Recipes

I am trying to eat healthier and keep my kids eating healthy. Because of this, I try to find fun treats that are relatively healthy and still fun. One of our favorite things for the summertime is to make homemade popsicles. These are often done with juice, baby food, water flavorings, and even protein shakes. These Chocolate Chunk Protein Freezer Pops use protein powder to give a sweet yet healthy frozen treat. What you need to make chocolate chunk protein freezer pops Making these chocolate chunk freezer bars is easier than you can imagine. they come out like an off brand chocolate fudge pop. In this case these are the kid's favorites to munch on. While you can use any protein shake. For these, I used the shakes I keep on hand. I buy the bulk pre-mixed ones that are packed with added vitamins from Sam's Club. Similar options include Premier Protein shakes or Slim Fast Shakes. Seeing these are being used as a snack and not a meal replacement they are perfectly safe for kids. To add some chunky melt-in-your-mouth chocolate to the mix you can use any chocolate bar. I like to try different ones to mix things up for the kids but my favorite is the dark chocolate with chili in it from Aldi. This gives the chocolate chunks an almost Mexican Hot Chocolate flare. The freezer pop molds you can literally use anything from a fun and simple freezer pop mold set like the one we got to small Dixi Cups and popsicle sticks. I like the new lay-flat style popsicle molds because they can fit into the shallow drawer in our freezer where they are out of the way but this list of popsicle molds can give you all kinds of fun ideas. How to make these chocolate chunk freezer pops Start by cleaning and setting up your freezer pop molds. The trick to making it easy to move these around is to use a cookie sheet under them. Then chop up your candy bar. If you want you can cheat and simply use chocolate baking chips. Sprinkle your chocolate chunks into the molds. Mix your protein shake if you are not using a premade one. Pour your protein shake over the chocolate chunks in each mold. For most small freezer pop molds you can get 3 to 4 freezer pops from each one. Move your freezer pops to the freezer and let sit for 3 to 4 hours to ensure they are fully frozen. Make them your own While I suggested that you use different types of chocolate bars to mix things up that is far from the limit on where you can mix things up and make these your own. Try adding in chunks of your favorite fruits. Cherries, raspberries, and strawberries make a great pair with chocolate. You can add in nuts or a swirl of peanut butter to add in a bit more protein and make it fun for a peanut butter cup freezer bar. Try different flavors of protein shakes. You are not limited to chocolate when making these. In fact, my kids love strawberry protein freezer pops with real strawberries mixed in.