Salted Maple Hazelnut Fudgsicles

This week we celebrated the fall equinox. I absolutely love fall, it's my favorite season. The crisp air makes me feel energized and I can't get enough of the golden leaves on trees, wool sweaters, stove fires, hot tea... I adore it all. I should probably be posting about seasonally appropriate things like root vegetables, squash and warming soups, but I had to get one more summertime treat in! These fudgsicles are dairy-free and use "nice cream" as a base, which is simply blending frozen bananas to make a delicious soft serve ice cream with a wonderful consistency. 

 Salted maple hazelnut fudgsicles

• 3 bananas with brown spots (no green!)

• 1/4 cup hazelnut butter

• 3 tsp maple syrup, divided*

• 2 tsp cacao powder*

• 1/4 tsp real salt

You will need:

• popsicle molds

• wooden popsicle sticks

Blend bananas until smooth and all chunks are gone. Add the cacao powder and 1 tsp of maple syrup. In a separate bowl mix hazelnut butter, salt and the remaining 2 tsp of maple syrup. Fold into the banana mix until evenly distributed. Fill popsicle molds making sure to push the mixture down into each one so that air pockets don't form. Place a popsicle stick in the center of each one and freeze overnight. 

*For Little Ones: Cacao can act as a mild stimulant, so try replacing with carob powder if sharing these with babies/toddlers. You may want to omit the maple syrup as well. The bananas should be sweet enough on their own for little ones without an added sweetener.