Coconut-Cajeta Paletas
By Melissa Pitts
My experience has been that coconut is one of those black and white issues. Either you love it or hate it. I for one cannot get enough of coconut- toasted, in ice cream, ice pops, with chocolate, you name it YUM. Here I’ve paired coconut with cajeta (you can also use manjar or dulce de leche) but you can also just make them plain if you don’t like your ice pops super sweet (that’s never a problem for me!). These paletas are heavenly as you take the first bite and cajeta comes oozing out- how good does that sound?!
Cook Time: 540 mins
Preparation Time: 10 mins
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups nonfat milk
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
- 1 13 oz can of coconut milk- low fat works here too
- 1 1/2 cups coconut flakes
- 8 tablespoons cajeta
Directions:
- In a medium saucepan, combine milks and sugar on low heat for about 5-7 minutes. Make sure the milks do not come to a boil- all you are doing here is dissolving the sugar. Stir in the vanilla extract if using.
- In a dry skillet, toast the coconut flakes until on low heat. Keep an eye on the flakes as they toast fast.
- Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and cool.
- Pour the mixture into ice pop molds and freez for at least 6 hours, or overnight.
To fill the ice pops with cajeta:
Do the first 3 steps. Pour the mixture into the ice pop molds and freeze for about 2 hours, or until the edges of the mixture starts to freeze. With a straw or turkey baster, take out some of the mixture from the filling. Pour some cajeta into the middle of the pop. Let freeze for at least 6 hours or overnight. If you need a visual as to how to fill the pops, this video helps (go to about the 7 minute mark for instructions on how to make filled pops).
