Here on our At Home with GCH blog, Mondays are always focused on healthy but oh-so-yummy! recipes.  We continue our series of summer recipes featuring in-season ingredients.  Our featured ingredient this week is blueberries!  Check out just some of the healthy benefits of this tiny but powerful fruit!  Today’s recipe is for a blueberry frozen dessert—not quite ice cream but it fits perfectly into our ‘healthy but oh-so-yummy’ category!

Here in the NorthEast, we are in the midst of berry season.  Blueberries are so plentiful that I have six four pints sitting in my refrigerator.  A few weeks ago, we had a recipe for Blueberry Almond Muffins.  But we are also in the midst of a heatwave; so I went looking for a recipe for a frozen treat to make for Robert.  Oh, I found m-a-n-y recipes for blueberry ice cream, sorbet, sherbert, and frozen smoothies…and they all looked so good!  However, I really wanted to keep it light, simple, and healthy but oh-so-yummy!  Over on Amy Green’s website, simplysugarandglutenfree, I found a quite easy recipe that I have tweaked just a bit.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1/2 very ripe banana, cut into 1/2″ slices and frozen
1/2 cup blueberries, frozen
1/2 cup ricotta
1 teaspoon maple syrup, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Toppings:
1 tablespoon sliced almonds
1-2 dollops whipped cream
Additional blueberries

Directions:

• First things first: if you haven’t already…place the cut-up banana and blueberries in the freezer for a couple of hours.
• Put the frozen fruit into the small bowl of a food processor or blender. Process just until it’s in small chunks.
• Add the ricotta and flavorings; process until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides as necessary.
• Put your “ice cream” in a bowl and top with chopped nuts, whipped cream, and additional (non-frozen) blueberries.  Best if eaten immediately as a ‘soft-serve’ type dessert!

Substitutions:
For the blueberries – almost any flavorful summer fruit (I am going to try peaches tonight!)
For the ricotta – cottage cheese
For the maple syrup – agave nectar or honey
For the almonds – any of your favorite nuts

♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥

God loves you!  ♥  (Don’t ever forget that!)

♥  coleen

_________________________________

If you would like to send a personal message to Coleen concerning this blog post, you may email her at: Coleen@girlfriendscoffeehour.com