How To Make Yummy Chamomile-Peach Popsicles

 

On Mother’s Day, I went peach picking at Schnepf Farms with my daughter Shoshanna, and her baby daughter Grace. Here in the Arizona desert, peaches are ripe and ready to pick much earlier than in other parts of the country. We filled a box with Florida King peaches, which are a small, sweet, and juicy variety. My latest hobby is making popsicles, so I took half of our haul and made a healthy frozen treat with them.

Because tea is my other obsession, I had to include tea in the recipe. I chose chamomile, because the slightly grassy, warm, apple-like flavor of chamomile complements the peach flavor, and wouldn’t compete with it, or drown it out.

 

Before we dive into the recipe, here some amazing health benefits of peaches:

• Peaches are a nutrient dense power food. They’re low in calories, and high in beta carotene, vitamin C, calcium, potassium, magnesium, and much more. Don’t discard the skin, as many of the vitamins, bioflavonoids, and antioxidants are in the peach skin.
• Peaches are high in antioxidants, which protect the body from disease. Foods that are high in antioxidants are recommended by the American Cancer Society as protection and prevention of serious diseases like cancer.
• The nutrients in peaches make them a perfect anti-aging food. Peaches are great for your skin, bones, and connective tissue. Both the vitamin C, beta carotene, and B vitamins nourish the skin from the inside out. (You can also give yourself a peach facial!)
• This amazing fruit is high in fiber, and low in calories.
• The beta carotene in peaches helps protect your vision.
• Peaches are rich in magnesium, which helps combat stress and tension.

Combined with chamomile, these popsicles will help combat stress, as well as provide nutrition and refreshment.

I don’t like to use sugar in recipes, but it is an essential ingredient in natural popsicle-making, along with fiber and fat. I used coconut sugar because it is lower glycemic than other sugars, and it also has a trove of minerals that other sugars lack. However, coconut sugar also has a distinctively deep, almost molasses-like flavor that some people don't like, so if this is you, use organic evaporated cane juice.

The recipe makes 6 popsicles.

 

You will need:

• 2 – 3 lbs fresh peaches (I didn’t weigh them when I made the recipe, but you need to end up with a cup of puree)
• 2 teaspoons chamomile flowers
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup good sugar
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 6 BPA-free popsicle molds

Begin by washing and halving the peaches. 

 

 

Place them face down on an oiled parchment-lined baking sheet, and roast them at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Technically, you can skip this step, especially if the peaches are ultra-ripe, but roasting them really deepens the flavor. 

 

 

Let the peaches cool, then remove the pits. Puree the peaches, skins and all, in the blender. I pureed them until they were like baby food, but you can leave them a little chunky. Set the puree aside. 

 

 

Boil the water and steep the chamomile flowers for 8-ish minutes, long enough to release the full flavor and aroma, but not so long that it becomes bitter. Strain, and place the tea in a small saucepan. 

 

 

Mix the 1/3 cup of sugar into the chamomile tea, bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat, stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved. 

Blend the chamomile-sugar mixture into the peach puree. 

 

 

Stir in the fresh lemon juice, and blend everything well.  

 

 

Pour the mixture into the popsicle molds, and freeze them for 6 hours or overnight.

 

 

Try not to eat them all in one sitting!

 

 

For more popsicle recipes, click here

 

Enjoy,

Kita