Is anyone else dying from the heat? Nope? No one? I find it a little funny that Jon and I are probably the opposite of the popular view on temperature. Everyone complains about winter, jacks up their heat, and bundle up. While Jon and I are excited that we can keep COLD this winter in our new house. Normal people talk about retiring in Florida where it is warm, we talk about moving more and more up north. Maybe the north pole. Point is that we are horrible people and are very cranky right now because of this lovely heat.
I also think I know why I started to drink so much. The heat. Nothing is more satisfying than an cold light beer on a hot day. And it probably helped that I would be in a small kitchen sweating bullets, having a bottle of beer would be nice temporary relief. But beer is expensive, and probably not the best thing for me. So these ice pops will have to do.
These pops aren’t the healthiest, but they are really cheap to make. So they are healthy for your mental health (less stress about money! okay I know I’m pushing it)! They mostly just use regular sugar, which I find dissolves fine with blender, but I divided the load a little with agave, which also helps prevent ice crystals from forming.
The only thing you’ll need that you might not have is a popsicle mold. I’m not too picky and picked up some molds from a local grocery store. They are plastic jelly belly molds, they aren’t perfect. But I like the shape, they were cheap, and I already own them. There a lots of other options out there including metal molds. But for these molds, this recipe makes enough for 12 popsicles! So I think you save a lot of money by making your own pops instead of buying something else in stores.
The secret to these pops are leftover coffee. My husband makes coffee every morning with his french press. After he is done there is a small amount of coffee leftover that is thick with coffee soot. I always take this small amount, probably about 1 ounce, and save it in a small container in the fridge. By the end of the week I usually have a cup of really strong coffee to make something with. Even though the coffee is really strong, I am surprised how little you actually taste in these pops!
I used some silken tofu, but if you don’t want to use that, you can try using 1/2 cup soaked cashews instead. I personally don’t like using them since they have a distinctive odor when you freeze them. It is really odd, and I personally don’t find it as annoying as my husband does. But the fats from the nuts will give a nice creaminess.
