A few weeks ago, we went hiking at Muir Woods. It's about half an hour north of the Golden Gate. What a great walk ! Even Noah walked by himself for most of the two hours (without saying the famous "Daddy, can I ride the horse!"). Although it's quite a challenge to get there (thank god my kids don't have car sickness!) and to find a parking spot, the forest is magical and becomes surprisingly calm right after the tourist path. And those sun rays that flow through the trees... I had the feeling of being in a Lord of the rings forest. The landscapes were almost surreal and breathtaking. The kids were so impressed ! They were desperately trying to see the tops of the trees. To make Noah walk all that time by himself, we did a giant's hunt, looking for signs of their passage. Giant trees can only hide giants, right ? What better way to learn to respect the environment than to be in contact with it's pure beauty ? Needless to say it was a complete success !

Nature always impresses me. To see those trees living there for hundred of years, watching our short lives passing by....
Noah thought they were talking trees. Who knows ? Maybe he's right.

Being in contact with all those beautiful raw landscapes (and the eternal warm weather that keeps on going in California...!) inspired me to create a fudgsicle. I always try to pack the most super foods and nutrients as possible in their snacks without them realizing it.

I often do a super easy, almost instant chocolate avocado pudding (don't worry... no one's going to notice the avocado taste!), so I thought why not freeze them and make pops? I added dates instead of maple syrup and an extra pinch of chia seeds. I also topped these with Goji berries, a nutrient-rich small dried fruits. They're rich in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. They also do have a strong taste so your kids (or even you!) might need time to get used to it. It may be a good idea to mix them with the chocolate fudge mixture instead of putting them on top. You could also replace the goji berries with chopped peanuts or almond. Truly, the fudgsicle is so good on it's own that I think there's no obligation on adding anything at all !

As a result, these fudgsicles are creamy and have a strong dark chocolate flavour (we personally don't like our treats too sweet, but feel free to add more dates before freezing the mixture to sweeten it !). They (almost) remind me of the ones I used to have at my grandma's house when I was a kid.

What else to say ? A blender + few ingredients + 2 minutes of work in the kitchen = happiness !

Fall has arrived, but there's no need to wait until summer to enjoy them, I my opinion, they're a good way to make snack time fun and healthy all year long !

Chocolate fudgsicles topped with goji berries and pistachios

Yield : 6 fudgesicles (less or more, depending on your molds).

Ingredients :

1 ripe avocado

1 1/2 cup of almond milk (or any other milk of your choice)

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1/2 cup dark cacao chips, at least 70 % (see note)

1 tablespoon of cacao powder

6 pitted dates (or more if you like your treats sweeter !)

1 tablespoon chopped pistachios

1 tablespoon chopped goji berries

Directions :

Blend all ingredients but the goji berries and pistachios together in a blender at high speed until the mixture is uniform. Adjust sweetness to taste by adding more dates
At the bottom of your popsicle tray, add a pinch of pistachios and goji berries (I use that one). Then pour the chocolate mixture and freeze for at least 8 hours (or until the fudgsicles are frozen solid).
Run the tray under hot water until the pops are loose enough to pull them out. Enjoy !

Note : I don't pre-melt the chocolate because I use a professional blender (Vitamix) but you can melt it before and let it cool down before adding the other ingredients into the blender.