I had the honor of attending a wonderful plant-based dinner hosted by Vega at Plant Food + Wine, a Matthew Kenney restaurant, while in the Los Angeles area for Natural Products Expo West. The elaborate vegan meal was a highlight of our entire trip and the guest list couldn’t be beat. There were health superstars like Brendan Brazier (triathlete and creator of Vega) and Tess Masters (of The Blender Girl fame), and the kind, welcoming members of the Vega team reminded us why this is such a great company.
But every great night deserves a fabulous finale, and the desserts were nothing short of spectacular. There were raw truffles and an assorted creamy sweets, but the true stars, in my opinion, were the creamy vanilla raw popsicles.
Elevated from ordinary ice cream bars, these raw popsicles are made with pure cashews, coconut meat, and vanilla bean, and spiked with creamy Performance Protein for that extra edge. I was grateful to discover that they had included the recipe in a take-home gift, and with Team Vega’s permission, I’m sharing the recipe and photos from the event. As you can see, some of the creamy cinnamon-vanilla raw popsicles had a nutty chocolate coating, but we also tried some without. Both were delicious!
Please note that this is not a sponsored post. The opinions and gratitude are all my own and I was excited to be able to share the recipe for Vega’s creamy vanilla raw popsicles with you as an indulgent way to kick off our week long celebration of Earth Day. I’ve included this post in the “Alisa’s Recipes” section as it is a recipe I’ve trialed and approved!
Special Diet Notes: Creamy Cinnamon-Vanilla Raw Popsicles
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, gluten-free, grain-free, peanut-free, soy-free, vegan / plant-based, and vegetarian. This recipe could easily be made paleo, too, with your sweetener of choice.
- 150 grams (5.3 ounces) raw cashews, soaked (2 hours or more) and drained
- 120 grams (4.25 ounces) coconut meat (fresh, if possible)
- 2 cups unsweetened almond milk (homemade or store-bought)
- ½ cup agave nectar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or pure vanilla flavoring
- Seeds from 1 whole vanilla bean (or another 2 teaspoons vanilla extract)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 scoop Vega Vanilla Sport Performance Protein
- Place all ingredients in your blender and puree until smooth and creamy. If you aren't using a high-powered blender, start with half of the almond milk and add the rest once the mixture is pureed.
- Pour the mixture into popsicle molds and freeze until set - usually around 4 hours.
Chocolate Coating: Optionally melt your favorite dairy-free dark chocolate with just a teaspoon of coconut oil. Cool it to room temperature. Once the bars are set, remove them and dip in the chocolate coating. If desired, roll in some chopped nuts. Place on a silicone baking mat or parchment paper in the freezer to set up.
3 Comments
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Oh my, these look amazing! So perfect for summer.
Great stuff. All the age group really loves it.