here, and I can’t get enough of my popsicle mold. (Popsicles are a no-brainer – so much easier than making ice cream!) Summer also never fails to get me feeling all nostalgic. I never fail to get excited about swimming in a lake, seeing fireworks, or a class PB&J, because that’s what my mom sent me to camp with for lunch everyday.

When Smart Balance® contacted me to participate in a Battle of the Bloggers recipe contest, I immediately said yes – and got to thinking about the perfect recipe. It had to be EASY. And cold. And something everyone would love. And of course, in my typical fashion, be full of wholesome, clean ingredients. That’s how these PB&Jsicles were born!

Part creamy, omega-3 richSmart Balance® Rich Roast Creamy Peanut Butter blended with heart-healthy coconut milk and part tangy blackberries and sweet honey, these cool summer treats have made their way several times into (and quickly out of!) our freezer already. Our little peanut girl is still too young to enjoy them (next summer!!) but the big kids in the house can’t get enough.

So what is this Battle of the Bloggers recipe contest, you ask? It’s a month-long event Smart Balance® is running to choose their next featured recipe developer for the upcoming year. Twenty bloggers have been selected to submit healthy recipes, currently featured on the Smart Balance Facebook page.B y voting for your favorites, you can help select the winner. And there’s something in it for you, too – each vote gets you a chance to win of 5 $200 gift certificates for a kitchen makeover and a year of Smart Balance® products! You can vote once a day, every day, from now until August 7th.

Of course, should I be voted the winner, I promise to provide you with a dozen easy, healthy recipes featuring Smart Balance® products over the next 12 months, and I will be forever grateful for your votes!

To get started, simply head over to the Smart Balance Facebook page voting app, and tell them how much you love my recipe for PB&Jsicles (you will need to “like” the Smart Balance page to vote). Then if you really feel so inclined, you can do it the next day, and the next… well, you get the idea!

And in the meantime, I’m about to cool off with one of these pops. Hope you’ll be joining me!

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PB & J-sicles (Peanut Butter & Jelly Popsicles)

Yield: 6-8 popsicles, depending on size of popsicle molds

A heart-healthy blend of peanut butter and coconut is paired with juicy summer berries in this frozen version of the classic PB&J.

Ingredients:

12oz (about 3 heaping cups) blackberries
½ cup Smart Balance Rich Roast Creamy Peanut Butter
1 ¼ cups light coconut milk, divided
½ cup honey, divided (tip: try substituting agave or maple syrup for a vegan version)
20 drops liquid vanilla stevia
, or other sweetener, to taste

Special equipment: popsicle mold
or small paper cups, wooden popsicle sticks

Directions:

Place the blackberries in a food processor or blender and process until smooth. Set a mesh wire strainer over a bowl and pour the puree into the strainer. Use a rubber spatula to extract as much smooth puree as possible, leaving the seeds behind. Measure out 1 cup of the seedless puree (save any remaining puree for another use, if desired) and whisk with ½ cup light coconut milk, ¼ cup honey, and stevia.

Rinse out the food processor or blender and combine the peanut butter, remaining ¾ cup light coconut milk, and ¼ cup honey. Blend until smooth.

Pour the blackberry and peanut butter mixtures into separate measuring cups with spouts. Pour the mixture into the popsicle molds or cups, alternating layers of peanut butter and blackberry mixture. (Tip: For prettier layers, freeze each layer for 20-30 minutes before pouring the next.) After pouring in the final layer, gently push in popsicle sticks. Freeze the popsicles for 6-8 hours, until firm. To remove pops from molds, run under hot water or immerse in a bowl of hot water for about 30 seconds, then gently wiggle out. Ice pops may be stored in the molds, or wrapped in plastic and stored in an air-tight container.