What’s better on a hot summer day than a fudgy pudding pop? These rich & creamy treats get their luscious texture from half an avocado blended up with dark chocolate. The remaining half of the avocado makes a great snack as you wait for your dessert to freeze! Popsicle molds can be very cheaply purchased online, but this mixture is so thick you can get away with portioning it in plastic containers, sticking popsicle sticks in the middle and covering them lightly with plastic wrap. A note about the peppermint schnapps: alcohol helps to prevent freezing, so it is included to help the texture of the pops stay soft and easy to eat. The amount of alcohol here is very small in proportion to the other ingredients, so these pops are safe for people of all ages to enjoy!

Vegan Chocolate-Peppermint Pudding Pops

Yields: 8- ½ cup popsicles

Time: 30 minutes active time, plus overnight freezing time

Special equipment: popsicle molds

INGREDIENTS:

• 10 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 13.6 ounce can full-fat coconut milk
• 3 tablespoons coconut oil
• 2 tablespoons coconut sugar
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon peppermint schnapps
• 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
• ½ a very ripe avocado, diced

DIRECTIONS:

• Place chopped chocolate in a metal bowl. In a medium saucepan, combine coconut milk, oil, sugar and sea salt. Bring milk mixture to a boil and simmer for one minute, or until sugar is dissolved.
• Pour hot milk mixture over chocolate and allow to sit for 30 seconds. Whisk mixture until completely combined. Stir in peppermint schnapps & extract.
• Carefully blend warm chocolate mixture and diced avocado in the blender, making sure avocado is completely blended into the mixture.
• Immediately portion mixture into popsicle molds (it will start to thicken almost instantly, so work fast here!), taking care to leave ½” of space at the top of the mold.
• Freeze pudding pop overnight. To unmold, you may need to briefly run popsicle mold under hot water. 

Enjoy!

About Sara, our Sous Chef

Sara worked as a theatrical stage manager for the first 10 years of her career (locally at the Walnut Street Theatre, InterAct Theatre Company, and BRAT Productions) before attending the Natural Gourmet Institute & switching her focus to the culinary world. Since then she’s worked as the pastry chef of the Franklin Fountain, Little Nonna's and Aldine. Sara has also cooked at Vedge, Bing Bing Dim Sum, and Hungry Pigeon. Her fun fact: She can read 1,500 words per minute.