With the summer warming up I’m always looking for ways to cool down. While ice cream is a necessity when the temperature really rises, I often find myself craving a lighter, more refreshing snack. Ice pops are the perfect solution. My sister in law recently shared a photo of her tea-sicles creations, which I thought were brilliant. This spurred me into creating my own ice pops with Pure Leaf Tea, iced tea made from real brewed tea leaves.

I chose to use the peach flavoured Pure Leaf Tea, which really helped cut down prep time. There was no need to steep and cool the tea before hand, just fill the molds with fresh fruit and top off with tea. At max, these took 5 minutes to pull together. Shooting the photos took way longer.

Other Tea Pop flavours possibilities:
Green Tea, Lemon Slices and Honey
Peach tea and fresh strawberries
Tea, Ginger syrup and Lemon Slices

After working with Pure Leaf previously on my Iced Tea recipes post, I was already a fan of the tea’s authentic flavour. They’re great to use as a base for fancier creations or gulped straight from the bottle. Refreshing, low in calories and lightly flavoured, I find myself packing bottles of Pure Leaf Tea for picnics, bringing them on Pokemon hunting trips around the neighbourhood and to stay hydrated at summer food events.

In ice pop form, Pure Leaf tea reaches the level of summer necessity.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. All drinks reviewed below were provided complimentary. All opinions expressed are wholly mine.

I drink tea everyday and as the weather warms up, I like to swap my hot comforting drink for a cool, refreshing one. Drawing inspiration from my favourite summer foods, here are three easy to assemble tea-centric drinks made with Pure Leaf unsweetened teas. With 0 sugar, 0 artificial sweeteners and 0 calories, the Pure Leaf unsweetened teas were a perfect base to start with to #TweakYourTea. I also liked the natural, genuine tea flavour of the drinks themselves. Personally, I am not a fan of iced tea sodas and the Pure Leaf teas tasted nothing like them.

1. Watermelon Mint and Unsweetened Pure Leaf Tea
Ingredients: Cubed Watermelon / Fresh Mint Leaves / Lime Slices / Unsweetened Pure Leaf Tea
In a tall glass (or pitcher), add mint leaves, diced watermelon and lime slices, pour over with tea.
This drink is sweetened naturally from the watermelon and full of summer flavours. For a stronger taste, muddle the mint leaves at the bottom of the glass first, and squeeze in a wedge of lime before adding the tea.
Optional: Add a splash of rum to turn this into a summery cocktail

2. Scotch and Unsweetened Green Pure Leaf Tea
Ingredients: Scotch / Lemon / Green Pure Leaf Tea / Mint to Garnish
In a tumbler glass, add a shot of scotch and fill with Green Pure Leaf Tea. Top with slices of lemon and a sprig of mint.
Optional: Add simple syrup to sweeten this drink

3. Ginger and Unsweetened Lemon Pure Leaf Tea
Ingredients: Simple Syrup with Ginger / Lemon Slices / Unsweetened Lemon Pure Leaf Tea
Make a simple syrup (2 parts water to 1 part sugar) with slices of ginger added in. In a tall glass, add two tablespoons of the simple syrup and the cooked slices of ginger. Pour in Unsweetened Lemon Pure Leaf Tea and top with fresh slices of lemon.
This is a perfect drink for the evening to stay warm after the sunsets with a touch of spice and heat.
Optional: Add a splash of dark rum for even more spice.

These drinks are perfect for summer BBQs, paired up with dinner or a boozy cocktail hour. The Pure Leaf teas were versatile and easy to work. Also, since I’m still working on shedding my winter insulation (aka 5 lbs), I really liked how the teas were 0 calories and still super flavourful. A great beverage alternative for those who don’t love to drink just plain water.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. All drinks reviewed below were provided complimentary. All opinions expressed below are wholly mine.

I am not a baker. I have no patience for measuring and I have a tendency for estimating. Despite that, there’s something about the holidays that make me reach for my mixing bowls (buried under many other kitchen gadgets). One thing I love about cookie recipes is that they’re usually a single step. Cream, stir, bake and eat. This dried cranberry and white chocolate chip cookie recipe was easy to whip up, even for me and the results were delicious, soft and chunky. The dried cranberries are perfect for holidays and balance with the sweet white chocolate chips, a perfect cookie to sip with tea by the fire.

Dried Cranberry & White Chocolate Cookie

2014-12-03 00:45:55

Yields 24

Quick and easy cookie recipe with festive dried cranberries and white chocolate chip

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Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

10 min

Total Time

25 min

Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

10 min

Total Time

25 min

Ingredients

1. 1/2 cup of butter at room temperature
2. 1/2 cup of packed brown sugar
3. 1/2 cup of white sugar
4. 1 egg
5. 1 tsp of vanilla extract
6. 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
7. 1 tsp of baking powder
8. 3/4 cup of white chocolate chips
9. 1 cup roughly chopped dried cranberries

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Grease cookie sheets (I like to save butter wrappers to do this)
3. In a large bowl, cream together the brown sugar, white sugar and butter until smooth
4. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract
5. In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking powder
6. Add dry ingredients to the creamed butter and stir together
7. Add in white chocolate chips and chopped dried cranberries, stir together
8. Drop balls of dough onto the baking sheet, making two dozen
9. Bake for 8-10 minutes, remove from the oven, let sit for 1 minute and transfer to wire racks to cool

xiaoEats | Toronto Food Blog http://xiaoeats.com/

Step by Step Photos

Prep ingredients

Cream sugar and butter

Beat in egg and vanilla extract, combine dry ingredients in another bowl

Mix in dry ingredients and then dried cranberries and white chocolate chips

Spoon onto greased cookie sheets, bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes