We’re in the dog days of summer now, and the recent spate of hot days has many of us rushing to the freezer , scrambling after the Dicky Dee truck or headed to the local ye olde tyme ice-cream shoppe for a milkshake, ice cream cone or frozen confection on a stick like a Haagen Dazs bar.
But for the vegans among us, or those of us cutting down on dairy, some of the options out there leave a lot to be desired when it comes to flavor and fun. And let’s face it, if we’re reaching for an ice cream or frozen yogurt snack, we aren’t thinking about restraint, we’re thinking of indulgence.
Can you have it both ways?
Well there is a frozen treat out there that is totally, sumptuously delicious, soy, gluten and dairy free, non-GMO, sustainable, organic, and even a little lower in calories than a regular frozen treat. Further, all the chocolate, cocoa, vanilla and coffee used in their manufacture are from certified Fair Trade sources.
Coconut Bliss is the company based in Eugene, Oregon that makes this almost too-good-to-be-true dessert, using coconut milk instead of dairy. Pretty simple eh? Coconut milk, with its high fat content is the perfect milk/cream replacement as it freezes beautifully; creamy, smooth and naturally delicious.. And oddly enough, the coconut flavor is not overwhelming; you don’t feel like you’re sucking on a frozen coconut!
Founded by Larry Kaplowitz and Luna Marcus in 2003, this company now offers fifteen flavours of “non-dairy frozen dessert” and five varieties of dessert bars. As a bonus, Coconut Bliss bars are also a little lighter in calories than many similar well-known ice cream bars. For example, a Haagen Dazs chocolate covered rich ice-cream bar with nuts weighs in at 100 g and 383 calories, whereas a similar bar from Coconut Bliss, the salted caramel and chocolate comes in at 210 calories. For non-chocolate enthusiasts, the Strawberry Love bar, made with organic strawberries is even less, with 150 calories in each bar.
Clearly these are not diet foods, and with 9 g (45% RDA) of saturated fat in each bar, you don’t want to over-indulge on these bars either.
But once in a while, a little indulgence is a good thing and further to that – if you drizzle chocolate syrup over the Strawberry Love bar be prepared for some “uncontrollable shivers of rapture”…