Pudding
When it comes to easy summer desserts, we love a good pudding! It can be made ahead of time and is always delicious when served cold. You can jazz it up by mixing in fresh fruit, chocolate shavings, coconut or anything else you’re currently craving. This recipe for Old Fashioned Tapioca Pudding calls for just seven ingredients, including our Small Pearl Tapioca, a starch that’s extracted from the tropical cassava plant and formed into pearls. When it’s combined with ingredients like sugar, sea salt, eggs, vanilla, water and milk, this small pearl turns into an American classic. You can also get a bit more creative with this Coconut Tapioca Pudding recipe from The Roasted Root, which gives traditional tapioca a vegan, coconut twist. Serve it with sliced almonds, bananas, fresh blueberries, kiwi and full-fat coconut milk for a wonderfully light summer dessert. For something with a creative twist, try this Vegan Avocado Mousse with Avocado Coconut Creme. The mousse itself is made with a mix of ripe avocados, light coconut milk, Dutch-processed cocoa powder, agave, vanilla extract, cardamom and sea salt. Once combined with avocado cream and candied grapefruit peel, this easily becomes one of the most delicate and decadent light summer dessert recipes on this list.
Popsicles
The easiest way to beat the summer heat is with a nice cold popsicle. The beautiful thing about popsicles is their versatility, you can make them with any flavor combo you desire! Whether you’re keeping it simple with straight fruit juice or incorporating some additional ingredients, popsicles on a hot day will never go out of style. For a cool way to get in 10 grams of plant protein, try our recipe for Raspberry Chocolate Protein Popsicles. This recipe comes to us courtesy of Megan from Allergy Awesomeness and is filled with red raspberries and probiotics. It calls for just five ingredients and can be made in your blender in a snap!
If it’s a heavier chocolate taste you’re after, add an additional scoop of the chocolate protein powder to the blender or go for this Vanilla and Chocolate Protein Popsicle recipe. This one is the kind of dessert you’ll want to keep in your freezer all summer. It comes to Bob’s Red Mill courtesy of Dini from The Flavor Blender and can be enjoyed as a post-workout snack or a nutritious dessert. Layers of chocolate and vanilla are swirled and sweetened with dates and banana for a refreshing daytime or evening treat.
For something with a tropical feel, these Mango Almond Popsicles are easy to make and well-loved by both kids and adults. All you need is almond milk, sugar and unsweetened mango. You can also get creative with any other type of fruit you’ve picked up from the farmers’ market or grocery store. Frozen works too, just make sure to thaw it slightly before you dice it!
Smoothies
Whether you’re opting for a morning breakfast smoothie or a nighttime treat, smoothies are the perfect warm-weather beverage that can be enjoyed at any time of the day. For light summer dessert recipes that will leave you feeling good from the inside out, it’s hard to beat a nutritious smoothie! This Sunshine Daydream Smoothie will take you to the tropics with pineapple juice, mango and banana. Our Pea Protein Powder is the secret smoothie ingredient that adds protein and iron, while its mild flavor blends well with almost any flavor. Add it to your summer shakes and smoothies to give your desserts a powerful boost of nutrition.
When it’s chocolate you’re craving, add this Magic Mint Smoothie to your list of light dessert recipes for summer. It combines our Hemp Protein Powder with milk, cocoa powder and peppermint extract for a refreshing twist on a chocolate shake. Consider this treat the nutritious version of that big bowl of mint chip ice cream!
Finally, if you’re a summer peach fanatic like we are, this Berry Peachy Hemp Smoothie uses our Hemp Protein Powder but combines it with oat bran, fruit and a splash of maple for a thick and nutritious breakfast, snack or dessert. If you’ve had a light dinner and are in need of something sweet, try this smoothie before drifting off to dreamland!
Ice Cream
Whether you’re having it in a cone or bowl, at home or on the go, ice cream is about as summery as it gets! One of our favorite ways to pay tribute to the summer season is with this Roasted Blueberry Ice Cream. It’s a coconut-milk based vegan ice cream that combines simple ingredients like fresh blueberries, vanilla extract and almond milk. Instead of traditional sugar, it calls for Coconut Sugar, which adds the perfect amount of sweetness. Our sugar is made from the nectar of coconut palm trees and is a great alternative sweetener for any of your light summer dessert recipes.
You can also try this recipe for Protein Cookie Ice Cream Bars, which sandwiches ice cream between two protein-packed layers of cookie dough. When assembling these, remember that the key is to have a very hard ice cream layer! Make a big batch of these and bask in the afternoon sunlight with one of these refreshing sweet treats.
If you’ve never made ice cream before, make sure to visit our article on How to Make Dairy-Free Ice Cream. We’ll cover everything you need to know about how to make the perfect base, and which sweeteners and nut milks are right for your recipe. Once you’ve created your dairy-free ice cream, make sure to mix in your add-ins and give it a gourmet flair. From chunks of chocolate to fresh herbs, the add-in options are truly endless. You can even go the extra mile and give your guests a dairy-free ice cream bar where they can choose their own selections. Ice cream bars are always a hit!
Sorbet
If you want something a little lighter than ice cream, try making a batch of homemade sorbet. Sorbet is perfect for the super hot days when even ice cream doesn’t sound appealing. Essentially, sorbet is just ice and fruit, which makes it a super easy summer dessert. From fresh berries to pineapple to peaches, you can make a sweet and tasty sorbet out of just about anything! This Easy Fruit Sorbet from The Flavor Blender shows how to make a handful of sorbets with just a few ingredients. Choose between raspberry, peach, honeydew melon or pineapple. When you’re done, you’ll have a wide array of colors and flavors to choose from. These sorbets are some of the easiest summer treats to serve at a backyard barbecue. Guests will love choosing from a variety and adding the toppings of their choice, like more fresh fruit, shredded coconut or even a drizzle of white chocolate. You can also try this Summer Sorbet treat from Food Network for something that packs a little more punch. This sorbet recipe calls for freshly squeezed lemon juice, a hint of vodka and a pinch of kosher salt.
Wherever you find yourself relaxing this summer, we hope you’ll bring a few of these light summer dessert recipes with you. From sorbets to popsicles, there’s something so perfectly summertime about an extra cool treat.
Fall has its warm apple pies. Winter has its sugar cookies with festive shapes and patterns. Spring has its promise of citrus and colorful cakes. Summer, of course, has its icy treats that are sure to help you beat the heat.
Have any favorite summertime desserts you like to whip up every year? Feel free to share them with us in the comments below. At Bob’s Red Mill, we’re always on the lookout for the next delicious pudding or ice cream.
Wishing you and yours a happy and healthy summer season ahead! 