No-Recipe Chocolate Banana Popsicles (Vegan & Naturally Sweetened)

Some recipes start with hunger. Others, nostalgia.

This one started with a photo of watermelon popsicles on Pinterest, from some stranger who so kindly shared and inspired, and a random question:

Why haven’t I ever made these?

I’ve made frozen banana ice cream before. But never popsicles. And lately I’ve needed something snacky—cool, light, not too sweet, yet rich enough to indulge with. So this just... happened.

Didn’t follow any recipe. Just instinct and whatever was in my kitchen.

I threw in:

Frozen Granola Bars - No Mixer, No Oven, No Guilt

When granola started gaining popularity in Indonesia a few years ago, I got curious. Everyone claimed it was a healthy snack—rolled oats, raw honey, dried fruits. But then I realized: most of it was baked. Meaning, those beautiful enzymes in raw honey—gone. Antioxidants from dried fruit—toasted into oblivion. You’re mostly left with sugar and fiber. Store-bought versions didn’t help either—often packed with brown sugar, additives, even trans fat disguised behind a wholesome label. Oh, dear.

Then one slow scroll on Pinterest led me to this frozen granola bar recipe by Love & Lemons—and the rest is history. I’d never even imagined that granola bars could be frozen instead of baked. But here it was: simple, no pretension, truly healthy, and incredibly easy to make. Best part of it: No oven. No mixer. No drama.

Is it good?

It is uh-may-zing! Sweet, salty, nutty, chewy. Think caramel chocolate bars, but with oats and crushed peanuts—soft, satisfying, and kind to your tummy. I snacked on them on a beautiful, purply, slow afternoon... and again late at night before bed. Zero guilt. In fact—ahem—it helped digestion the next morning. 😌

Why I love this recipe

I’ve been baking since I was 6 years old, and believe me, I’ve seen how “healthy” snacks can be loaded with the not-so-healthy. So I made a few intentional tweaks to keep this one clean and honest:

Pepaya Kalimantan

I'm sorry, it was gone before I knew it. Couldn't help myself.

In Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, I came across this pepaya, or papaya as you may know, brought by my dear friend Rina Ahdalina. They call it Pepaya Hawaii. But I don't think it was the same as Pepaya Hawaii I once found being sold at Total Buah. This pepaya was smaller, way smaller, and way sweeter.

In between baking cookies for the next day seminar, we enjoyed spooning these babies and gulping its succulent burning orange meat like monkeys :D

I brought back some of them --so did Nadrah --, and yeah, you can see they're gone very fast.

Indonesian fruits are amazing. I always prefer our local grown fruits from the fake-fresh imported ones. Unfortunately not many of them make it to Jakarta. In many cases they are directly sent overseas to importer countries, usually the best variants in the bunch. And the locals were left with limited stock, only enough for them to eat, not enough crops to be sold to other parts of Indonesia --and Indonesia is indeed a big country.

Sagon Sembur

Oh, how food can be so nostalgic. It takes you to the time and place where your heart is. Is it that romantic or is it just me?
I was born the youngest of seven children and we had a dearest nanny we considered as our second mother. I mean, seriously. I remember everytime she had to go mudik, my sister and me, as the last youngsters under her caretaking- yes, she took care all seven of us since we were newborn babies- my sister and me would cry unstoppably, scream, kick, temper tantrum all the way, didn't wanna let her go, couldn't handle her going away. I still remember the feeling. It was like half of your soul was forcefully taken away from you, hurt and dying. She was wonderful to us. She loved us dearly and genuinely just like her own children, no fakeness, no politics. Unconditionally, just like my Mom did. And she remained our closest "family" until the day she died at a very old age, possibly more than a hundred.