No Bake Summer Fruit Treats
I love summer for many reasons, but one major explanation is the abundance of fresh, sweet berries and fruit available only during summer months. My family love eating fruit and berries as is, but it’s also fun to make enjoyable treats and desserts. However, during the warm months, standing by a hot oven or stove is not my idea of fun; instead, I make lots of no-bake treats. Here are a few of my kids’ favorites.
Frozen Yogurt Blueberries—So simple and easy. Nothing tastes so great on a hot day as a frozen blueberry treat like
this one:
- 1 cup vanilla flavored yogurt, dairy or non-dairy
- 2 cups fresh blueberries, rinsed
To Make: Carefully fold blueberries into yogurt. Use a spoon to place the yogurt covered blueberries on a parchment paper. Make sure to spread them out on the paper somewhat, then place in the freezer for 1 hour.
Transfer to a container or bag, and keep in the freezer.
Summer Fruit Sorbets—Ice cream and summer go hand in hand. These sorbets are a good option to regular ice cream. Easy to make, they are healthy and no cooking is necessary.
Strawberry Banana Sorbet
- 1 1/2 cups frozen strawberries
- 1 1/2 fresh and ripe bananas
- 1/3 cup honey or agave nectar
Raspberry Avocado Sorbet
- 1 ripe avocado
- 1 fresh and ripe banana
- ¼ cup almond milk
- 1 cup frozen raspberries
- ¼ vanilla bean, split open and seeds scraped out and used
To Make: Add all ingredients together in a high speed/high quality blender like Vitamix. Blend until smooth. Keep it as thick and frosty as possible.
Pour into freezer-friendly container. Chill until firm.
Scoop and serve!
Raw Strawberry Cheese Cake—This my favorite strawberry cake. It’s completely raw and vegan but, believe me, it’s
packed with wonderful flavors of summer.
Crumb bottom & topping:
- 2 cups pecans, not soaked
- 1 cup dates
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Place in food processor and process until it’s crumbly. Using a little bit coconut or olive oil, grease a cake pan with removable bottom. Spread about 50% of the crumbles into the bottom and set a side.
Cake:
- 1 cup young Thai coconut meat
- 1 cup un-soaked cashews
- 1/2 cup strawberries, chopped
- 1/2 cup thick coconut milk (water and meat from a young Thai coconut blended)
- 6 good sized dates, soaked for 20 minutes
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 1/2 vanilla beans, scraped out
- 2 teaspoons psyllium powder
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 1/4 teaspoon Agave nectar
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon coconut oil
- 2 cups strawberries, chopped
Place everything above except the 2 cups of strawberries in food processor. Process until nice and creamy. Pour into a large bowl and add 2 cups of strawberries. Blend well. Pour into cake pan and top with remaining cake crumbles. Place foil over cake and set it level in freezer for at least 6 ours. Remove from freezer and let defrost for 1 hour before serving. People will not believe it’s an “un-baked” cake.
Strawberry Milk Shake—Who can resist a milk shake with fresh strawberries? Perfect for kids…big and small☺
2 Milk Shakes
- 2 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
- ½ vanilla bean, sliced open and seeds used
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1 cup vanilla ice cream (dairy or non-dairy)
Combine all ingredients in a blender, and puree until smooth and fluffy. Serve ice cold with a straw in a glass garnished with a strawberry.
Looking for more delicious vegan and kids friendly summer treats here are my homemade zero waste popsicle recipes that are easy to make and my kids favorites to eat.
And here are recipes for more Eco-friendly popsicles
