You may have heard the saying that goes something like, ‘Horses sweat, men perspire, but women merely glow.’ (or is it glisten?)
If this saying is true, I was surely glowing & glistening today!
Our crazy heat wave continues here in Ontario. With humidity, it felt like 41C today. I was thanking my lucky stars that I got my run in early this morning. I don’t even think an evening run after sunset would work in this crazy humid weather- it is now 7:30pm and still 31C outside.
When it is hot outside the only thing I want is cold, light, and healthy food, specifically cold treats (muhauha) and the only appliance I want to use is the freezer! :biggrin:
I have been thinking of a way I could make a healthy and tasty frozen treat that would be great for summer and before I knew it these Frosty No Bake Glo Cakes were born!
Mmmmmmm. Oh yes, I did!
This is only TRIAL 1, but I thought I would share it anyways because I know how much you guys love playing around with recipes just like I do. There will be many more versions of these Glo Cakes, I can assure you that!
Frosty No-Bake Glo Cakes (Trial 1: Chocolate peanut butter with cacao nibs)
Prep time is just 2-3 minutes for these healthy & addicting frozen treats. It doesn’t get much quicker than that! I would suggest making a batch before you start cooking dinner as they take over 1 hour to firm in the freezer. If you want to make a full dozen, just triple this recipe below.
Ingredients:
- 1 large banana
- 1/2 cup oats
- 1/4 cup crisp rice cereal
- 1 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1/2 tbsp peanut butter
- 1-2 tbsp cacao nibs (optional, but they give it a great crunch)
- 1-2 tbsp dark chocolate chips (optional, See notes below)
- 1 tsp cocoa powder
- Shredded unsweet. coconut, for garnish
Directions: Mash banana in a medium sized bowl (I use a potato masher!). Add cocoa powder, peanut butter, and maple syrup and stir until fully mixed. Now stir in oats, cacao nibs, and rice crisp. Divide into 4 Glo Cakes by spooning the batter into a muffin liner or just in a muffin tin. I used an ungreased muffin tin and I had no problems getting them to come out. Sprinkle with coconut and place in the freezer for 60-80 minutes. Do not over-freeze them. You want them a bit chewy. They will however melt quite fast so please serve immediately.
These took much longer to freeze than I anticipated- just over 1 hour, but they were worth the wait! I really enjoyed them. Very fun. They do melt fast though! I estimated them to be around 100 calories each, but once I firm up the recipe a bit I will likely do the full nutritional info for those who are interested.
Changes I will make for Trial 2:
- No chocolate chips next time: Trust me, I didn’t think I would ever say those words either! I am not a fan of frozen chunks of chocolate so next time I will leave out the chocolate chips. I prefer my chocolate to be melty and soft and feel that the taste is wasted when it is frozen! However if you enjoy frozen chocolate you might want to add some chips to yours. I found the cocoa powder was enough to give it a slight hint of chocolate flavour.
- Muffin Liner instead of muffin tin: I used a muffin tin and while it worked great, I think next time I will try using my reusable muffin liners to save me washing a dish! Alternatively, you could take a plate, some parchment paper, and make frozen drop cookies! That would be fun.
- Fun add ins: The options are endless with what goodies you could add to these! You could make peanut butter, jam, and banana, raisin spice, carob, maple butter, coconut butter, other nut butters, etc. The sky is the limit, have fun with the experimentation and let me know what you make!
- Other options for rice crisp: I expected the rice crisp to be crispy, but I found that it actually got soft and didn’t provide any crunch. You might want to play around for other substitutions!
I will definitely be playing around with these fun Glo Cakes! I had three cakes and it took all of my will power to save one for Eric. :tongue:
Updates:
- Check out this Glo Bar raffle for charity over at Fit This Girl!
I’m shutting down the laptop for the night and disconnecting. This gal needs some down time!
I have some new Farmer’s Market goodies to show you tomorrow. Enjoy your evening! :biggrin:
Yum! These look amazing. I’m going to try out this recipe this weekend!
agreed about the frozen chocolate chips! sometimes they are just so hard tobite into too!!! I think cocoa powder would work beautifully! these look DELICIOUS!
lets be honest…id eat them anyway shape or form :)
Angela — these look amazing! Can’t wait to try. Can’t go wrong with that flavor combination — and in this heat, who wants to bake?!
Not me! lol
Thank You! I’ve been looking for a healthy yummy dessert recipe to make for my cooking club this weekend and I think I just found it. One of the members is allergic to bananas though. Do you think I could leave it out and add more peanut butter to hers?
hmmm not sure…..
Where do you buy your loose leaf sencha? I’ve been drinking icky (read: cheap) grocery store sencha green in a tea bag because the loose leaf at Teavana and Teaism are so darn expensive. Thanks!
I buy mine from a wholesaler that I use for the bakery. I use 4’oclock brand. Maybe u can find it cheaper online?
I like how you think, chica! I’m thinking that a version with almond butter and raw cacao will be chillin in the freezer soon ;)
YUMMY! I just got your GloBars that I ordered and cannot wait to dig in!
Hmm, that sounds like the perfect breakfast to me =)
Maybe an alternative to the cold chocolate could be heating up a bit in the microwave and adding a little drizzle on top? A sort of “hot fudge sundae” effect, if you will. Could be good!
Its is really hot here today so I made these right before my run so I could have one after and they were soo good! Best running inspiration ever lol!
I just made these this morning after being called in for a good portion of the night! I substituted the rice crisps for Grapenuts. Definitely had great crunch! Thanks for the recipe!
I made these last night. Very tasty little snacks!! Thanks for sharing!
Angela, these were delicious!! My sister and I had so much fun making them. We actually ended up experimenting a little bit and came up with Apple Peanut Butter Glow cakes. Here is what we used:
1 large banana
½ cups oats
¼ cups crisp rice cereal (we used Kashi honey puff)
¼ cup all natural low fat granola
1 ½ tbsp peanut butter
¼ cup unsweet all natural apple sauce
**Afterward, we realized cinnamon would probably make these even more delicious!****
Thank you so much for the recipe! It is definitely something I will make again. I gave your recipe a shout out on my blog this morning!
Lauren
Yum! I’m going to make these this week!! Instead of crisp rice I’m going to try Nature’s Path Smart Bran Psyllium & Oat Bran nuggets. This cereal is super crunchy and tasty so I’m sure it’ll work great!
these sound delicious! thanks for adding your thoughts about substitutions and changes, I will definitely leave out the chocolate chips because I feel the same way about them!
Wow those Frosty glo’s sound great. I am going to try them with Barbara’s Ultima cereal or peanut butter Puffins . Those have a lot of crunch, that bet it would work. I have Barbara’s Ultima on hand so maybe try it in next few days and let ya know. And try Barley flakes for oats.
I am sure you will see many ideas in next few days..and I found your recipe via another blogger so it is taking the blog world by storm!
Just found your blog…looks wonderful. Have already been exploring the pages. Will try your raw stuff and also the vegan recipes that fall under the gluten free category for the rest of the family.
Thanks for all of your posts.
Peace and RAW Health,
Elizabeth
These were perfect for my pre run snack! Infact, I ate half of the batch before my run and half after. Instead of crisp rice cereal I added 1/4 cup of tj’s peanut flour. I also left out the cocoa, chocolate chips, and cacao nibs. Instead I added cinnamon and raisins. The peanut flour brought out the peanut butter flavor and added protein! I also just left them in the freezer all day and then put them in the fridge to soften overnight. They were the perfect texture and firmness in the morning!
Oh I think they’ve tasted great! But it would be better if we can come up with a solution on the rice crispies getting mushy… Maybe cooling the other mixture a little bit before mixing it with the crispies? what do you guys think?
Just made these!! doubled the recipe and used some very ripe bananas which worked perfectly. Glad I didn’t throw them away! Thanks for the recipe , can’t wait to try them